In what order do you present your benefits during open enrollment?
You care about employee retention. You understand that your benefits impact your retention. You understand that your employee experience matters. You understand that open enrollment communication is important.
You do so many of the right things, but are your benefits in the right order? Here’s the order you’re looking for in order to achieve maximum effect on your employee experience.
Lead with medical insurance
Most companies understand this one. Employees care most about your health plan, so show that benefit first. In addition to plan order, think about the order you position the employees options. Whatever benefit is on the left hand side will get the most attention to employees. Lastly, don’t overlook plan names. You know what HDHP means, but do your employees?
Follow with health savings accounts (HSA)
The HSA is tied to the value of the health plan, so list this benefit next. It is also OK to follow medical with medical flexible spending accounts if an employee elects a non-HSA eligible health plan. Most companies should consider dumping your Limited Purpose FSA as employees don’t understand it. Don’t put your Daycare flexible spending accounts here.
Next, list benefits that supplement your health insurance
Dental health is tied to overall health, so it belongs near the top. Vision is related to actual funding of care, most employers like it next. After the vision? List your accident, critical illness insurance, and hospital plans (in that order). Moving these benefits ahead of income replacement benefits tells your employees that you care about tools that fill the gaps in your health plan.
Income replacement benefits
Disability is a wonderful benefits that company’s can offer. Short-term disability so the most immediate impact to the employee if they’re disabled, so list that first. Follow that with long-term disability. Long-term disability is a high impact benefit for employees, consider buying it for your workforce if you can.
Life insurance benefits go next
Many companies make the mistake of putting your basic life insurance too high in the order. It’s a great benefit, but it belongs in the middle and not towards the top of your menu. Put your basic life first, followed by your voluntary life. Next goes permanent life, such as universal life with long-term care benefits.
Nice to have benefits go last
We’re getting close to the end, how do we finish up? Dependent care flexible spending accounts belong here, if you offer them. Also, pet insurance and identity restoration.
Are you using a different order than what we’ve listed here? That’s not necessarily bad, every employer needs to set their order based on their own company culture. Your company will provide the best employee experience possible if you are thoughtful about your order, and the order listed in this article will suit most companies.