A Content Creator Mindset May Mitigate Open Enrollment Shortcomings

Recent data shows your employees are often dissatisfied with the open enrollment process. Consider:

• 67% of U.S. workers spend 30 minutes or less (42% spending 20 minutes or less) on benefits selection, and 89% keep their previous-year choices.
• 53% regret their open enrollment choices.
• While some workers indicate overall satisfaction in the open enrollment process, their satisfaction regarding the availability and affordability of plans recently decreased — and 65% of employers admitted they have room for improvement when it comes to benefits communication.

To avoid repeating these trends heading into this year’s open enrollment season, HR and Rewards teams may want to reorient their thinking — not just regarding the benefits they offer, but how they’re communicated.

“What we’re finding is that there’s a communication and education gap around personalization, rather than a plan design gap or something the employer has missed,” explained Courtney Perez, the vice president of education and engagement at HR consulting firm OneDigital. “Ultimately, the lack of understanding is what causes a lot of uncertainty and forces employees to make a decision that they feel is safe rather than an election that may be the best fit.”

Access bonus Workspan Daily Plus+ articles on this subject:

• How to Communicate Like a Content Creator This Open Enrollment Season
• Add a Content Creator’s Framework to Your Benefits Communications

How to Adjust Your Strategy

As you prepare for open enrollment, consider taking a “content creator” approach to benefits communications. This means personalized messaging, a focus on storytelling and measuring whether your explanatory content is truly engaging with your workforce.

According to Perez, there are key differences in households that underscore for employers the importance of looking at workforce needs on an individual level. For instance, OneDigital found single parents are far more worried that a medical emergency could upend their finances, while dual-income households with no children are more likely to skip specialized medical care.

“Generic open enrollment campaigns can’t speak to all of that in aggregate,” she said. “Personalization is important, and social media plays a role. We live in a digital-first world. Employers should leverage technology and social media to brand themselves — not just from a marketing perspective, but from a total rewards, recruitment and retention perspective.”

Evaluating — and launching — open enrollment-focused communication campaigns now, rather than later in the year, also is key.

“An employer might have to reach vastly different employee populations who care about different things, but they still have to go through the same open enrollment process and select from the same suite of benefits,” said Jake Spiegel, a senior research associate at the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). “One of the problems of open enrollment is that it happens once a year. That’s a long time to wait to decide all at once. I was a different person last December than I am now. It’s important to think about these things year-round.”

Editor’s Note: Additional Content

For more information and resources related to this article, see the pages below, which offer quick access to all WorldatWork content on these topics:

• Employee Benefits
• Total Rewards
• Well-Being