extraordinary times, extraordinary measures: virtual … · oe success stories q&a....

E X T R A O R D I N A RY T I M E S , E X T R A O R D I N A RY M E A S U R E S :

Virtual Open Enrollment Survival Tips

A U G U S T 2 7 , 2 0 2 0

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PlanSourceBetter Technology for a Better Benefits Experience

Flexible and intuitive benefits shopping, enrollment, billing, compliance and administration


PlanSourceBetter Technology for a Better Benefits Experience

Flexible and intuitive benefits shopping, enrollment, billing, compliance and administration


EXTRAORDINARY TIMES, EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES:

Virtual Open Enrollment Survival TipsToday’s Speakers

Nancy SansomChief Commercial Officer

PlanSource

Justin PeterVice President, Marketing

4MyBenefits

Justin PeterVice President, Marketing4mybenefits

I N T R O D U C I N G

Nancy SansomChief Commercial OfficerPlanSource

I N T R O D U C I N G


AGENDAWhat’s New for OE in 2020

OE Best Practices

OE Success Stories

Q&A


What’s New for OE in 2020


The role of HR executives has been elevated. HR leaders have an opportunity to create meaningful change within their organizations.


OE Meetings will need to be virtual – live or on-demand.

Companies are testing out new formats to engage employees (virtual meetings, benefits fairs and videos).


Companies are less likely to offer an active open enrollment.Even though active open enrollment is a best practice, many HR teams lack bandwidth and will opt for passive enrollment or a hybrid approach.


P O L L Q U E S T I O N

What enrollment style are you planning for your next open enrollment?

a) Active enrollmentb) Passive enrollmentc) I’m not sure yet


HR teams are less focused on making major changes to their benefits this year.Now is not the time for significant changes. Instead, the focus is on employee communications and engagement.



Given everything going on right now, how many changes are you planning to make to your benefits at your next open enrollment?

a) No changesb) Minimal changes (such as rate changes)c) Shopping medical but minimal changes outside of thatd) Moderate changes (one carrier change, one new benefit, etc.)e) Significant changes


Employees will be more distracted than ever.Between home school and the upcoming election, your OE communications need to be focused and clear to be effective.


Companies may go ”all digital” this year for OE communicationsEmail and text messaging will be most popular. Word of mouth is no longer a reliable source, and physical mail – while impactful – is pricey for companies that have been cutting non-essential spending.


Mobile went from nice-to-have to must-have for OEBoth active and furloughed employees (and even COBRA participants) may not have company email or a computer at home.


Companies are offering mid-plan-year special enrollment periods


Subject: Don’t miss out on this special opportunity

[FIRST NAME],

Please prepare for a special benefits enrollment next week, starting on [START DATE]. This year has brought unpredictable challenges that none of us saw coming when we enrolled for our annual insurance. Because of that we have partnered with [INSURANCE COMPANY NAME] to open up a special enrollment, so that you can add additional coverage outside of our normal annual open enrollment.

We want to make sure you have every opportunity to stay protected, so please take a moment to consider if [INSURANCE OFFERINGS] from [COMPANY NAME] can be a benefit to you. More information on [this benefit/these benefits] will be sent next week when enrollment opens, so you can make an informed decision.

Please mark your calendars and use this opportunity to protect your lifestyle, your loved ones, and your finances. Reach out with any questions you may have, and we’ll message you again on[START DATE] when this special enrollment is open.

Sign up for text updates so you don’t miss the enrollment, or important information. Make sure your employer has loaded your number into the PlanSource system, by checking here [unique link], then text BENEFITS to 46659.


Open Enrollment Best Practices


L E T ’ S B E R E A L F O R A M O M E N T

Employees are clueless about their benefits and tend to wait until the last minute!


Map Out a Formal OE Communications PlanTreat your OE communications like a full-scale marketing campaign

C TA s F O C U S E D VA R I E T Y T E M P Oand deadlines and personalized

contentof communication

methodsand cadence of

messages

U S E M A R K E T I N G B E S T P R A C T I C E S


But you’re in HR, not marketing!

DON’T WORRY – WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED!


