Introduction

During Open Enrollment, the stakes are high. For HR teams, the success of open enrollment season can be a determining factor in the success of other initiatives like recruitment, employee engagement and turnover.

That’s because the quality of the benefits an employer offers, and employees’ engagement with those benefits, can be highly determinative of employees’ experiences at the company. If employees feel as though they’re offered and participate in high value benefits, they tend to feel more supported by their employer and thus more loyal. In fact, 78% of employees are more likely to stay with their employer because of their satisfaction with their benefits package. In addition, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that 60% of employees said that benefits were either extremely or important when considering a job.

For employees, access to health insurance plans and other programs and accounts that help them to build physical, emotional and financial health, can be a determinative factor in how much stress they experience, how they feel about their life overall and how productive they are at work. In fact, the Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI) found that when employees’ healthcare costs increased, they were more likely to reduce their contributions to their retirement savings plans, delay seeking medical treatment, carry higher credit card debt and experience other adverse effects. The wrong benefits can make employees less healthy. And as health declines, so does productivity.

Despite the importance of benefits, employees only spend an average of 18 minutes making their selection and enrolling according to a 2020 report by Plan Source.

In order for your employees to get the most out of their benefits, getting open enrollment is critical to your company’s success. Lively created this guide to help brokers, employers, and benefits administrators successfully navigate and streamline their open enrollment process based on our deep industry insights. In it we share best practices, proven strategies, answers to common questions, and helpful resources to empower both employees and employers to get the most of open enrollment and confidently embrace a healthy future.