The leaves are turning colors, and everything is pumpkin spice-flavored now. That can only mean one thing—it’s annual enrollment season.

As an HR pro, you know this is one of the most critical (and busy) times of year. A smooth and successful rollout can empower your employees to make the best benefits choices.

At bswift®, we know the challenges HR faces and the questions you have during this critical time of year. Our team is here with our expert advice on how to tackle each one, ensuring a smooth and successful annual enrollment.

Question 1: How Can My HR Team Build a Benefits Package That Appeals to All Employees?

Provide Choice and Flexibility Through Voluntary Benefits Options

Taking a “one-size-fits-all” approach inevitably leaves some employees underserved and unsatisfied. According to the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM), certain benefits can improve retention. These include things like flexible work options, pet insurance, commuter benefits, discounts, financial wellness tools, and gym memberships.

The key is flexibility and choice. Conduct surveys and gather feedback to understand your employees’ diverse needs. Then, build a voluntary benefits package that appeals to different interests and life stages.

Question 2: What Steps Can My HR Team Take to Address the Underutilization of Employee Benefits?

Drive Employee Engagement with a Strategic Communication Plan

According to a Forrester Consulting study commissioned by bswift, Beyond Benefits: Why Employee Benefit Engagement Is Vital to Your Business, a whopping 83% of HR professionals say benefits often go underutilized by employees. Here are three strategic communication tips to drive employee engagement during annual enrollment:

1. Start communicating early and often across multiple channels

   Employees are often overwhelmed with info during enrollment. A multi-channel communications campaign featuring bite-sized info and reminders can cut through the noise.

2. Bring benefits information to life through custom videos

   That bite-sized content we mentioned can help you break down complex concepts and boost participation. The right benefits videos from bswift can help you build a more empowered, better-informed workforce.

3. Analyze data from past enrollments to identify bottlenecks and improvement areas

   If you have the data from previous years, look at questions asked, options chosen, and emerging needs to enhance your strategy.

Question 3: What Steps Can My HR Team Take to Make Annual Enrollment A Less Confusing or Overwhelming Experience?

Simplify Enrollment with a Dedicated Benefits Website with Chat Support

Annual enrollment can be a stressful time for employees. They get inundated with complicated health care information left and right. And they have to review these various benefit options and try to figure out what best meet their needs. Complex online systems and information overload can cause frustration. This, in turn, leads employees to disengage and simply re-enroll in the same benefits.

According to a survey by the Business Group on Health, 78% of employees said a benefits website with plain language descriptions and decision support tools would improve their enrollment experience. Leverage a public benefits website from the bswift Communication Agency to make sure the right resources are easy to find.

Question 4: How Can My HR Team, with Limited Resources, Effectively Manage Annual Enrollment Season?

Keep Top Talent and Focus on the Employee Experience with bswift

When the pumpkin spice and changing leaves say it’s time for that mission-critical task, bswift is here. We understand the challenges of annual enrollment, because solving them is what we do. Our goal is to create educated and empowered workforces and HR teams that are ready to thrive in the year ahead.

We’ve helped clients overcome countless hurdles over the decades. With strategic guidance and tailored technology, pain points like communications bottlenecks and administrative hassles can be a thing of the past.

Whether through AI-powered communications, voluntary offerings built for diversity or enrollment platforms purpose-built for usability, we’ll help you boost benefits engagement and retention, and elevate the whole employee experience.

Make Annual Enrollment Easy

Simpler said than done? Together, we’ll prove otherwise. Let’s discuss how to take your future annual enrollments to the next level.

LET’S TALK