Free OE Digital Communications KitGet the resources at plansource.com/oekit

Best practicesRecommended timelineDesign templatesVideo postcardEmail and text messaging templatesEducational videosIn-system messaging


OE Communications TimelimeCheck out the full timeline at plansource.com/oekit

P L A N I N F O R M E N E R G I Z E F O L L O W - U P

2-6 months prior to the start of OE

2 weeks prior to the start of OE

Throughout OE period

Week after OE period

Pre-Open Enrollment Open Enrollment Post-Open Enrollment


S A M P L E E M A I L C O M M U N I C AT I O N C A D E N C E

Simple example for a 7-day open enrollment window

G E T I T O N T H E R A D A R

2+ weeks before OE start

date

P R E P A R E /E D U C A T E

1 week before OE start date

A N N O U N C E M E N TMorning of Day 1

R E M I N D E R 1Send in the afternoon

on the 2nd day

R E M I N D E R 2Send in the

afternoon of the 4th day

L A S T C H A N C E E M A I L

Morning of the last day of enrollment

F O L L O W - U P2+ weeks after OE end date with reminders for EOI, health incentive

programs, ID cards, etc.


Marketing 101 for OE Communications

W R I T E T O B E S C A N N E D

Write like no one wants to read

H U M A N I Z EDitch the lawyers, talk

conversationally

F O C U S O N N E E D S

What do your readers want, not what you need

to share

D R I V E A C T I O N

Reiterate your need or Call To Action

(CTA)

B E B O L DUse visual call outs to pull scanners to your

important info

M I N I M I Z E A N D C O N D E N S E

Short sentences, one point per paragraph, stay

focused

O P E N I N G H O O K

Your subject line or first sentence may be

the only thing they read

U S E H E A D L I N E S

Make an impact, it may be all they read


Place Educational Content at the Point of SalePlanSource provides optimized page content by product and carrier

PA R T I C I PAT I N G C A R R I E R S


Use a Theme for Open EnrollmentIt’s fun, memorable and ties your communications together


New Themes/Design Templates for 202015 free design templates and themes – go ahead, steal our ideas, we don’t mind

z


Augment Email Communications with Text Messaging

Free to existing and new PlanSource customers in 2020*

Great for reminders and notifications throughout open enrollment

Include links to enroll or to educational videos and benefit guides

Employees opt in by texting BENEFITS, BENEFIT or START to 46659

*Up to 10 campaigns per month or 100,000 text messages

9 8 % O P E N R AT E

z


Increase opt-in rates by asking everyone to opt in during an all-hands meeting and/or during your virtual OE meetings

Don’t bombard employees with generic messages!

Use a system that allows you to personalize these messages, or employees may opt out

Remind employees about critically important benefits they signed up for throughout the year, such as telemedicine and EAPs

Augment Email Communications with Text MessagingB E S T P R A C T I C E S


Viewers retain 95% of a messagewhen they watch it on video compared to only 10% when reading it in text.

Use video to increase employee knowledge and engagement during OE


Covers the important details of your benefits program with video

Provides instructions for logging in

Gives employees a quick look at the shopping and enrollment process

A consistent message to all employees

~3 minutes in length

Create an Open Enrollment VideoOr contact PlanSource to get a quote for us to create one for you


OE Video Postcard GiveawayAnnounce your open enrollment in a fresh new way

C U S T O M I Z E T H E V I D E O F O R Y O U R C O M P A N Y

T H R E E L U C K Y A T T E N D E E S W I L L W I N A N O E V I D E O P O S T C A R D !


F R E E T O D O W N L O A D

Use videos from the PlanSource video library in your communications

We love the PlanSource educational videos. They do a great job of explaining our benefits to our employees in a fun and relatable way.

– Christy Guilbault, Benefits Solutions Senior Manager for EP Cares (12,000 employees)


Provide a proactive, VIP approach to contact center supportAllowing people to schedule an appointment to enroll with assistance smooths volume, minimizing wait times for employees


A digital benefits fair will differentiate the experience for employeesR E G I S T R AT I O N

L I V E A N D O N - D E M A N D C O N T E N T

G U E S T S S P E A K E R S

G I V E A W AY S

P R O M O T I O N – S H A R E Y O U R A G E N D A



Which communication strategies are you considering for your next open enrollment? S E L E C T A L L T H AT A P P LY

a) Virtual OE meetings/webinarsb) Digital benefit fairsc) Email/Text messagingd) Custom OE videose) Employee Contact Center


