Open enrollment communications that rock

Even in 2023, with a sometimes-bewildering array of digital and online tools and platforms, getting employees' attention through the open enrollment period is a tough challenge. What's more, it's harder to garner attention from a stressed, or even burned out, workforce.

Leaders are always trying to leverage these campaigns to educate employees about their overall benefits, but what works best? What communication strategies and practices are going to be effective in educating employees about their benefits this year? 

Where to start
Employers should start by listening to their workforce — collecting data relating to behaviors on how employees may be using their benefits, listening via focus groups and surveys, conducting dialogue to test what's working and what's not, and pre-testing potential solutions.

Then, develop proactive communication and execute well. Ensure clear objectives, audience insights, and communication tactics that move beyond "that's how we always do it." And how will you sustain those efforts so that annual enrollment is not a once-and-done event?

It's also important to identify how success will be measured, so you can gather data to help inform next year's open enrollment strategy and communication. 

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What to communicate
Benefits enrollment communication should ensure that employees know what's new, why any changes were made, and what they need to do. For example, if deferred care or high claim costs mean there must be benefit cuts or cost-shifting, explaining the rationale and providing support for how employees can save money and make the most of their benefits to meet their unique needs. 

Employers should be doubling down on those types of key messages, and reinforcing the fact that there are resources that may be underused, such as virtual care, newer virtual primary care, preventive care benefits, new wellness incentive designs, voluntary benefits that can help with affordability and security, FSAs and HSAs, etc.

Recommend approaches
Email is "hated" but preferred, so make it good! Even though we all struggle with managing it, email remains a preferred mechanism for both employers and employees for communication. 

Recommendation: Take the time to create attractive, well-written emails with clear direction and easy-to-access resource links.

Jazz up the tools and on-line delivery formats. Employers want to rely on online platforms and mechanisms like webinars and videos, but employees don't find them as intuitive or engaging as they would like.

Recommendation: Make tools more personalized, user friendly and non-boring — maybe even fun.

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Provide trusted help. One-on-one interaction with an advisor or expert and face-to-face communication opportunities are preferred mechanisms by employees, particularly younger employees. Employees will turn to friends and relatives in the absence of these opportunities. 

Recommendation: Ensure easy access to trusted help. Consider offering a benefit concierge service that assists employees with understanding and navigating their benefit options. And provide training and talking points for managers so they are equipped to answer questions and can point employees to benefit resources. 

Understand your audience. Meet employees where they are, understand their challenges and deliver communication in a format — and language — they can access and understand. For example, we're seeing more language translation efforts this year. 

Recommendation: Use data to develop employee personas, analyzing important audience factors such as income level, geographic location and ethnicity to identify factors that need to be considered when developing communication content and mechanisms.

Communication must be sustained. Develop a year-round communications plan to meet employees' evolving needs and capture their attention. Reminders about available benefits — caregiving resources, family building programs, diabetes care, etc. — can help to catch employees who either now have a need for the resource or benefits, or simply are now ready to pay attention and take action. Keep in mind that benefits have true value when they are applied to an employee need or goal. That is a year-round opportunity — not tied to a benefit enrollment schedule.

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Recommendation: Strategic employers are going beyond annual enrollment as a once-a-year transactional task and using ongoing year-round communications to emphasize the value of their 2024 offerings/package as part of their total rewards and total well-being offerings. 

Reach them where they are
Employers need to get more innovative in how open enrollment outreach occurs — through greater personalization, easier navigation through the technology being used, and more creative marketing. As always, there is no one-size-fits-all approach that will focus employees' attention on how benefits can help them; for instance, GenZ workers are digital natives, and their expectations won't be met by the same devices as those about to exit into retirement. 

Open enrollment messaging also presents an opportunity to align your external brand promise inward. If your aim is to inspire confidence from your customers, clients, and investors, adapt that messaging so it works internally as well, demonstrating to your employees how your benefit offerings support their total well-being.

With the right open enrollment communications strategy, you'll drive participation, maximize the effectiveness of your programs, and ultimately help people understand how the benefits you offer can help them meet their needs and achieve their goals.