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Spotlite’s Seven Strategies for Improving Engagement During Open Enrollment


Chicago IL – WEBWIRE

With many employers making changes to their health insurance plans—including accelerated adoption of high-deductible health plans—it’s more critical than ever for companies to strengthen their efforts to engage employees during their Open Enrollment periods, according to Spotlite. Spotlite is a leading provider of cloud-based technology solutions that enable consumer-driven benefits success for employees, employers, carriers, and brokers.

Ever-rising health care costs and the impact of the Affordable Care Act are requiring employees to take on a larger portion of the cost of their benefits and greater responsibility for their benefits selection. “Employees need to understand the full range of benefits they are eligible for—including the voluntary benefits being provided to offset coverage gaps left by high-deductible health plans, such as Accident, Critical Illness and Disability insurance,” said Spotlite CEO Chris Hill.

”Enrollment engagement and product participation are directly correlated with how well insurance products are communicated. Employers cannot rely on the same communication tactics they have been using with the current high number of choices and increased employee responsibility for product selection,” Hill added.

Spotlite Director of Marketing Katie Cochrane offers the following tips on how to increase employee engagement during Open Enrollment:

1. Keep initial communications simple.  “In your first Open Enrollment communication, don’t weigh employees down with detailed descriptions of all of the benefits being offered. It’s not a communication to educate about everything. Get the word out to employees about what they have to do and the time frame for doing it. You want to get their attention and get them moving to the next step in the enrollment process.”

2. Utilize a variety of communication methods to reach out to employees.  “Employees respond differently to different communication methods. Some prefer emails, while others prefer written communications, such as on-site flyers and posters, and postcards mailed to their homes so they can discuss benefits with their families.  The goal is to share the same important information in a variety of ways—just make it look and feel differently so that employee attention is grabbed no matter how many pieces one person sees.”

3.  Communicate to employees how benefits will help protect them and their families.  “Explain what kind of protection the benefits offer—such as relief from high hospital deductibles and income if they are disabled or in an accident. Employees will be more likely to complete their enrollment if they get the message of how the benefits will directly protect or apply to them.”

4. Use simple and clear language to explain the benefits employees are eligible for. “Communication needs to be concise so employees can readily understand the benefits being offered. Use bullet points to highlight key details. Compare and contrast packages. Human resource and benefits professionals should share information they would want to know if they were making decisions for themselves and their families.”

5.  Don’t overwhelm employees with too many details . “You may be opening up a lot of questions and stalling the open enrollment process. The goal is to get employees to the enrollment platform where they can find more information about each product and determine whether it is appropriate for them and their families.”

6. Use images that resonate with employees.  “Employers make benefits available to their employees in order to protect the life they live outside the workplace. Show photos of people at home to support the main reason they are being provided.”

7.  Employ dynamic follow-up emails tailored to each employee’s enrollment status.  “Don’t send the same email to employees who have paused their enrollments and those who have not yet started. This creates confusion and, often, concern among employees that their information has been lost. The more customized the follow-up communication, the higher the level of employee engagement.”

About Spotlite
Spotlite offers cloud-based technology solutions that enable consumer-driven benefits success for employees, employers, carriers and brokers. Spotlite Choice, the company’s flagship product, is a best-in-class online employee benefits education, decision support and enrollment system for core and voluntary benefits. Spotlite Central is a plug-and-play system that streamlines administration of benefit offerings with a sophisticated data exchange system which enables easy integration, minimal disruption, total accuracy and maximum security.

Spotlite’s clients are public institutions and employers ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. Launched in 2012, Spotlite derives its consumer experience orientation from its PerkSpot origin. PerkSpot, founded in 2006, is a leading online discounts and rewards platform now serving 3.5 million employees. Additional information about Spotlite and its consumer-oriented solutions may be found at  http://www.spotlite.com


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