THE ESSENTIAL OPEN ENROLLMENT PLAYBOOK FOR HR PROFESSIONALS
Open enrollment is one of the busiest and most critical times of the year for HR professionals. This guide is designed to help you streamline your process, communicate clearly with employees, and ensure everything runs smoothly from start to finish.
PRE-ENROLLMENT PLANNING
Create a Timeline
Begin planning months in advance. Set clear deadlines for preparing benefits materials, conducting vendor reviews, and finalizing open enrollment dates.
Review Benefits Offerings
Coordinate with your benefits providers to review and confirm plan offerings, rates, and any changes from the previous year.
Employee Surveys
Consider conducting a pre-enrollment survey to gather insights on employee satisfaction with existing benefits. This feedback can help you tailor your offerings.
EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION
Multi-Channel Approach
Use emails, webinars, intranet posts, and one-on-one meetings to ensure employees are informed. Different employees will prefer different communication channels.
Simplify the Message
Provide easy-to-understand guides explaining plan changes, cost-sharing, and deadlines. Include visual aids like comparison charts.
Prepare FAQs
Address common questions in advance, such as premium increases, out-of-pocket costs, and plan coverage details.
MAXIMIZING PLAN PARTICIPATION
Education
Host informational webinars and Q&A sessions to educate employees on their options. Use real-world scenarios to help them understand the benefits of each plan.
Use Decision-Making Tools
Provide employees with access to online tools where they can compare costs, coverage, and features side by side.
Reminders
Send regular reminders leading up to the enrollment deadline to ensure employees don’t miss out on their benefits.
POST-ENROLLMENT FOLLOW-UP
Review and Confirm Enrollments
Ensure that all employee selections are properly recorded and communicated to your benefits providers.
Employee Feedback
After enrollment, ask employees for feedback to identify areas of improvement for next year’s process.
Ongoing Communication
After enrollment, provide employees with confirmation of their benefits and details on how they can make changes if necessary.