Open Enrollment is Challenging - 5 Steps Make it Easy for Your Clients
Thursday September 14th, 2023
Estimated time to read: 1 minute, 30 seconds
Open enrollment is challenging for you and your clients alike. Getting ahead and creating a strategy that not only pleases your clients but alleviates burdens for them is key.
According to our recent survey of more than 1,100 employees, 64 percent say a poor enrollment experience could lead them to look for a new job. With retention top of mind for your clients, a simplified experience can help them hold onto their workforce.
With 5 main steps you can help your clients can streamline the process, while creating a superior experience for their employees.
Review Benefit Offerings
The right benefits are very important to employees, and many will shop around for an employer that can offer what they want. Inflation and threats of a recession have put a strain on average Americans, making financial wellness is top of mind. This is something to consider when clients review their offerings.
Be Proactive with Communication
A common issue with benefits enrollment is a lack of communication. Have clients take a proactive approach by keeping employees informed throughout the year, not just during the open enrollment period. Communication between clients and brokers is also crucial. Work with your clients to determine the frequency of your meetings. Encourage them to communicate business changes throughout the year as they happen.
Make Sure Offerings are Clear
Benefit plans are confusing to those who work in human resources, let alone the average employee. Without a sufficient understanding of their benefits, employees frequently end up paying premiums for offerings they might never or infrequently use, or worse, don't enroll in benefits they need. Help your clients to ensure their employees have a full knowledge of their options. Providing employees with some important questions to ask themselves will help guide them in the right direction.
Invest in Technology
Intelligently connected human capital management (HCM) technology streamlines basic HR tasks that employees perform regularly. With it, employees access a single system to complete onboarding, view and request time off, access paystubs, take learning management classes and more. When benefits administration is part of that system, the experience for the employee (and your clients) is simplified. According to our recent broker survey, 66 percent of brokers offer benefits enrollment technology. This may present an opportunity to differentiate your business by adding this to your portfolio.
Create a Checklist
Meeting with your clients early in the process will ensure a successful open enrollment. Furthermore, being prepared and organized will help them stay on track and understand what steps they need to take. To access a comprehensive checklist to use with clients, check out our ebook, The 2023 Broker’s Guide to Open Enrollment.
isolved can help your clients craft a winning strategy for open enrollment.
For more information, contact your benefit services sales executive or visit us at www.isolvedbenefitservices.com.
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