Companies are gearing up for open enrollment, but are you crafting your strategy effectively? Relying solely on a single generic email filled with lengthy text won’t inspire eligible employees to enroll.
Fortunately, we’ve got you covered. To optimize your open enrollment and ensure its success, here are six tips to help:
Begin Early Planning:
It may seem obvious, but it’s often overlooked. Open enrollment can be chaotic, so the sooner you provide employees with information and resources before enrollment starts, the better. We recommend starting your open enrollment communications no later than three weeks before enrollment begins to ensure a smoother process.
Choose Your Enrollment Strategy:
Active Enrollment: Active enrollment is a benefits enrollment strategy where every employee is required to participate, ensuring employees review and select benefits that best fit their present needs.
Passive Enrollment: Passive enrollment is a benefits enrollment strategy that’s straightforward. Every enrollment period, each employee’s benefit elections roll over into the next automatically. It’s a hands-off migration process, cutting the administrative workload.
Set and Stick to Enrollment Dates:
Establishing an enrollment date well in advance gives your benefits department leeway for potential issues, questions, or requests.
Consider these factors when setting your enrollment dates:
- Finalizing rates and plan designs.
- Determining employee contributions.
- Time needed for data organization and updating your enrollment system.
- Duration of the enrollment period (typically two to three weeks).
- Carriers require this information in early December for January 1st effective dates.
- Your Steele Customer Success Manager can assist you in calculating your enrollment dates.
Prepare Pre-Enrollment Communications:
Waiting until the last minute to inundate employees with benefits information can overwhelm and confuse them. Plan a series of pre-enrollment communications to ensure employees have time to stay informed.
Recommended pre-enrollment communication strategies include:
- At least three open enrollment awareness emails with enrollment instructions.
- Company flyers with enrollment instructions for posting or distributing with payrolls.
- Text and push notifications to reach employees directly and avoid email clutter. For text and push notifications, explore our Engage service.
Maintain Consistency in Your Communications:
Treat this process as an internal marketing campaign. Consistency in appearance and details across all collateral materials is vital. Use the same branding elements such as logos, colors, and dates to convey a unified message.
Engage with Employees During Open Enrollment:
The most crucial period for employee engagement is during open enrollment itself. Even with a well-executed pre-enrollment communication strategy, some employees may miss information. Leverage Steele’s Engage service to reach specific employee segments with targeted messages, such as last-chance notices and enrollment reminders. Work closely with your Steele Customer Success Manager to tailor these messages for employees who haven’t completed enrollment, ensuring those who have aren’t bombarded with unnecessary communications.
By following these best practices, you ensure that your open enrollment process runs smoothly and effectively, with no employees left behind.