3 Signs Your Enrollment May Need Saving
If your open enrollment strategy isn’t working, how can you tell? Your open enrollment should be a vehicle for advancing workplace wellness. But, unlike a vehicle, signs of malfunction aren’t noticeable like they are on a car’s dashboard. This requires employers to understand what programs they’re investing in. Unfortunately, % of organizations can’t show the ROI from benefits investments. Meanwhile, 45% can’t perform cost-benefit analysis on what they currently offer.1
How can employers improve open enrollment if they’re unclear what needs improving in the first place? Understanding is the first step to improving your enrollment strategy. Don't wait for your enrollment to breakdown. Here are signs to look for while improving your open enrollment.
Plans Without Goals
In today’s talent market, strong benefits are a top concern for new and existing employees. Surveys show over 2/3 of employers planned to increase their benefit investments in 2023.2 Investments like this can become sunk costs if not properly communicated. Excessive spending can cause problems, leaving you stranded and looking for solutions.
General confusion about health benefits and low employee engagement are signs you could be experiencing this.
Starting a dialogue about benefits at the beginning of open enrollment is too late. Start early and with intent. Plan consistent communication strategies with deadlines that focus on what your employees want. Use their feedback to curate your plans for this enrollment and the next.
Because, when you pair planning with personalization, the result is often an increase in employee engagement and understanding.
Questions Without Answers
Would you ask someone to drive a vehicle they don’t know how to operate? This also applies to employee benefits. For example, 53% of employees say their employers don’t communicate well about their enrollment programs. Furthermore 70% of employees feel today’s healthcare system is too difficult to navigate.3 This can prompt many employees to default to last year’s enrollment decisions. Though defaulting is the easier option, that doesn’t always mean better – especially when it comes to healthcare coverage.
Without current information, employees can’t make informed benefits decisions. A sign your employees aren’t informed may be how aware they are about their options. For example, 68% of employees said they learn about their health coverage online or from trusted family and friends.4 Meaning that most of the workforce is likely to get their information from three sources with wide interpretations of what is considered factual. Truth in the age of information and misinformation is oftentimes a moving target. In particular, the 53% of Americans who receive all their news – including information about employee benefits – from a variety of social medias. This, in addition to 8 in 10 Americans using their digital devices as their primary news delivery source, is a recipe for misinformation on a massive scale.5
If employees don’t understand their benefits, they may underutilize them. They may also choose plans that aren’t fit for their unique needs. On average, an employee can save $372 per year by choosing a more efficient plan – meaning a reduction in out-of-pocket costs and overspending on coverage.6 Imagine what type of savings an organization can make with this type of preparation.
Problems Without Solutions
Skeptical employers may assume their enrollment is safe since all is quiet. Yet silence should be the alarm that sounds the loudest for any organization. Growth for an organization isn’t possible without growing pains and problem solving. A suspicious mind could help you make the most of your open enrollment and impact your ROI.
For instance, what if you received an automatic 89% return on employee benefits enrollment during the first week. Sounds great, right? In this real-life example, that percentage is the number of employees who simply defaulted to last year’s options—especially those currently enrolled in a PPO (94%) vs. HDHP (80%). This means that employees aren’t taking the time to fully understand or take advantage of their benefits.7
Signs your organization is experiencing this could include low employee engagement, and an increase in last-minute questions about benefits.
Solutions Ahead
The simple solution is to pivot from last year’s obstacles and move forward with new ideas. This includes gathering data and insights, then turning it into a set of mutual goals for you and your employees. That can be difficult considering that 76% of benefits and HR leaders have challenges turning their research into actions.8 To counteract this, create easy-to-follow metrics that act as guardrails keeping goals on track. Some of these metrics could include:
- Enrollment completion percentages
- Employee satisfaction surveys
- Post-enrollment surveys
- Benefits participation percentages
- Data Integrity
- Net Promoter Score
True progress happens when these metrics are agreed upon by all. Setting clear goals is a great starting point for improving your open enrollments.
Next Stop: Progress
When it comes to employee benefits, don’t wait for signs to tell you your processes need a tune-up. Take advantage of the time between enrollments to set you and your organization up for success.
This blog is up to date as of March 2024 and has not been updated for changes in the law, administration or current events.
