With another enrollment season on the horizon, HR leaders everywhere are looking for ways to remove friction from the enrollment process and create easier, better ways to connect employees with their benefits.

For many HR teams, open enrollment has become more complicated, not less. Employees are juggling rising healthcare costs, competing financial priorities and an overwhelming number of benefit options while employers are under pressure to drive participation and demonstrate the value of their benefits investment.

If your team is gearing up for a busy period, there are some relatively simple ways to streamline administration while increasing employee engagement, satisfaction and retention. We’ve broken down the most helpful tips from our enrollment experts so you can take the first steps on your journey toward a better experience for employees and benefit administrators alike.

Here are the fundamentals to focus on as your HR team prepares for open enrollment.

In the face of rising financial pressures, workers can feel stress around making the “right” selections. Help lighten their load by showing how each option can support them through unexpected medical expenses like serious illness, a new child or caregiving.

When employees have access to clear information, the right tools and ongoing support, they're more likely to engage with their benefits and appreciate the investments their employer makes on their behalf.¹ They’re also more likely to keep their talents in-house; two-thirds of workers say their benefits package makes them more likely to stay with their current employer.¹

The most effective open enrollment strategies do two things well: make benefits easy to understand and leave employees confident in what they chose.

As HR teams plan their approach for open enrollment, creating a better benefits experience should be top of mind. Resurfacing existing resources, developing new guides, leveraging technology and providing personalized support can all help support workers as they navigate the process and make their elections. 

It’s time to stop using paper-based enrollment processes. Digital enrollment platforms can make it easier for employees to explore options, access educational resources and complete enrollment efficiently. Today, 74% of employees complete enrollment digitally, and 80% say online enrollment is their preferred method.¹

Many employers also want features like single sign-on and other ways to make enrollment access easier. Wherever you can, ensure a streamlined process so employees complete enrollment with a minimum amount of trouble.

Employees have different communication preferences, learning styles and benefit needs. A one-size-fits-all approach is unlikely to engage everyone effectively. To ensure all employees are aware of, understand and take action to enroll in benefits, think through the needs of various employee populations.

Email remains highly popular, but employees also value benefit portals, printed materials, meetings and opportunities to ask questions directly. Because communication preferences vary, a multi-channel approach is often the most effective way to engage a diverse workforce.

Employees need time to become aware of their benefits, recognize their value, understand the details and get clear on where and when they need to enroll. A single communication can’t do all of that. Get started early on your enrollment communications and ensure employees receive information several times, using a variety of methods.

Consider using the 3x3x3 strategy: start three weeks before enrollment, send at least three communications and use at least three different methods.

Enrollment season is an important time to educate your employees about their benefits. But it’s not the only time.

It’s helpful to communicate your benefits message throughout the year. Forty-five percent of workers say they receive benefits information from their employers only during the annual open enrollment period.¹ However, 73 percent would prefer to receive benefit communications either a few times or frequently throughout the year.¹

It’s also a good practice to gather employee feedback after enrollment. This can reveal what's working, identify gaps in understanding and provide insights that help improve future enrollment experiences.

Year-round communication helps employees continue learning about their benefits long after enrollment ends. It also allows employers to reinforce the value of benefits, promote usage, remind employees about available resources and connect benefits information to real-life events and changing needs.

Open enrollment is one of the few opportunities employers have each year to demonstrate the value of their benefits investment, help workers make informed decisions and strengthen employee confidence in the support available to them.

By building awareness early, creating a better benefits experience and maintaining communication throughout the year, employers can turn open enrollment into a stronger employee engagement and retention strategy. With benefits influencing whether employees stay with their employers, the effort is well worth it.

Learn how Unum enrollment resources, benefits education materials and enrollment support solutions can help create a better benefits experience for your workforce.

Review our benefits education and enrollment solutions.