Open Enrollment Success Stories


I N T R O D U C I N G H E I N E N ’ S G R O C E RY S T O R E S

2020 has been a busy year for this Midwest grocery store chain

A B O U T H E I N E N ’ S

Founded in 1929 with grocery stores in Cleveland and Chicago

3,500+ union and non-union associates

23 stores, 3 warehouses and headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio

Broker: USI

PlanSource customer since April 2018

B A C K G R O U N D

100% Paper-based prior to rollout of PlanSource in 2018

Many associates are in the stores or warehouses without access

to a computer

Previously relied on in-person meetings where associates could enroll

with assistance


A P P R O A C H T O O E F O R 2 0 2 0

Held a passive open enrollment

Kept their carriers and vendors the same to keep things simple!

Replaced costly in-person meetings with virtual meetings

Used all-digital communications (email, personalized reminders sent within PlanSource, a custom OE video and digital benefit guides)

H E I N E N ’ S G R O C E RY S T O R E S O E S U C C E S S S T O R Y

Open enrollment was held from April 13th to May 8th

S O , H O W D I D I T G O ?

“Even though we had to change our approach to open enrollment this year due to COVID, it was our best open

enrollment yet and night and day compared to what we used to

do via paper!”

– Ashley Bales, Benefits and Leave Specialist


H O W D I D Y O U R A S S O C I AT E S R E S P O N D ?“It was our second year with PlanSource and our associates are comfortable

with the benefits shopping experience. It’s just like Amazon!

Our associates like self-service and reviewing the educational videos and benefit guides on their own.”– Ashley Bales, Benefits and Leave Specialist


Consumer-friendly benefits shopping with educational tools and decision support


H O W D I D Y O U C O M M U N I C AT E W I T H E M P L O Y E E S ?“We used PlanSource to send personalized, automated communications to

associates that had not completed OE.

At the end of open enrollment, we used PlanSource to automatically generate benefit confirmation statements for our associates. It was easy!”



Employees will respond more to targeted, personalized communications


H O W D I D Y O U U S E R E P O R T I N G D U R I N G O E ?“The reporting suite within PlanSource is great for ad-hoc use to be able to answer questions that come up during open enrollment and throughout the

year. I can easily see how many have enrolled or declined in each benefit and can use the reports to reconcile my carrier invoices.



Flexible reporting tools help busy HR teams oversee open enrollment


T O TA L C O M P E N S AT I O N S TAT E M E N T S

Online and print

Sent at the end of the year

Showcase the value of the investment in associates

Features benefits, 401k or pension, and even the employee discount card


Help employees see the full value of your investments in them


H O W W O U L D Y O U D E S C R I B E T H E S U P P O R T Y O U R E C E I V E D ?

“I can’t say enough amazing things about our PlanSource Account Manager. We knew we were going to have a great OE despite the challenging

environment because we had her guiding and assisting us.”– Ashley Bales, Benefits and Leave Specialist


Support from your technology partner is more important than ever


W H AT A D V I C E D O Y O U H AV E F O R O T H E R H R T E A M S ?“If this year taught me anything, it’s that we don’t know what’s going to

happen. Remain flexible because things will change at the last minute. If you have a system as flexible as PlanSource, you can adjust! Also, test everything

in advance to make sure things look just like you want.”– Ashley Bales, Benefits and Leave Specialist


It requires flexibility to respond to our changing environment


I N T R O D U C I N G V I C T O RY A U T O M O T I V E G R O U PThis dedicated HR team had always conducted an extensive OE roadshow each year

A B O U T V I C T O R Y A U T O M O T I V E

Car dealership with 40+ locations

Headquartered in Michigan with locations in 9 states

2,000+ employees

PlanSource customer since 2018

B A C K G R O U N D

Previously met with every location for OE each year

Open enrollment occurred in April right in the middle of the COVID lockdowns

Had moved all of their ancillary benefits to a new carrier AND introduced a new

Hospital Indemnity benefit


S O , H O W D I D I T G O ?

“We ended up with better benefits for a better price, had a successful Open

Enrollment AND saved a ton of time and money on travel.”

