Once a year, employers have the chance to shop around for benefits, and employees can choose whether they want to enroll and which plan they want to select.

While open enrollment can seem like a standard process for employers and employees alike, many small details can make or break a successful process. To ensure that open enrollment is a smooth and pain-free process, employers need to meticulously plan and execute multiple steps.

Below, we’ll discuss some best practices for benefits open enrollment.

Plan Early

Open enrollment comes every 12 months, but employers need to start planning much earlier than that. In fact, it’s best to start the planning process at least six months in advance of the next open enrollment period.

By planning this far out, you’ll be giving yourself and team members adequate time to shop around for possible plans, put together informational materials employees will need and to plan a strategy for communication to your employees.

You may not need this much time if your organization is on the smaller side, but some advanced preparation of at least a few months is best.

Understand Changes in Law

The government often changes health-care laws and compliance requirements. Understanding these changes is vital to stay in compliance since the penalties for not doing so can be quite stiff.

You’ll want to understand whether employers have to do anything differently when it comes to the benefits they offer, whether there are any new reporting requirements and whether the new laws apply to your company specifically.

Create a Communication Plan

One of the biggest keys to successful open enrollment is communication with your employees. Your goal should be to clearly and openly communicate all options that your employees will have so they can make the best choice for themselves and their families.

Your communications need to appeal to your diverse workforce, both in terms of background and age. Yet, they also need to be standardized and easy enough to understand for everyone.

Communications can include emails, flyers posted around the office and/or handed out, and informational meetings that you can hold both in-person and virtually.

You want to make sure that you’re giving all of your employees ample opportunities to learn about their options come open enrollment well in advance of the period actually opening.

It’s also important to provide chances for them to ask questions and learn more about how their benefits choices could affect them.

Be Transparent

Employees today can easily become disenchanted with the open enrollment process as they see their benefits costs rising every year. Unfortunately, employers bear the brunt of a lot of their angst.

One way you can counteract that is to be as transparent as possible with your employees. Share as much information you can with them about all of the costs associated with offering benefits, including the off-the-shelf price and how much money the company is contributing to lower the cost of these benefits for employees.

By clearly outlining the role the company is playing in lowering the cost of their benefits, employees will be more likely to trust the company and appreciate what it’s doing. This is a great opportunity to turn a potential negative into a big positive for the company.

Harness the Power of Technology

There are so many technology tools available today to reduce the employer cost and administrative burden associated with open enrollment and ongoing benefits administration.

Some will streamline the enrollment process and eliminate much of the necessary paperwork. Some will automate manual tasks that consume a significant amount of time and resources.

Working directly with an experienced benefits administration team or company will enable you to explore possible technology stacks that could be of great benefit to you and your employees.

These tools save you time and money and free up your HR team members to work on more pressing matters. Not only that, but they can provide seamless access to employees so they can use their benefits easier than ever before.

Plan a Smooth Benefits Open Enrollment with Beckham Ellis Insurance Group

Benefits open enrollment can be a stressful time for employers and employees alike. By following the best practices listed above, you can make it much less headache-inducing and ensure that every employee gets exactly what they need.

At Beckham Ellis Insurance Group, we have years of experience working with companies of all sizes to plan for and execute on solid benefits open enrollment strategies. We can help your company save time and money, while also increasing employee satisfaction in the process.

To learn more about how we can help you, please contact us today.