Ease the Pains of Open Enrollment

Ease the Pains of Open Enrollment

As we quickly approach Open Enrollment, we begin to recall how time-consuming and tedious it can be to go through the process at your organization. Since most organizations have a rhythm for enrollment, they tend to neglect the changes and innovations around that can help ease the pains of Open Enrollment. Instead of following an outdated procedure that is not efficient, focus on these key factors that will help develop your Open Enrollment process from here on out.

Communication
Communicating effectively with your employees regarding Open Enrollment can save yourself and your employees a significant amount of time. It’s important to be in constant contact with your employees to ensure that they understand the full procedure of enrolling in their benefits. Most employees are different and have a preferred method of communication, so make sure you try to accommodate as many as possible. This includes mixing digital communications (e.g. videos and message boards) with some of the more traditional methods (e.g. brochures and seminars). Regardless of which methods you decide to communicate through, make sure you use the proper verbiage and do it in a timely manner.

Adaptation
As we continue through the digital era, it’s important to make sure you don’t fall behind the curve. Employees are seeing that it is becoming easier to do their Open Enrollment when it’s online and in one, easy-to-use location. With all the resources necessary in one location, your employees will be able to view all of their benefits packages before selecting them and even see details such as which doctors may be covered under which plans prior to enrolling. The developments in the digital era is making it easier to get tasks, such as Open Enrollment, completed while also allowing the user to better comprehend effects it has on them.

Feedback
Once all is said and done, it’s important to remember that your employees’ feedback can play a large part in planning for the following year. Benefitfocus points out that by conducting a survey regarding how the Open Enrollment process went, you can take these results and adjust, so that in the future you will constantly improve upon the previous years. This feedback can be gathered through group discussions, individual discussions, or surveys, either traditional or digital. The results from these surveys will make a large impact on your organization.

Open Enrollment could be considered one of the most daunting tasks that both employees and employers will complete this year. Due to the complex nature of the process, it’s important to approach it in the most appropriate way. By staying in communication, being adaptive, and remaining knowledgeable on the subject, your organization will be able to take on your next Open Enrollment period without breaking a sweat.

This DATIS Blog was written by Carlos Lozano, DATIS, on October 6th, 2016 and may not be re-posted without permission.

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