Becky Seefeldt is VP Strategy for Benefit source with 20 years dedicated to training and promoting consumer-driven benefits.
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Looking at my company Benefit Resource’s customer base, nearly 7 out of 10 employers start a new benefit year in January. This means they are likely working on or preparing for open enrollment. For many, open enrollment is the only opportunity each year to educate employees about the benefits, inevitably leading to information overload.
When you think strategically about how to communicate benefits and set measurable goals, you realize it’s a marathon. January is not the finish line; it’s just a mile marker. By employing an effective communication strategy throughout the enrollment process, you can support retention, prioritize employee wellbeing and increase overall job satisfaction.
Start the process with preparation and goal setting
Just as you wouldn’t show up on race day without training and a plan, you can’t participate in open enrollment without some preparation. Before developing a communication strategy, start with a few key metrics.
1. Understand employee behavior.
It’s helpful to know what benefits employees use, how they use them, and if there are any significant gaps in their understanding. Data on usage trends and behavioral patterns can be invaluable in focusing and personalizing employee communications. You may be able to find it through internal systems or your benefits partners.
2. Plan for change.
Understand how organizational decisions affect your communication strategy. Benefits that are new to an organization or changes in relationships with key suppliers may initially create some noise and require additional communication considerations.
3. Don’t forget the basics.
According to rental rate data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, you may have 1 in 2 employees experiencing open enrollment for the first time with you. Don’t assume that employees know and understand your benefits. Make sure you can answer these questions:
• Suitability: What makes an employee suitable? Do different benefits have different eligibility requirements?
• Registration: How do employees register? How do they determine which benefits to sign up for?
• Usage: How do they use their benefits?
• Contact details: Who do employees contact for each benefit offered?
Don’t forget to define your message
Without a clear understanding of your message, benefits communication can get a little out of hand. A well-intentioned, concise benefits package can quickly become a 250-page manual. Consider splitting the communication into three phases: what employees need to know before, during, and after open enrollment.
Prepare employees prior to open enrollment with clarity about their current benefits, basic information, and an overview of significant changes or additions. When the open enrollment starts, you go from an informational message to an executable message. Be sure to include how to determine which benefits employees enroll in, how to enroll, and when to complete enrollment. If the open enrollment closes, make sure employees are given clear instructions about what happens next.
There will often be a quiet period between the moment an employee registers and the moment his benefit starts. This is an opportunity to set expectations about what to expect from their benefits and the suppliers who support them. For employees who are extending their benefits, it’s also good to point out everything they need to know or that may differ from new employees.
Build and execute your plan effectively
Since you already have the core structure, these five tips will help you craft and execute your plan more effectively.
1. Understand how employees get and share information. Don’t be afraid to use multiple communication methods and channels. According to employers surveyed by BRI, 80% plan to use three or more channels to communicate during open enrollment, with email, web pages and portals being the top choices.
2. Don’t feel like you have to reinvent the wheel. Feel free to collect existing partner resources such as educational guides, explainer videos, and open enrollment starter kits.
3. Create a centralized source of all benefits information. Consolidation is a great way to ensure employees have access to all the information they need, both during open enrollment and throughout the year. But it also allows you to create short message points and action items, while providing employees with a go-to resource to access more details.
4. Make sure your communications and events are REACH employees. A successful open enrollment and benefits strategy boils down to five key things.
• File: To ensure that all employees can hear your message directly, no matter where they work, you should include all benefits presentations and key messages.
• Engage: Use things like polls, prizes, contests, and questions to keep your employees engaged during the enrollment process.
• Answer questions: Inevitably, employees will have questions, so be sure to provide helpful options so they can find the answers they need.
• Catch attention: Elements such as images, video and sound can attract employees’ attention better than long, cumbersome documents.
• Humor and humanization: Using humor can make your communication more recognizable and engaging. But it’s also important to really put the employee at the center of your messages. Be sure to answer one essential question: “What’s in it for me?”
5. Talk about the hidden gems. You probably have benefits that are underused or overlooked. There may even be things that are not defined as an advantage in the traditional sense, such as flex time, remote work, volunteer days, and more. In fact, a recent Harris Pollo released by CareerBuilder indicates that 56% of working adults say flexible work schedules appealed to them most in their current role. Other top responses included fair wages and work-life balance.
While open enrollment serves as the start, make sure you adapt to an ongoing communications and benefits strategy. Consider a month-to-month plan where you target posts at key intervals and create awareness for key resources. Don’t hesitate to go back to the data and identify reminders for important concerns, deadlines, and actions employees need to take.
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Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.