10 different times, 10 different ways: Creative ways to boost open enrollment participation

As subject matter experts, brokers are in a key position to help employers maximize participation in open enrollment. And there are creative ways to leverage that expertise to increase OE participation and your total account value. Here are three for this OE season.

1. Improve communication around open enrollment

If not carefully designed and articulated, benefits programs can be dead on arrival. Even when an employer is excited to invest in their employees with a new benefits experience, enrollment results will likely remain low if employees aren’t kept in the loop.

It’s not enough for the benefit to simply exist. Communication is key. Employers need to drum up interest in the benefits offering, but many do not realize this.

As a broker, you can offer specific communication suggestions to your clients. One of my favorite tips is what I call the 10×10 rule: during open enrollment, tell employees 10 times in 10 ways about the details of the program. For example:

• A flier in the breakroom
• An email from the boss
• An announcement from the HR director
• A Q&A session with their broker

Here’s the thing: we can’t assume that everybody understands specific benefits, such as supplemental health insurance; in fact, almost nobody does! A single formulaic email from HR – you know the kind, loaded with attachments outlining coverage in insurance speak – is a good way to ensure that employees never hear the message.

Work with your clients to ensure they get the message to stick. Encourage them to think of it as a conversation. Each of the 10 touches continues the conversation and keeps employees engaged. That’s when employers will see increased enrollment, talent attraction, and retention.

2. Add employment benefit surveys

Okay, so conversations keep employees engaged. Check. But those 10 touches I mentioned? Your clients may feel they can’t come up with 10 ways, or worse, that they don’t have enough to say to keep the conversation going.

Enter employment benefit surveys. Remind your clients that benefit surveys are a great way to continue the conversation because they let employers ask employees directly about the coverages they want.

Later, once employers read through the surveys and register the feedback, they can tell employees about the new products they’re planning to offer or build up in the coming year. (That’s at least two more touches, by the way.)

This keeps employees engaged, receptive, and actively participating in their benefits program. It also ensures that a company’s benefits program aligns with the needs of the workforce, making high enrollment numbers more likely.

Remember the big picture: insurance is a part of a company’s overall benefits package, benefits are a part of company culture, and company culture is directly tied to employee performance and retention. Insurance benefits, in particular, can underscore that companies value and invest in employee health and happiness.

3. Refresh benefits packages regularly

We’ve established that benefits are an important component of company culture. When employees are dissatisfied with benefits, it hurts company culture. When employees are pleased with benefits, it enhances company culture. But there’s also a third scenario: employees stop thinking about benefits altogether. This amounts to a lost opportunity for everyone.

For example, your client might offer a stellar major medical package. But if an employee doesn’t need medical care that year, or if all their needs are met without resistance or headaches, they may forget how generous the health benefits are. Suddenly, employees may be in a “what has my employer done for me lately” mindset.

The solution: encourage employers to add new offerings or build on existing coverage so benefits stay top of mind. When employees see that employers are actively prioritizing their benefits program, they’re more likely to be reminded that benefits are one of the reasons they like their job and want to stay.

This might sound daunting to an employer. But you can remind them that these changes don’t need to be huge. There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel every enrollment period. The idea is to add or change just enough that there’s a reason to reopen the conversation about benefits offerings, reminding employees about not only what they’ve done lately but also what they plan to do next.

Let’s say an employer decides to add a new coverage – mental health – to their supplemental health offering. In that announcement, the employer has a reason to connect the new mental health coverage back to the other supplemental health offerings, giving them an opportunity to reiterate all the benefits they offer.

Leverage your unique position to maximize OE participation

The ultimate goal: attract and retain great employees, then help maximize their productivity.  Every employer has an incentive to make their benefits package sing, which means every broker has an opportunity to give their clients the support they need to make that happen.

But it can be hard for brokers to play a super active role in the rigorous process of maximizing enrollment, especially if they specialize in serving small businesses. They may simply have too many clients, and due to the seasonality of our business, they tend to all need attention around the same time.

Related: Open enrollment season: A time to show your employees you care

One way brokers can mitigate this is by working with insurance partners who provide enrollment specialists and enrollment technology to help brokers and HR departments maximize enrollment for small businesses. Not all carriers are created equal. Choose one that helps you with the operational components.

Alex Frommeyer is the cofounder and CEO of Beam Benefits, a digitally-native employee benefits company that offers dental, vision, life, disability, and supplemental health coverage for employers of all sizes.