Fridays (with Benefits) - Communication can make-or-break your open enrollment

Yes it's still the middle of July, but we in the benefits industry run on a different calendar, and this time of year we're in the thick of open enrollment planning. For FSA users, this is a critical time to calculate your yearly contribution and make any necessary changes to your account before re-enrolling. FSA users tend to be benefits pros, but what about everyone else? The key ingredient to a successful open enrollment is communication - early and often!

Employee engagement: Why it matters for workers enrolling in benefits - Evelina Nedlund, Employee Benefit News

This week, we're taking a closer look at an Employee Benefit News interview with Rebecca Ray, executive vice president of human capital at The Conference Board, a non-profit business membership and research group organization, on the subject of open enrollment engagement. She had 3 interesting takeaways that every HR rep should stand up and take notice of:

Employees DO care about their benefits

While blank stares are common during most open enrollment presentations, research shows that employee benefits are massively important to workers. Benefits are part and parcel why your employees consider a place a great place to work, and they need to know how they can navigate them to get the maximum return from their hard work. It's not just another event on the calendar - it's pivotal for the entire employee base.

Employers need to take a larger role

Benefits administrators are key in communicating how benefits fit into a worker's overall financial picture, but employers have to do their part to open up these discussions to a larger audience. In addition to traditional benefits presentations, open forums where employees from all backgrounds can ask questions that go beyond the standard "what will my co-pay be?" shows that the company cares not only about work-life balance, but helping them achieve goals that extend outside of the office.

Student debt is a major issue to consider

Millennials make up the largest segment of today's workforce, but many are far more concerned with paying off their student loans than contributing to a retirement account. This is a wholly unique new trend for employers and benefit administrators to tackle, and one that will only become more relevant each year.

Financial wellness programs have become a common trend to help millennials better plan their finances and make the right choices for the future, but it shouldn't stop at one group. Workers at various life stages have all manner of important financial decisions to make, so offering these programs to multiple generations can give workers the tools and know-how they need to make smart financial decisions as they relate to their benefits choices.

--

Fridays (with Benefits) is a weekly roundup of the latest headlines about employee benefits -- from FSAs to fitness programs and everything workplace wellness. It appears every Friday, exclusively on the FSAstore.com Learning Center. And for the latest info about your health and financial wellness, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.