The 7 Best Ways to Engage Employees During Open Enrollment
1. Take a hint from Sesame Street
There’s a reason Sesame Street has been around for more than 50 years. They are geniuses when it comes to effective teaching and captivating their young audience. But how do they do it?
When we were all under lockdown, my days at home with my little toddler were filled with Sesame Street. We couldn’t get enough. So, I finally sat down to study what makes this show so effective? What’s unique about it? Yes, the tunes are catchy! I still sing them to this day, but what can I learn from this show and apply to other audiences?
I sat. I watched. I studied. Here’s the easiest way to sum up what I learned:
Sesame Street doesn’t overwhelm their audience with too much information. They don’t teach the entire alphabet in one episode. Instead, they focus on the letter of the day. It’s all about small chunks of information that can be easily absorbed. It’s about laser focus.
As we grow up, it’s assumed that we can learn more in a sitting. That we can process even more information. But the truth is, our brains are at their best when we’re young! When we hit 30, 40, 50, 60 years old…we aren’t any better at absorbing information, we’re worse. Then! Add on all the noise and distractions that come our way. We need to go back to the old way of learning. Small chunks, laser-focused learning.
How can you apply this to benefits education?
Instead of the “letter of the day”, try the “benefit of the week”! How many benefits do you offer? Let’s say 10. Then, count backwards from when your Open Enrollment period starts. Start education 10 weeks before Open Enrollment period and teach your employees about one benefit per week. For example, if your Open Enrollment starts on Nov. 7, start your “benefit of the week” campaign on Sept. 29. If you need help thinking of ideas, download our 12-months benefits communications calendar.
Instead of having one benefits meeting for all employees, hold multiple, specific types of benefits meetings to cater to each person’s needs. They get to choose which meetings apply to them! For example, HDHP Plans for Families, How to Save for the Future, Do FSAs really help me save money, Dental Plans for Employees with Kids, and so on. Hyper-focused benefits meetings allow employees to be more engaged; thus better learning and a better appreciation for their benefits package!
2. Benefits scavenger hunt
This can be so much fun and a great way to get employees engaged in their benefits. We recommend starting this a couple of months prior to Open Enrollment period, that way employees can truly get to know their benefits and it builds up excitement.
Now, when we say “scavenger hunt”, it doesn’t have to be something physical in the office employees are looking for. It can be digital! You can make it really simple, or go beyond and really add some excitement.
Examples of simple hunt ideas:
How many medical plans do we offer?
Do we offer a Flexible Spending Account?
Are you able to enroll your family in your benefits plans?
Boost it up!
Which medical plan has the lowest deductible?
What type of benefit do we offer that allows you to put away up to $7300 in tax-free savings?
Which dental plans allows you and your children to get braces?
How much is a virtual doctor visit under X medical plan?
What benefit do we offer that gives you special discounted rates if you have to take your dog in for emergency care?
What benefit do we offer gives you legal and financial support if your identity is stolen?
You see what we’re doing here? We’re showcasing how amazing benefits actually are without going into a ton of detail. These little nuggets of information will make your employees ears perk up for sure and get them interested!
Go beyond and offer up some cool prizes like golf clubs, yoga leggings, wireless chargers or even an iPad!
3. Podcasts by employees
While this is a newer phenomenon, it’s one of our favorites! Do your employees have an internal podcast show at your company? If so, have them incorporate an episode dedicated to the company’s benefits package. Perhaps they’ll open up about what’s confusing, or what they wish they had. Maybe you’ll hear questions or comments that you never even thought of! Or! You may even hear something they wish they had, but you offer it! If that happens, then you’ll know you need to ramp up your benefits communications strategy.
If you don’t have an internal podcast, this could be something cool to add to your roadmap. Podcasts are spectacular for employee engagement. Think about it, if you had a podcast that employees could listen to in the car ride on the way to work, or during business travel – you have a completely new way of sharing information. And it’s information that’s easy to absorb – no reading or watching required!
