Decision support tools are being requested this year more than ever because of the COVID-19 based shift toward virtual Open Enrollment. However, these tools are often out of reach for small to mid market employers. If you’re a small to mid-market employer, here are three strategies you can use to drive engagement remotely this year.
Leverage multi-channel communication
Most employers average 2.5 communication options. While this is a great start, there are still certain cases where it might not be enough.
With three (to even four) distinctively different generations in the workforce, a one-size-fits-all approach is unlikely to reach the majority of employees. A multi-channel approach is more likely to reach employees where they are at.
Understand how to best reach employees (or the household decision maker)
As mentioned, there can be up to four generations in your workforce. When you understand your employees, you understand how to best reach them. At some point, employees might need flashing lights and buzzers warning them that time is running out. But it is also important to consider the household.
If you are only communicating to employees through their work email. Are you potentially missing the primary household decision maker?
Mailings or paper can be an effective option when your decision maker is not the employee.
Communicate and communicate some more
While it feels like a broken record, you can rarely over-communicate these days.
There used to be a rule of three in marketing indicating you needed to communicate your message three times to be effective. Then, it recent years, it became the Rule of Seven suggesting people need to hear a message seven times before they are likely to take action on it. A study by Microsoft concluded that messages are best when communicated between 6 and 20 times.
When time permits, it is best to start communicating 30-60 days prior to benefits enrollment period (if not sooner). Start simple by sharing a video link or brief highlights of benefits.
By the time open enrollment comes around, communications should become increasingly personal and served as a guide to benefits selection.
Bonus strategy: Leverage communication tracking to understand which employees have been reached
While it may feel a little Big Brother(ish), email and website activity tracking can provide great insights into who is receiving messages, who might need a little nudge and where employees might need a little extra help or resources.
Activity tracking doesn’t just have to be for external clients and prospects. It can be a great tool for internal communication and awareness as well.
Where do decision support tools come in?
A decision support tool like BRI Insights allows you to provide a personalized benefits assessment built right into the BRI experience. Participants can compare alternative health plan options while receiving recommendations for contribution amounts for pre-tax benefits.
Recommendations are based on an employee’s unique demographics including dependents, pre-planned medical events, income, and tax bracket. This is combined with an engaging employee outbound email campaign to drive completion of the assessment.
Finally, using a tool like BRI Insights, you solve key open enrollment challenges, including:
- encouraging active enrollment
- promoting benefits of HSA-eligible plans
- providing an alternative to in-person meetings
- driving participation and financial results
- clarifying value of all pre-tax account options
Bonus strategies to drive engagement remotely
In additional to the above, discover more strategies you can use to drive engagement remotely in our new guide: Creating an Effective Benefits Communication Strategy for a Remote Workforce. Download it here.
Want to learn more about how BRI Insights can help you centralize benefit resources and provide a holistic view of benefits to enhance your virtual Open Enrollment experience in 2020? Watch this 90-second overview video:
