The most important strategy an employer can utilize for open enrollment is, unsurprisingly, thorough communication. A common and unfortunate occurrence is that employees often choose the wrong plan for themselves simply because they do not understand their choices. So let’s break down how employers can help resolve this problem:
Helping your employees make the right choice
- Collect questions before the first meeting. Employees likely have inquiries before the meeting(s) even start. Invite them to share these (easily gathered via an online tool) a few weeks prior. By compiling the answers before enrollment begins, you’ll save yourself valuable time during a very busy month.
- Ask employees to review materials before enrollment begins. Again, another headache-saver, cheers for preparation!
- Utilize the company blog. Your company blog is a valuable tool for providing explanations and supplemental information. Direct your employees to visit this resource before heading to the HR department. It could prove to be a huge time-saver.
- Host a guest speaker. Even small business owners can outsource some of their processes, and a great option is through a guest speaker program. Having an objective voice in the process can help to improve employee engagement and trust, and often reveals areas of note that employers have yet to realize. It’s hard to know it all! Ask for help.
- Make materials easy to access year-round. It’s typical to hand employees folders full of pamphlets and leave it at that, but they’re going to need to be able to review this information easily throughout the year and the best way is to have a one-spot shop where all this stuff is stored. Yep, we mean online. That folder will get buried, the brochures are typically not quite thorough enough, so create a shared folder, etc. where they can quickly search for the information they need throughout the year.
Lastly, we want to stress that access to benefit information is crucial for employees and something that business owners need to take very seriously! Part of being an employer is acting as a conduit for this information, whether it’s directing them to an outsourced resource or actually taking on the role themselves.
If you have questions about making sure the open enrollment process is successful, Eos HR can answer them! And don’t forget, we offer small businesses an experienced HR team that will help them navigate the challenges of being a small business employer. Schedule a free consultation today to learn more.
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