It’s that time of year again! The federal open enrollment period for benefits is right around the corner, and due to changes the past few years have brought to the workforce, there are a few new things employers and human resource departments need to consider before.
It has been over two years since the onset of the pandemic, and business leaders are beginning to realize the full impact that pandemic-era protocols have had on their employees. The past two years have changed the expectations employees hold about many workplace traditions — including open enrollment — with many employees now unwilling to wait around for benefits to improve. According to research from Customer Affairs, 42% of employees are eager to accept a new job to receive better benefits. Here are some open enrollment hot topics that should be considered along with how to get started.
Healthcare is More Than Physical Health
When the pandemic started, the threat of layoffs sent much of the workforce into hysteria. Additionally, employees were forced into a remote working situation, and many felt pressured to clock more than the standard eight hours a day to try and demonstrate value to their company. While many employees were able to strike a better work-life balance during the pandemic, the unusual hours and added pressure of virtual working put a substantial strain on others. As a result, mental health became a hot topic in the HR world as HR professionals witnessed a strong wave of employee burnout.
Fast forward to 2022. The labor market has remained challenging for employers, though in new ways. It is difficult to find strong candidates because there’s a surplus of open positions and not enough applicants to fill them. This gives potential employees the power to request better benefits and higher pay during the hiring process. And to keep top-level talent and attract new employees, employers often have no option but to oblige.
But HR professionals can get ahead of these requests by prioritizing modern, top of the line benefits that acknowledge difficulties employees have faced over the past two years. Mental health and wellness offerings, for example, have become vital for a holistic benefits package. Due to the employee burnout — caused in part by moving to remote work, dealing with a global pandemic and balancing life and work — the demand for mental health and wellbeing coverage has never been higher. In 2021 alone, there was a 40% increase in the number of businesses that added mental healthcare to their benefits packages.
Form an Effective Communication Strategy
Many organizations have adopted a remote or hybrid approach to their workforce. As such, it is important for HR departments to lean into virtual education courses before, during and after the open enrollment period to guarantee an effective communication strategy. Before open enrollment begins, HR departments should send a survey to current employees to gather a sense of what needs to be changed within the current benefits package. Once decisions have been made about what will be changed, the HR department can schedule a few different options for a virtual open enrollment meeting. In this forum, there needs to be a benefits breakdown detailing different options and coverage levels. Allow employees to ask questions at the end and record the meeting for employees to review after.
Once the open enrollment period is over, the HR department can send a recap email on benefit options for employees to keep and have on hand. This email should also include a survey to help evaluate how employees felt about the open enrollment period and to know what can be improved upon for next year.
Recent Comments