Strategies to simplify and personalize open enrollment for employees

Employees have become more connected to their benefits, particularly those that can provide a financial safety net in times of crisis or improve their mental health.

Sixty-eight percent of employees expect workplace benefits to play a larger role in their future job selection decisions, but they still don’t want to take the time to choose the ones that work best for them, according to a new Voya consumer survey. Seventy-five percent of employees want their organizations’ help in navigating an unexpected life event, like an accident or critical illness, according to Voya, yet 72% say they would rather service their car, visit the dentist or prepare for tax season than review their benefit options.

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“The pandemic has really shined a spotlight on the convergence of health and wealth,” says Nate Black, vice president of consumer health at Voya Financial. “In the last 18 months people have faced illnesses and disease, all while still trying to save for retirement, stay on track with emergency savings and student debt, among other financial components. What we're seeing now is a greater emphasis on workplace methods [to solve these issues].”

With open enrollment set to begin, employers and benefit providers have an opportunity to work together to help simplify and personalize the annual enrollment experience through education and resources. This can prevent turnover and instill loyalty in an organization's current employee population.

“This is an opportunity where employers and vendors can partner really naturally,” Black says. “[At Voya,] we launched a tool called My Health Money earlier this year — we work with the employer to make sure we’ve got their benefits loaded into the tool so we know what health insurance is offered and what supplemental benefits are offered.”

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Then, when an employee goes to elect their benefits, Voya will provide the employee with a recommendation on what the right benefits are for them, given their financial situation and their health status.

“That's gotten really fantastic feedback,” Black says. “We've seen 77% of people feel more confident about the decisions they're making as a result of that tool.”

Based on the success of the platform, Voya will be piloting another program this fall that will provide employees with more personalized recommendations.

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“People want a more holistic recommendation to understand both their benefits decisions and also their financial decisions at the same time,” Black says. “This program recommends not just what health insurance plan or what dental insurance plan to choose, but also how much should you contribute to retirement, how much should you contribute to an emergency savings account, because these things are all related.”

To prevent employees from viewing open enrollment as another daunting task, benefits education and programs that help employees sift through their choices can change the conversation around why open enrollment matters.

”What we've found is that education alone — while valuable — isn’t enough,” Black says. “Employers should take that next step and give employees guidance and recommendations. It’s about focusing on helping people actually use their benefits, and engage with their benefits in a different way.”