Across the internet, common suggestions for promoting benefits open enrollment often include “require active enrollment,” “educate employees” or “simplify communications.” While that’s all well and good, you’ve heard it all before. Those tried-and-true tactics have their place, but what about some unexpected ways to promote benefits open enrollment? Because capturing employees’ attention while highlighting the value of available benefits in a condensed period can be challenging, to say the least.
So, this benefits open enrollment season, try some unexpected and creative ways to promote all you have to offer:
Employee Ambassador Programs
The average HR staff-to-employee ratio is 1.7 per 100. That’s a wide gap, especially considering all that must be accomplished during benefits open enrollment season. The good news is that with this creative idea, you can lessen the gap without adding headcount. The concept is to create a team of employee ambassadors who are knowledgeable about your benefits and can help promote and explain them to their peers. You can incentivize those employee ambassadors by offering a perk like company swag or summer Friday half-days.
Storytelling and Testimonials
Much like employee ambassador programs have a peer-to-peer connection, storytelling and testimonials bring that to an even deeper level. Here, employees who have benefited from specific plans share real-life stories and testimonials, making the benefits more relatable and tangible. You can do this by recording short videos shared via email or within your benefits portal. Or, if employees are willing, they could share during a Q&A session.
Interactive Webinars and Q&A Sessions
Offering employees multiple opportunities to engage during benefits open enrollment and get their questions answered can enhance their overall experience and for you to drive the desired participation rates. You could host a live webinar to explain employee benefits in detail or hold an interactive Q&A session to address employee questions directly. While this may not seem unexpected, when either is paired with a testimonial, it can be a creative way to reach employees.
Personalized Benefit Statements or Customized Infographics
Benefits statements, or total compensation statements, are nothing new. However, you can get creative with them. Traditionally, a personalized benefit statement shows employees the exact value of the benefits an employee is currently enrolled in and how their company is investing in them. However, you can take it a step further by including comparisons of different plans to highlight potential savings or advantages. You could also change it up for your visual learners! Instead of statements, design personalized infographics for each employee that outline their current benefits, potential options, and how different choices could impact them financially and health-wise.
Pop-Up Booths and Events
A large, primarily onsite workforce can benefit from seeing their HR team face to face. Setting up pop-up booths in high-traffic areas within the workplace could be just the way to grab their attention. With a pop-up, employees can get information, ask questions, and even sign up for benefits on the spot. You can even include interactive elements like wellness events, live demonstrations or invite voluntary benefit partners to join you.
Want to add more fun to your OE initiatives? Check out these 3 Employee-Approved Open Enrollment Themes.
Creative Communication Channels
Employees get inundated with emails, so it’s time to communicate creatively. Communication channels like SMS (aka, texting) or internal social media groups like Slack or Microsoft Teams can be an unexpected way to reach employees during this benefit open enrollment season. While it’s a bit more resource-intensive, you may even try a dedicated benefits podcast to share information about open enrollment.
Don’t miss The Top 5 Ways to Make Your Open Enrollment Communications Memorable.
Microlearning Modules
Gone are the days of a 40-page benefits manual! Now, it’s about engaging employees in a variety of ways. One way to do that is by developing short, engaging video clips or microlearning modules that employees can watch at their convenience. These can be sent via email or shared on your benefits portal.
Gamification
Gamification is a fancy way of saying you’re applying gameplay elements to other areas of activity, such as employee benefits. Regarding benefits open enrollment, that could look like creating a game or challenge where employees can earn points or rewards for learning about their benefits. For example, you could create a trivia game related to the benefits offered, making the learning process fun. You could also create a bingo card with different benefits and activities related to the open enrollment process, where employees can check off boxes as they complete tasks or learn about various benefits, with completed cards entered for a prize drawing. This creative exercise could be beneficial for a remote workforce.
Uncover more ideas in the Warm Up for OE Employee Benefits Enrollment & Engagement Playbook.
Pop-Ins by Leadership
Workforce culture is essential, benefits being a large part of that, and having leadership on board can help make it stick. During benefits open enrollment, one unexpected way to promote benefits is by having company leaders visit team meetings or break rooms to discuss the importance of benefits and share their own experiences.
Interactive Benefit Decision Tools
Interactive benefit decision tools don’t necessarily qualify as unexpected, especially in our digital age; however, they are some of the most important. With a benefits enrollment and engagement platform, employees can receive tailored benefit guidance recommendations, making it easier to make optimal benefit decisions.
Explore the resources shared below for more open enrollment ideas.
