With all the disruptions everyone has faced, adjusted for, and overcome these past few months, employers might be tempted to relax and take a break before pushing forward, especially where open enrollment is concerned. That’s not until October, right? Plenty of time to get everything squared way…

Honestly, no. Open enrollment will be here before you know it. The time to be planning for it is now.

Why? Many businesses have been shuttered, operating at reduced capacity, or otherwise paused. Scheduling stakeholder meetings will likely take longer. Your internal team usually tasked with planning and implementing employee benefits may be smaller because of coronavirus impacts. Even your vendors and outside consultants may be short-staffed and already struggling to get back up to speed. Procrastinate this year and your dates, benefits budget and on-time enrollments could be jeopardized.

The entire process of finalizing employee benefits plans — along with designing, reviewing, editing, printing and distributing related materials — often faces a Q4 crunch in the best of times. And these are not the best of times. Organizations can proactively embrace open enrollment planning now — even if you have no idea what benefits will be offered or which carrier to go with. There is so much you can do before those decisions are made!

Are they easy to understand or too full of industry jargon? Do they need to reflect your workforce more accurately? Show more diversity across race, age and gender? If it’s time for a new look and feel now is the time to get started. Creating enrollment guides (or better yet, an enrollment brand) with fresh content and new images is more involved than “simply updating” and will take additional time — whether it’s a print piece or digital or both. Here’s the good news: Consider style options for communication materials now and meet with the appropriate teams to get started. Contact us if you need help.

Do you need to expand the number and frequency of OE communications? There is a lot to convey, including deadline reminders, effective plan use, wellness program encouragement, changes to benefits, and continuing education around health care reform. Email, postcards, social media, video, webcasts, timely text messages and infographics can all be used to inform and drive action. Ensure that certain pieces (such as postcards and guides) reach employees at home so that spouses can be part of the benefits decision-making as well. All of these campaigns involve time and effort, so it’s important to get started.

Did everyone enroll last year? What’s the goal for boosting that number this coming year? Were there communication gaps? You might consider an employee survey to get a clearer picture. Did you see an uptick in telemedicine or nurse line utilization during the shutdown? What about the company’s EAP? With the stress and anxiety of coronavirus restrictions (the isolation of remote working, reduced hours, furloughs, spouses losing jobs, etc.) employees may have needed more help than ever before — or for the first time. Look at available data. If EAP utilization increased or seems to still be a popular go-to, you may want to give it a higher profile in your enrollment guide. As a free, confidential resource, it offers a win-win for everyone: It fills an employee need and reflects as a value-added investment from employers.

Step 3: Consider a broader variety of communication channels

Do you still have employees working remotely? Now may be the time to go fully digital — or include more mobile options for accessing benefits and open enrollment information.

According to the Pew Center, 81% of Americans own smartphones. Gallup polling shows that about half (52%) of those smartphone owners “check their devices several times an hour or more frequently, including 11% who say they check it every few minutes and 41% who check it a few times an hour.” Ensuring employees can easily and quickly access carrier information via their phones is an ideal way to boost benefit usage.

The economic pain wrought by COVID-19 and the fact that most American employees’ health insurance is tied to their employer has understandably heightened financial concerns. For many people, job loss equals loss of coverage. No one knows for sure what the future holds. So be empathetic but straightforward in all communications, especially if there are significant changes. Offer opportunities for feedback. Webcasts, a digital “town hall” or smaller-group video meetings can encourage dialogue that can then help inform plan decisions.

Step 5: Think of benefits communication as crisis communications

How did COVID-19 affect your benefits budget? Communication planning is vital to reach employees amidst crisis and necessary for maximum reach. Crisis communications are timely, transparent and consistent. And with coronavirus as yet un-vanquished and the economy gut-punched and uncertain, we are still very much in crisis. First, employers must consider employee locations and work environments. Does everyone have access to a computer, smart phone, email? Multiple channels will be necessary to reach employees where they are (their families, too). Wise organizations will communicate early, often and regularly.

In a year of unimaginable chaos, Open Enrollment for the 2021 plan year should be a well-informed, no-surprises, smooth-sailing, welcome event for employees.

Don’t hesitate to contact us for assistance with any of these items, no matter your location. We’d be happy to help.

Photo credits: You X Ventures, Gabrielle Henderson, Simon Abrams, Alex Kotliarskyi