Common Open Enrollment Mistakes
Shortly after your business’s annual employee benefits renewal and while it is still top of mind is an excellent opportunity to assess the process. Consider how your renewal went. Do any pain points stand out? What was the engagement level? What other positive or troublesome steps are worth noting? Time spent now can address those topics to improve next year’s renewal.
In this article, we assess the most common mistakes that occur in employee benefits open enrollment renewals and offer tangible, strategic solutions to ensure a positive, engaged, and successful on-going benefits process.
Mistake #1: Conducting Business in English Only
In the diverse landscape of Southern California, a multilingual approach is necessary to clearly convey benefits information. Without communicating in an employee’s most accessible language, miscommunication can occur and result in underutilization of benefits. If workers lack clarity regarding what is available to them and the best practices for access, benefits may be misused or not used at all. This in turn can translate into more workers’ compensation claims, greater absenteeism due to illness or injury, and an overall poor work culture. A lack of trust between employer and employees proliferates in this environment and is beneficial to no one.
At C3, we maximize cross-border benefits by providing physical and digital materials, voicemail and text communications, and in-person meetings in both English and Spanish so all employees clearly understand the benefits offered. Through every step of the process – including brokers, carriers, and enrollment firms – we have Spanish-speaking representation taking time to clearly and effectively communicate and answer questions. When employees understand how their plans work, they use them, and everyone benefits in this scenario.
Mistake #2: Lacking Multiple Communication Avenues
Relying on a single email or a solitary mailing to draw your employees’ attention to their annual benefits enrollment is not sufficient. When enrollment is treated as an obligatory box to check based on a single communication method, that is often how your employees receive the message – if they receive it at all. All care and foresight you put into your enrollment or new hire package is lost, and employees do not feel the good intention behind any offerings, simply because they haven’t been made aware of what is available to them.
However, when you actively use multiple communication lines to reach and inform employees, you increase meaningful touch points and convey the importance and care behind your benefits package. To do so, we utilize printed and digital materials such as physical mailers, displayed flyers, emails, text messages, and a clear benefits guide in multiple languages. With automated and pre-recorded voicemails as well as individual calls and messages, we add an additional layer and personalization to your outreach. Lastly, in-person meetings with groups and one-on-one sessions afford the opportunity for in-depth explanations and answers to any questions your employees may have regarding selection and use of various benefits. We capture the interest of your workforce and express the care crafted in your benefits offerings with a multifaceted and ongoing engagement strategy.
Mistake #3: Viewing Enrollment as an Impersonal Transaction
Employees are less likely to engage without meaningful interaction, negatively impacting company culture and outcomes. In this specialized space of employee benefits, many employees – as well as employers – do not fully understand the extent of their benefits including how cross-border coverage works for emergency and urgent care visits on the US side in addition to all included wellness program benefits that come with membership. But with an educational approach to benefits offerings and processes, employees feel taken care of, respected, and connected to their employers.
To demonstrate your care and offer peace of mind to your employees and their families through benefits offerings, we provide a custom and personalized Open Enrollment and New Hire experience that is grounded in education. At C3, we take our time to educate both employers and employees and clarify the complexities and options surrounding their benefits choices.
In person – in either English or Spanish – we conduct multiple meetings at the guidance of the business and give every individual, benefit-eligible employee the one-on-one attention they need to understand their available cross-border benefits. Through this process, we have seen engagement rise, workers’ compensation claims and premiums decrease, and employees take their family members to the doctor for preventative care and treatment for chronic conditions for the first time in years. We take our time, eliminate employee frustration, and stay connected to our employers and their employees. It is our client’s peace of mind and a service we at C3 take pride in.
Time again we have seen that when employees understand how their plans work, they use and appreciate them more. In acting as an extension of your management team, your human relations team, and your company culture team, our C3 team provides top-level care and service year-round. Any broker can offer the same coverage at the same rates, but only a broker who cares can provide the experience and benefits customization that we create for your employees, your most valuable asset.
Jonathan Benet, Producer, Employee Benefits
