By Troye Fontenette, Western Regional Manager, American Fidelity Assurance Company
This year has changed the way the world does everything, including benefits enrollments. And for employees, it’s more important than ever to keep them informed about their benefits options. Employers may be looking for new ways to engage their employees in safe and effective ways. American Fidelity shifted all enrollments to a guided virtual experience beginning in March, and we’ve observed which strategies are the most effective for a successful benefits enrollment.
Set an Expectation for Digital Communication
Ensure your employees know to expect important information digitally. Make sure you have your employees’ personal email addresses and cellphone numbers so you can get in touch with your staff no matter what circumstances arise. Even if you have returned to an in-person environment, using digital communications is often a better solution when your employees are always on the road.
Here are some digital communication methods to consider:
Postcards: To promote digital engagement, send a postcard to your employees with a QR code or hyperlink that opens your intranet or enrollment site. You can also use this as an opportunity to promote the other digital communication channels you plan to use throughout the enrollment.
Intranet: Ensure your intranet is kept up to date with a list of all your benefits offerings. When available, include digital versions of brochures, benefits education videos, and other information to help employees learn ahead of time.
Email Marketing: Email marketing has been the method of choice for businesses during the pandemic. Your employees are likely getting bombarded by every retailer and organization they’ve ever interacted with. Respect your employees’ inboxes by keeping your email frequency low and only include relevant and important information. If you aim for quality and not quantity, your employees are more likely to view the emails as pertinent.
Text Messages: Use text messages to send out important dates and reminders. You can include hyperlinks to your intranet site or other important benefits information.
Social Media Groups: Consider creating a private social media group for your employees to share updates and important information. Since employees are using their personal devices more now than ever, it is a great channel to use.
Don’t Stop Offering One-on-One Support
As you increase your digital communication strategies, don’t abandon one-on-one support. Employees want an opportunity to ask questions and receive personalized benefits recommendations.
Here are some ways you can still provide personal support:
Offer Educational Group Meeting Webinars
While benefits education videos are effective, live webinars are a great companion. One benefit of webinars compared to videos is the opportunity to ask questions. Hosting live events creates a sense of urgency and anticipation, so you are more likely to see engagement compared to a static video. Consider hosting webinars at multiple times of the day so your employees will have a chance to attend no matter where they are.
Provide a Virtual Guided Enrollment
While you may be considering an online self-enroll experience, only about 12% of employees said they prefer self-education on their benefits and enrolling on their own.(2) A guided virtual enrollment allows your employees to receive one-on-one guidance from a dedicated benefits counselor. Just because enrollments may happen virtually doesn’t mean your employees have to sacrifice getting the guidance they want.
While we hope the future allows things to “return to normal,” these benefits communications strategies are likely here to stay. We’re here to help, whatever the circumstances may be, no matter where your employees are located.
About American Fidelity:
American Fidelity is a partner of the California New Car Dealers Association. As an extension of your human resources department, American Fidelity provides benefits education and enrollment support to make it easy for your employees to understand which benefits are right for them. We’re a great resource for assistance in navigating challenges with benefits administration and offer convenient enrollment solutions for in-person, virtual, or a combination of the two. Whether you need voluntary supplemental benefits, benefits education, employer solutions or full benefits enrollment, we can assist with that and so much more.
Troye Fontenette
Western Regional Manager
American Fidelity Assurance Company
troye.fontenette@americanfidelity.com
800-365-9180
(1)American Fidelity internal post-enrollment survey data, data from July 2019 to June 2020.
(2)American Fidelity internal post-enrollment survey data, data from July 2019 to June 2020.ESB-8251-0720
This story appears in Issue 4 2020-21 of the California New Car Dealer Magazine.
