OE season is right around the corner, do you have a game plan ready to efficiently and effectively announce and promote open enrollment to your workforce?

If you think that a simple, blanket email from HR will suffice to announce the dates and details for your enrollment event, you could be missing the mark with your employees. Not all employees absorb and respond to information in the same way, so communicating your message loud and clear across multiple mediums will make sure that employees are not only informed of the upcoming enrollment but are also excited to make elections.

It’s time to turn your open enrollment frown upside down with a unique and comprehensive communications strategy.

1.) Pick A Theme

Lose the stiff, corporate lingo and put a little fun back into open enrollment. Picking an annual theme will keep your communications fresh and help unify all of your messages under one umbrella.

Here are a few theme ideas to get you started:

• Rock Enroll – Music Theme
• Benny & The Benefits – Music Theme
• Kick Off Open Enrollment – Sports Theme
• Enroll Actually – Movie Theme
• Ready, Set, Elect – Race Theme

See more open enrollment ideas here.

2.) Print Material

Simple, affordable and effective, print materials are a tried and true method for mass communications. While small details will be overlooked and should therefore be omitted, distributing postcards and hanging posters are highly effective at announcing the general details of open enrollment, like the dates and the enrollment login or website.

Instead of designing a standard poster in-house, try one of our FREE poster templates. We offer several unique designs that can be customized to include your open enrollment dates, company logo and website.

Selecting a colorful, professionally designed poster will stand out in common areas and make sure that your message is received.

3.) Email

Email is another tried and true method for communication with a workforce, though do not make the mistake of solely relying on this delivery method.

The average worker receives more than 120 emails every day, so it’s not hard to understand why internal communications might get buried or ignored.

To make your messages stand out, use email best practices like short and actionable headlines to be sure your message comes across in your employees’ inbox. You can even try unconventional email headline elements, like emojis, to stand out from the crowd. Within your email, keep your message short, break out long blocks of text with headers and use bold text, italics or different font sizes/colors to highlight the most important information. Also, be sure to include relevant links within the email for later reference.

Check out our FREE email templates to get started!

4.) Video Postcard

For a modern twist on traditional announcements, send a video postcard. As the name suggests, video postcards take all of the information you’d normally include in a traditional print piece and present the information in a colorful and engaging video card.

The case for video isn’t difficult to make. According to WordStream, viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it on video compared to only 10% when reading it in written text.

Do you want employees to absorb important open enrollment materials? If so, switch to video.

PS – you can have your very own video postcard for only $850!

6.) Social Media

The average person spends 109 minutes per day on social media. Do you want to reach employees where they are? If so, it’s time to embrace social media for HR.

Though you might not want to promote internal communications via your public page, many social platforms offer the option to create a private group, which can be a great place to post updates and encourage engagement.

Keep in mind the true intent of social media – to connect with friends and family. When implementing a social media plan, keep communications to a minimum and only post important updates. Also, be sure to include relevant resources and links in your post and encourage employees to seek help from HR with any specific questions or concerns.

7.) Host A Lunch & Learn or Health Fair

If scheduling permits, plan a company-wide health fair or ‘lunch and learn’ event to kick off open enrollment. And, if possible, invite reps from either insurance carriers or from your insurance brokerage to the event to answer questions and put in some face time with your employees.

For health fairs specifically, think outside of the box with inviting local organizations to participate. Think local doctors, chiropractors, dentists, massage therapists, etc. to introduce employees to various local health care options. Most businesses will have a budget built-in for attending these types of events. Or, for a lunch and learn event, invite a local health specialist to speak at your event.

The casual, engaging atmosphere around a health event will encourage conversations, engage your workforce and keep open enrollment top of mind.

Download our FREE ‘Open Enrollment Planning Playbook’ for more tips on how to plan, execute and measure your OE!