A hybrid workforce calls for a new approach to open enrollment

Coming soon to a client near you: Open enrollment! Which also means for many of our nation’s employers, they’re three years into an open enrollment (OE) strategy turned upside down, as they scramble for the most effective ways to communicate employee benefits to a workforce that has largely flipped to a hybrid or fully remote model.

While benefit fairs have served as an OE staple for years, many employers have evolved toward more year-round education and a broader communication strategy. COVID just pushed things along – ready or not. It’s really part of the trend in accelerated digital transformation in HR turning into a necessity – and an opportunity for you to guide clients toward the finish line when it comes to benefit communication.

A big part of my job is to oversee the execution of benefit fair events and other open enrollment support for employers. And believe me, we’ve rethought, retooled, and reinvented our approach many times to meet clients’ shifting needs and varying capabilities.

COVID: A sucker punch to in-person benefit fairs

Before the pandemic, our process for attending benefit fairs was a well-oiled machine, focused primarily on in-person events, as we saw more and more employers wanting onsite carrier representation in the workplace. We were ready to operate at that high level of efficiency again in 2020 – and then COVID-19 hit, putting the brakes on most, if not all, face-to-face events.

What did we learn from that disruption? We had to be flexible in a number of new ways! When it came to communicating with employees, we needed to create a virtual strategy to work with a multitude of clients, wherever they were in terms of their capabilities. Some employers were very adept at switching gears from in person to more virtual events, while others had to contend with outdated systems, processes, or infrastructure, which required providers like us to be more creative in finding solutions for them.

In addition to being flexible with whatever technology they had to work with, that also meant offering clear, concise and continual communication through webinars, chat sessions, phone calls, Teams or Zoom meetings, banners, email communications, articles and white papers, just to name a few.

New open enrollment environment: disruption or opportunity?

Clearly, COVID served as a catalyst for major change in workplace dynamics at large, leading to the Great Resignation and the accelerated ramp-up of the hybrid work model. A 2022 BenefitsPRO/Eastbridge Consulting Group survey of voluntary benefits producers revealed these compelling insights:

• About 40% of respondents said that COVID-19 had a positive impact on their business by helping people realize they need the benefits that brokers offer.
• 41% of brokers say they’ve seen an increase in the number of quotes requested, while 42% report increased enrollment activity.
• A slightly higher percentage of brokers (44%) felt that work-from-home is still prevalent and causing challenges for educating and enrolling employees.

Trevor Garbers, Vice President Practice Leader at HUB International, has lived through those challenges – and has seen opportunities emerge. Garbers, who leads the brokerage’s voluntary benefit strategy and execution, says, “We saw the communication struggle during the pandemic as clients were taking a larger number of inbound calls from their employees with benefit questions. Ironically, we saw the same increase of inbound questions in our call centers, where we did both face-to-face and self-service enrollments. This highlighted the need for more proactive and frequent communication from both the broker and, more importantly, the carrier.”

He recommends providing monthly or, at a minimum, quarterly updates on assisted claims experiences, issuing claims reminders and offering easier access to their benefit information.

“It’s no longer about just providing a benefit,” he says. “Both employer groups and employees demand a better consumer experience – from onboarding to claims utilization. We are asking our carrier partners to provide stronger utilization reports, monthly marketing reminders and on-demand claims utilization reporting to better meet the exact needs of each individual employee.”

As for the communicating to employees in a more virtual – and mobile – job market, Garbers notes, “Overall, this continues to be a work in progress for our marketplace. I may be an outlier, but it’s still about relationships and delivering on a promise to the employee. I still see some in our industry looking for a silver bullet solution or that one-size-fits-all when it comes to a given solution strategy. The only way we can solve for the struggles that our employees are facing today is to do a better job of simply listening to their needs.”

Help clients excel during open enrollment – and beyond

As Garber suggests, this disruption has brought with it an opportunity for positive change in how we approach OE going forward. What we found worked well in a more virtual environment: employees having better access to benefit information 24/7, which gave them more opportunities to review the options with their family members. By revamping the content and making it available in a range of formats via virtual platforms, it not only made the information more accessible, but also helped improved the experience.

Conversely, we did miss the more personal touch of an in-person fair, particularly the organic conversations that start from employees coming up to the booth – and sharing their input about our benefit with their co-workers. Another lesson learned is that when utilizing the client’s virtual platform, you may sacrifice having valuable information about employee participation and engagement that would be helpful to guide future programs. Be sure to ask the client to share those analytics, if possible.

The hybrid/working remote model looks like it’s here to stay – and for current and potential clients, that means enrollment methods have changed with it. Make the most of your opportunities during today’s new-look open enrollment by:

• Offering clients a variety of approaches that meet employees where they are (materials only, virtual and in-person – or a mix of all three).
• Being prepared for clients to make decisions later in the year, which makes the window of time to communicate to employees harder. Keep lines of communication open with clients to anticipate and plan your communication strategy so you can hit the ground running.
• Talk with clients about leveraging technology – or prioritize your investment in your firm’s tech capabilities – to reach their employees.
• Record short, concise messaging, such as videos or presentations that include Q&A; most benefit booklets that used to be printed are now all electronic. Push the videos out periodically. Instead of one in-person benefit fair, you can leverage technology to get your messaging out over a week to potentially reach all employees.
• Consider what additional benefits or tools might help your clients during times of uncertainty. Voluntary benefits that address employees’ mental health or financial wellness – such as savings programs, student loan repayment and legal insurance.
• Communicate in the “off-season,” not just during open enrollment, to discuss analytics and review what worked, what didn’t, and how you can evolve and improve for next year.

It’s likely that benefit fairs – virtual, in-person or more likely hybrid – will continue to be valuable assets in OE. But consider expanding your view of open enrollment as less of a fixed period of time to more of an ongoing process and continuous communication that’s offered in multiple formats across different channels.

Since 2020, we’ve seen clients work to eliminate outdated processes and transition to a strong toolbox of virtual resources that provide greater flexibility and on-demand access to benefits information. So while the approach to open enrollment will never look the same, we are seeing significant value in the virtual options as brokers and providers tailor their messaging to specific clients’ needs – and give a more in-depth look as to how plan options can benefit their employees.

Lindsay Deon is Manager of Client Support Services at ARAG. She is responsible for managing client and member enrollment, implementation and ongoing operational support as well as executing ARAG’s overarching global event strategy.