Podcasts are growing in popularity because they:
Allow you to reach your employee population more efficiently
Allow employees to be more engaged as they are currently experiencing video-call fatigue
Allow you to be more effective with your onboarding strategy
Allow you to recognize employees through celebration, stories and even give them their own platform to speak with their peers!
Here are a couple of cool podcast platforms we found – one is even free! (Now, you have no excuse.)
4. Show humor through memes
Oh, the fun you can have with memes! They’re a pop culture phenomenon because they’re effective, relatable and hilarious. “But wait”, you may be thinking, “we’re talking about employee benefits…how can we use memes?!”
Who said benefits can’t be a little fun? Certainly not us! Want to really get your employees to pay attention? Start incorporating humor. Humor connects us all. When we feel connected, we’re more likely to pay attention, feel engaged and most importantly – take action. Are there aspects of your benefits that you can poke fun at? Is there maybe something that happens every Open Enrollment season that drives you crazy, but you can turn it around and find the humor in it? Don’t hide it, let it out with memes!
We have some below to help you get your creative juices flowing. Feel free to use ours or make your own here.
5. Infographics
These days, people are used to getting information very quickly. Gone are the days of reading booklets, or even a flyer!
Infographics are a great way to share important information quickly and in a visually appealing way. Employees can quickly glance to get the information that’s relevant to them, making their benefits just that much easier to understand.
Take a look at some samples! These are easy to make! Download our template right here if you want a great starting point. Or, you can always make your own on a design website like Canva.
6. Gather your internal influencers and make a commercial
First, we need to define “internal influencer”. Are you familiar with social media influencers? These are typically bloggers who have such a large following that companies will pay them to talk about their products. For example, Amazon will pay said influencer to talk about how great the Prime Day deals are, and model off the clothes or the amazing vacuum cleaner.
Believe it or not, influencers exist within your company! Yup! We call them “internal influencers”. These are the employees who are your “ride-or-die” type people. They love the company, they proudly wear the company swag, they get involved in activities, and their personality is contagious. People just want to be around their energy.
If you can determine who your “internal influencers” are, then you could make a huge statement with your benefits package. Ask your influencers about their thoughts on the benefits package at your company. What has their experience been like, etc. Then, encourage them to tell the rest of the company what they love about their benefits. They could make their own “commercial” just using their cell phone! And if you have any Millennials or Gen Z employees in the office, they can do this easily with all the apps that exist. (Peep our favorite video apps here!)
What’s important to understand here is that your employees don’t always want to hear from leadership. Sometimes, they want to just hear from their peers. They want to hear about their experiences and their thoughts. This way of information sharing is much more effective and engaging!
7. Tell stories
Do you ever think about what the greatest Superbowl commercials of all time have in common? Close your eyes and think about your favorite one. Doritos? Budweiser? Alexa? They don’t go into a ton of detail about the product; instead, they tell a story. Stories allow you to make an impact with a large group of people. With a population made up of different backgrounds, different age groups, different political views…it can feel almost impossible to tell one story that resonates with all. You have the same struggle as Superbowl marketers! Your employee audience is no different.
When trying to connect to your diverse audience, use stories to convey your message. For example, if you’re trying to encourage employees to use the Urgent Care Center instead of the ER, and you’re using language such as “lower utilization cost” – you likely won’t make an impact. But, if you tell a story about Julie from marketing whose child sprained their ankle over the weekend. She went to Urgent Care and only had to wait 15 minutes to be seen, plus her fee was way lower than the ER exam fee. She felt so much peace of mind and didn’t stress about her financial situation.
So many parents can relate to Julie!
Or what about Rob from accounting? He’s always losing sleep about not having enough money for retirement. He went to analyze his portfolio and he learned that he was only contributing 1% of his income. He chatted with Layla from HR and he didn’t even realize that the company also matched his contribution up to 5%! Rob quickly changed his contributions to 5%, and then the company started putting in money to his retirement account – another 5%. He feels so much better about his financial goals!
Cheesy? Perhaps. Effective? Totally!
We hope these creative ideas get you ready to rock and roll for your Open Enrollment season!
REQUEST A DEMO.
Submit your information below to see our services in action.