Open enrollment is one of the busiest times of the year for HR departments. Benefits managers must not only craft a robust list of benefit offerings beforehand. They need to ensure everyone successfully completes their enrollment.
But what if your employees don't understand the process of enrollment? What if they don’t know what benefit options are available?
Learn More: Creative Ways to Communicate During Open Enrollment
To avoid wasting too much time and energy on benefits enrollment, you should plan to incorporate communications into your benefits enrollment strategy. Employee communications are a crucial part of every enrollment cycle, and your communications efforts should include every employee.
The Importance of Communication for Benefits Enrollment
There are a number of reasons why communications should be a key part of your planning for benefits enrollment.
First, it is important for the company to be able to deliver the right set of information to its employees at the right time. This allows all the questions about benefits and enrollment to be answered. It also ensures there are no gaps in the delivery of information.
Second, it is important for the company to communicate with its employees in a way that is meaningful to them. This also helps them to connect with the company in a professional manner. Effectively communicating a benefits enrollment package from the start lets employees feel comfortable and gets them started on the right foot.
Communicating Benefits as an Employee Engagement Strategy
Employee communication and engagement are key components of employee benefits management.
One major focus of employee benefits administration is retention, since excellent benefits and long-term employment are closely tied. The best way to improve retention is to communicate the value of your offerings. Explain why your company has the best benefits package on the market.
Another way to boost retention is to make the enrollment process as simple and efficient as possible. The easier it is for employees to enroll, the more likely they are to utilize your company's benefits package. A lot of employees simply don't have time to navigate the HR labyrinth. Complexity leads to churn.
When employees can easily enroll in benefits, they feel more engaged. As a result, they are less likely to leave a job.
How to Incorporate Communication into Your Benefits Enrollment
The benefits enrollment process is a critical part of employee onboarding. Offering benefits enrollment support is an easy way to improve employee satisfaction. Many companies, however, have trouble with the communication aspect of the process.
Employees often don't understand what their benefits are. They don’t know how participation in these benefits will help them achieve their future goals. They are also missing the bigger picture.
A comprehensive communication strategy can fill in all these blanks. Divide these into small chunks and spread them throughout open enrollment.
