You can check all of the boxes with your employee communication plan, but how can you get your employees engaged and interested in their benefits enrollment?
The funny thing about benefits is that even though they’re generally cited as a key influencer in job decisions and employee retention, most employees would rather not think about them. Benefits are confusing. Thinking about which benefits are best for them takes up time that employees simply don’t have. The big enthusiasm for shiny new benefits when an employee takes a job just doesn’t last as the years go by.
If you’ve started working on your open enrollment messaging and timing, then grabbing your employees’ interest and getting them engaged in the benefits selection and enrollment process is your next big challenge.
Find What’s Working
If you have data, use it! Look at your employee participation numbers and see which benefit programs are most appealing to your team right now. It could be anything from wellness programs to home-buying seminars, but the key is that these are the offerings already resonating with your employees. Share messaging that showcases your most popular offerings and offer related benefits which can piggy-back off their success. You can also emphasize your benefits platform’s decision support tool, if available, for employees who might be on the fence about joining the fun.
Showcase Value
Benefits come down to money, right? Whether they’re saving money on healthcare or learning to save for retirement, it all comes down to dollars. So take some time to craft messaging which really touches on the value of the benefits they are utilizing — and how much money employees could leave on the table if they skip enrollment. It’s a good reminder to employees that your company is more than a paycheck but offers real value with the benefits options provided.
Add Incentives
Benefits, saving money, and signing up for seminars all provide a lot of value, but still lack a wow factor at the point of sale. Imagine if every time an employee signed up for their benefits, balloons dropped from the ceiling and congratulatory music started playing! Well, that’s probably not going to happen, but you can still throw a party. Plan some incentives for teams who achieve early enrollment goals — pizza parties are always popular. Be sure you give these incentives plenty of attention in your communications leading up to open enrollment.
With these boosts to your open enrollment communications plan, you’ll be able to motivate and excite your employees about their upcoming benefits enrollment. And for help with sharing these messages, don’t miss our digital communications package. It offers easy-to-use templates for a variety of mediums, in brilliant, customizable designs. Learn more here.