– Myrna Maddison, Director of Human Resources

A P P R O A C H T O O E F O R 2 0 2 0

Very nervous about missing the opportunity to meet in person

Conducted an active enrollment

Planned an aggressive communication campaign

Communicated via text messaging, email, videos, digital guides and more

V I C T O RY A U T O M O T I V E G R O U P O E M E T R I C S

Open enrollment occurred in April 2020 right in the middle of COVID lockdowns


V I C T O RY A U T O M O T I V E G R O U P O E M E T R I C S

Lower costs and higher employee participation and engagement

100% Digital ExperienceTransformed from in-person

roadshow to 100% digital, reducing travel costs substantially

92% Engagement92% of employees enrolled during

original 3-week window

34% Participationin new Hospital Indemnity benefit,

successful migration

8% Participation Increasein employee participation across all

voluntary benefits

Lower Costs5% reduction in premium costs,

25% reduction in technology cost due to PlanSource Boost

10% Increase in HDHPMet consumerism goal with 10%

more employees choosing the HDHP

T H E R E S U LT S S P E A K F O R T H E M S E LV E S !


I N T R O D U C I N G R E A L E S TAT E C O M PA N YBetween COVID and complex state regulations, paper was no longer a viable option

A B O U T R E A L E S T A T E C O M P A N Y

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California

700 employees located in California and Hawaii

Commercial real estate brokerage

Benefits broker: USI

PlanSource customer since January 2020

B A C K G R O U N D

100% Paper-based prior to rollout of PlanSource in 2020!

Compliance with regulations specific to California and Hawaii add significant complexity (unique % of salary cost

configurations for each state)

Each open enrollment required a full-time effort for the entire team for weeks!


S O , H O W D I D I T G O ?“They had a great open enrollment and their HR team and employees

love PlanSource! Everybody bought into tech this year, and we improved participation in several key areas.”

– Daphne Laraneta, Assistant Vice President, USI

A P P R O A C H T O O E F O R 2 0 2 0First open enrollment with PlanSource!

Held a passive open enrollment, but encouraged employees to log in

Kept their carriers and vendors the same for this year

Replaced costly in-person meetings with virtual OE webinars in partnership with USI (one for Hawaii and one for California) offered multiple times and included partners

R E A L E S TAT E C O M PA N Y S U C C E S S S T O R Y

Open enrollment was held from June 8th to July 1st

R E A L E S T A T E C O M P A N Y


H O W D I D Y O U R E M P L O Y E E S R E S P O N D ?“The leadership team was a little worried about how their employees would do since it was their first year, but their employee did fine! They

actually got 100% participation even though technically it was a passive enrollment.”



Employees were engaged | 100% logged in to PlanSource even though it was optional




They met several corporate objectives during this year’s open enrollment

Increase in employee participation in the Voluntary Life and

AD&D benefit

26% Shift in medical plan

selection to more affordable options; and

more participation in the full network

11% Employee

participation in open enrollment, even

though a passive style was used

100%


H O W D I D T H E S Y S T E M H A N D L E C O M P L E X I T Y ?“PlanSource is flexible and configurable to meet the unique regulations in

Hawaii and California (different plans, cost contributions, messaging).

We also configured a declination survey so employees could complete the required Hawaii DOL form right within PlanSource.



State-specific benefits and regulatory requirements were automated



W H AT A D V I C E D O Y O U H A V E F O R O T H E R H R T E A M S ?“Whether paper or electronic, you need to communicate more than you

think this year – not just with your employees but also with your carrier and technology partners like PlanSource.

It’s also a great idea to audit your data against carrier data prior to open enrollment, to make sure you are starting with clean data!”



Clear data and a comprehensive communications plan are key to success



A Q U I C K C O M PA R I S O N O F E M P L O Y E E B E H AV I O R

E N G A G E M E N T

19% % O N M O B I L E

T I M E S P E N T 10 MIN. 18 MIN.14 MIN.

16% 16%



Q&AS H R M & H R C I C O D E S

H R C I : 5 3 1 5 8 3S H R M : 2 0 - E F 9 K E

plansource.com/oekit

E X T R A O R D I N A RY T I M E S , E X T R A O R D I N A RY M E A S U R E S :

Virtual Open Enrollment Survival Tips

A U G U S T 2 7 , 2 0 2 0

extraordinary times, extraordinary measures: virtual … · oe success stories q&a....

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