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How To Enhance The Open Enrollment Experience

Forbes Human Resources Council

CMO & Head of People at BrightPlan, a Total Financial Wellness company.

Actively listening to employees’ needs and offering the right benefits in response is an ongoing process. This continuum of a thoughtful open enrollment experience, one that demonstrates empathy and a dedication to employee well-being, would not be possible without the power of HR and technology.

Technology has and continues to disrupt all aspects of the HR industry, driven by the needs of a diverse and global workforce. Over the years, people leaders have transitioned from a manual and human-led approach to HR and benefits administration to today leveraging HRIS software and online benefits administration tools to enhance nearly every aspect of the HR function: from payroll and benefits administration to performance management and workforce planning.

More recently, the proliferation of digital-led employee benefits has further empowered employers to deliver benefits at scale and provided employees with real-time access to the support and resources they need, when they need them.

Enhancing The Open Enrollment Experience

Today, enhancing the open enrollment experience is about enabling HR teams to identify employee needs and respond in kind with relevant support and tools. When viewed as a yearlong continuum, open enrollment has three distinct phases:

Before Open Enrollment

This stage is about actively listening to employees and their pain points to better understand the diverse and personalized needs of a global workforce. In a virtual and distributed work environment, listening in real time and at scale requires technology. The insights garnered, coupled with benchmarking data, can help HR teams identify potential gaps in their benefits offering and enable them to curate the right mix for their workforce.

During Open Enrollment

This phase is about rolling out the benefits you've carefully curated for your employees and actively communicating and connecting with employees in order to drive awareness, enrollment and benefits utilization. This requires meeting your workers where they are through the communications channel of their choice.

Look for innovative ways to connect with your workforce through a mix of tech-enabled avenues, such as text, push notifications, online chat features and videos as well as traditional in-person options, such as lunch and learns.

After Open Enrollment

Conduct clear assessments of what worked and what needs to be recalibrated for the coming year. Technology can empower employers with benefits enrollment and utilization data by providing insight into employee behaviors and needs by demographic and location. This can inform your benefits strategy and serve as the springboard for adjusting and refining your benefits offering.

Look for ways to provide more value and better support evolving employee needs in real time, as well as opportunities to drive benefits utilization throughout the year through forums such as employee resource groups (ERGs).

Digital-Led Employee Well-Being Benefits

In a digital world, technology has a role to play in meeting employees where they are through the medium of their choice. By providing employees—especially Millennials and Gen-Z workers (the newest generation to hit the workforce)—with the ability to access benefits in real time and from anywhere, they are more likely to engage in those benefits.

Research from Dell Inc. found 80% of Gen-Z "aspire to work with cutting-edge technology," and 91% say that "technology offered by an employer would be a factor in choosing among similar job offers." To meet the needs of this growing employee base, benefits are becoming increasingly digitally led. Alongside the growing popularity of telehealth, several new benefits are transforming the way employers support their people’s well-being.

Mental Health Apps

The pandemic led to the proliferation of mindfulness apps and online therapy. Digital mental health resources have reduced the stigma of getting help and made it easier for employees to access the support they need when they need it.

Financial Wellness Programs

Today, financial wellness is top of mind for much of the workforce, and employers feel increasingly responsible for their employees’ financial well-being. Consider how you can provide access to financial wellness resources to all employee populations while delivering a high-quality and consistent employee experience across the globe.

By pairing resources on extensive learning, financial planning and money management with access to seasoned financial planners, employees can be better equipped to build financial confidence and achieve long-term financial success.

Bottom Line

In today's business world, technology enables HR to personalize the open enrollment experience for employees based on their needs, preferences and goals.

For employers and HR teams, prioritizing digital-led benefits can provide valuable data and insights on employee pain points and benefits utilization and engagement, as well as clarity on the success of their benefits programs. HR leaders can better support their people, deliver value and ROI, drive personalization and improve overall decision-making, not just during the open enrollment season but all year round.


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