Back-to-school: A preview for open enrollment season

For most companies and organizations, open enrollment season is still a few months away. In education, the moment is now. Back-to-school can be the most active time of the year for teachers and staff to manage their benefits, and this year it might be especially important given how challenging the fall has become. 

Just a few weeks ago, schools across the country were hoping for a return to some sort of normal. Instead, the Delta variant has filled the coming school year with more uncertainty. 

This problem is not confined to education, and there may be lessons for other sectors with what we’re seeing during back-to-school. This year’s open enrollment period offers employers the opportunity to emphasize the importance of workplace benefits while supporting employees and remaining flexible and adaptable throughout.

Uncertainty highlights the importance of workplace benefits

Since the pandemic began, the lives of millions of Americans have changed unimaginably. Some employees may have had to confront the very worst, and nearly everyone has had to think more about the unexpected and about the future.

Many benefits that employers provide – healthcare, life insurance, etc. – can be a source of stability, even more so during troubled times. Because our focus is on financial wellness, what we’ve been hearing from our school district clients is that they want us to find a way to connect with employees, especially around preparing for unanticipated events. 

This part of personal finance – the idea that things might go differently than planned – has become a lot more real over the last eighteen months. Some teachers may have become the sole breadwinner or have had their childcare situations change. Others may be considering early retirement.

In the midst of all this, employee benefits like retirement plans may bring a consistency and dependability that is incredibly valuable. Even with so many other details to handle, school district leaders still want to make sure their employees are engaged and involved with their financial futures and that the related benefits are being effectively delivered. 

Providers stepping up with more benefits support

While K-12 human resources and benefits professionals want to do as much as they can to support employee financial wellness, many can be overwhelmed planning for the health and safety of students, teachers and staff. 

What has been important for many schools during this time is to lean on outside specialists for help. Asking for assistance from retirement plan providers can be crucial to supporting employees and their financial plans, and many providers are ready to deliver. 

For instance, providers can create new toolkits for teachers and staff on the basics of personal finance and retirement savings; customize retirement plan information to make the education more relevant to the employee so they can get engaged early, start saving early and stay engaged with their retirement planning over the long term; and create microsites that house all of their retirement plan benefits information in one easy-to-find location. These online experiences – which can include animated videos, quick quizzes and virtual benefits fairs – emphasize education, while staying engaging and informative.

Flexibility remains key

Although it probably goes without saying, employers should stay flexible to meet the needs of their employees. For school districts where the status of in-person learning changes by the day, the value of having an array of tools and approaches is clear.

What we’ve been seeing– and this is as true in other workplace settings as it is in K-12 schools –is that different personalities have different needs. Some teachers and school staff are planners, focused on the future, while others are just now realizing that their retirement might be right around the corner. Some employees are more tech-savvy and want to handle their retirement plan enrollment on their cell or tablet. Others might prefer an in-person setting with someone who can talk through their retirement plan benefits and what might be the right choice for them. 

Many school districts offer their employees access to financial professionals through their retirement plan, and flexibility is important here as well. Financial professionals can make themselves available to teachers and school staff through virtual consultations as well as through in-person sessions. 

Planning for the unknown

If we’ve learned anything over the past year and a half, it’s that planning for the future, however unknown, is essential. As you gear up for open enrollment season at your workplace, I hope that our experiences and perspective provide some insight. 

Freda Lee is Senior Vice President at AIG Retirement Services. AIG Retirement Service represents The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company, VALIC Financial Advisors, Inc, and VALIC Retirement Services Company. All are members of American International Group, Inc. (AIG).