Have you ever accidentally purchased something on Amazon because it was just so easy? Or, dare I say, scary easy?

Retail has come a long way from the antiquated experience that existed 10+ years ago, and the data shows that consumers love a convenient shopping experience. In fact, consumers spent over $125 billion online during Cyber Weekend alone in 2018!

What if your benefits enrollment process mimicked this easy, convenient and familiar shopping experience that we’ve all come to know and love?

While you definitely don’t want employees accidentally enrolling in anything, you do want the enrollment process to be as pain-free as possible and for employees to feel confident and empowered about their selections.

Gone are the days of archaic interfaces and slow, cumbersome enrollment. It’s time to transform the employee benefits experience!

Here are three specific ways HR can work to make benefits enrollment scary easy.

1.) Offer A Mobile-Friendly Experience

Despite the common notion that most employees work a 9-5 desk job, this stereotype actually only represents a fraction of the working population. Many large industries, including health care, hospitality and retail require employees to be on the go or in the field, which can vastly limit the time they spend on traditional desktop devices.

Investing in a mobile-friendly benefits experience will help your on-the-go employees easily access and complete their benefits shopping across multiple devices for maximum convenience. Providing a mobile-friendly benefits experience extends beyond just the actual enrollment process. Also, consider your OE education and training materials—are these easily accessible and scaled properly for use on mobile devices?

Providing a mobile-friendly benefits experience extends beyond just the actual enrollment process. Also consider your OE education and training materials—are these easily accessible and scaled properly for use on mobile devices?

While a majority of employees are still enrolling on a desktop device, many still research their benefits materials or watch on-demand educational materials on a tablet or mobile device from the comfort of their home. Audit your existing digital materials and be sure everything can easily be found and viewed via mobile.

By making the benefits shopping and enrollment experience mobile-friendly, you’re putting the decision-making process in the hands of each and every one of your employees—literally.

Consumers are slowly but surely beginning to embrace the mobile mindset. Think about it—you can even apply for an entire mortgage with a few taps on your mobile phone! How long before the mindset begins to shift for benefits?

2.) Provide On-Demand Learning

Our most recent Benefits Benchmark Report revealed that the average employees only spends 18 minutes on benefits enrollment. Keeping in mind that most employees are spending less than 20 minutes enrolling in their benefits, it’s more important than ever to offer quick and convenient educational materials.

Video is a natural fit for benefits education and is one of our top recommendations for companies that don’t currently have video assets.

Video provides an easy and convenient medium to absorb complex benefits information that is broken up via quick, ‘snackable’ segments. And, video can be sent and shared at various points during open enrollment—including via email communications, text message alerts and even embedded directly into the benefits shopping experience (if your enrollment platform permits).

Check out our FREE video library to access benefits education videos.

If you’re managing a large workforce and/or have a strapped HR team, an employee benefits contact center might be just what the doctor ordered. An outsourced contact center solution can take the burden of answering common enrollment and benefits questions off HR, which could free up several hours per week! A certified contact center can also help employees with login questions and assistance, assist employees during a life event or benefits change, advocate for employees during claims resolution and even support a multi-lingual workforce. And, employees can get in touch with support via phone, email or even live chat. How’s that for convenience?

Finally, don’t discount the value of a trusty benefits guide. Though many employees might feel ready and eager to embrace the digital age, some might still be hesitant to take the plunge. This is why a holistic approach to benefits education and enrollment is best for a diverse workforce. Offer both a print and digital version of your benefits guide to meet the needs of all of your employees.

3.) Invest In Robust Decision Support

It’s no secret that benefits can be confusing and downright frustrating at times, especially for employees that are new to benefits or when new benefits plans or products are announced. HDHP, HSA—with all of these HR acronyms flying around, it’s no wonder employees can’t keep up with the jargon.

Did you know? 55% of employees whose company offers health insurance say they would like help from their employer when choosing a health plan. Throw your employees a life preserver by adding decision support to your benefits enrollment arsenal.

Decision support is hardly a new concept, though the technology that supports this idea is more advanced than ever. Some platforms (including PlanSource) offer baked-in decision support tools to help employees compare and select the most appropriate plan type.

For a more robust experience, products like ALEX from Jellyvision offer an engaging and personalized benefits shopping experience from start to finish. The tool not only collects personal info to provide a personalized plan recommendation, but it also uses Jellyvision’s signature approach to create an engaging ‘human-like’ experience. ALEX will take the time to explain benefits concepts, answer basic questions and explain why it recommends a certain plan. The revolutionary tool has been proven to impact high-value HR KPIs, like HDHP enrollment and 401(k) contributions.

You can learn more about Jellyvision here

The moral of the story? Your benefits enrollment process shouldn’t be a chore. Instead, make it as easy and convenient as possible.

Employees that fully understand and appreciate their benefits are more satisfied and engaged, which can result in lower churn and higher retention, a clear win for HR and the organization as a whole.

Want happier, more engaged employees? Start at ground zero during the benefits enrollment process to cultivate a culture of engagement and retention.

Ready to Make Your Benefits Enrollment Scary Easy?

Let’s make your enrollment almost as easy as filling out this form. Contact us below and we’ll give you a complimentary tour of our platform and capabilities.