How have benefits been used? This will be a variable based on the benefits you offer and can provide insights on quantifying information regarding claims usage, utilization of ancillary services and trends in usage.

How are communications and resources accessed? Review your communication metrics like open rates, engagement and clicks regarding resources accessed to gauge what your employees tend to favor. Using these metrics, you can better understand what types of messages are getting through to employees.

Are there gaps in awareness and understanding? This comes down to what you're hearing from employees. What types of questions do they have for you? Are there things you offer that can address their concerns, but employees aren't aware that those benefits are available to them. Review the number of employees taking advantage of "free benefits." These items indicate employee awareness when it comes to consumer-driven benefits.

These questions can help you understand where you have opportunities as you identify your communication strategy.

Use Bite-sized Messages to Improve Employees' Benefits Experience

The key to keeping participants informed is breaking down the messaging to help enhance their knowledge and understanding of their benefits. A simple way to break down consumer-driven benefits is to split them into four main categories:

Health Benefits

• Medical plan
• Preventative care
• Mental health
• Health accounts
• Behavioral rewards

Financial Benefits

• Wages
• Bonus and financial incentive compensation
• Financial education
• Retirement plan

Career Benefits

• Tuition and education benefits
• Career development resources and programs
• Personal enrichment opportunities
• Organizational growth paths

Social / Cultural / Personal Benefits

• Specialty and lifestyle accounts
• Company-sponsored events
• Volunteer
• PTO policies

Consumer-driven benefits come with their own set of challenges. Enrolling in benefits isn't always exclusive to open enrollment timeframes, like commuter benefits and new hires starting mid-year. Another common gap in understanding comes from onboarding employees from another organization.

From an employee perspective, there is a lot to know and remember, and each plan can have minor tweaks from year to year. Participants may ask questions about changes to their eligibility, paid family leave, how promotions can affect their FSA and more. Many of these questions aren't top of mind until the event becomes a part of their life. Being able to have the answers or being able to direct employees to one place will help them to get their answers easily, especially during potentially stressful points in their lives.

Leverage the "off-season" and introduce new benefits or re-educate on underutilized benefits

Open enrollment has become the introduction to all things benefits. However, open enrollment is only required for health benefits and insurance coverages. There are a fair number of opportunities for you to spread communications throughout the year, not just during open enrollment.

Read more: Digital tools the new standard for open enrollment engagement

There are a handful of benefits that employees have the flexibility to add or change at any time. Updates can be made to existing benefits in many other cases, such as contributions to HSAs, dependent care elections (within guidelines), 401K elections and qualifying events.

Don't forget to give these other benefits love throughout the year and highlight the value they can provide to employees.

Commuter benefits are a monthly benefit; however, this isn't always clear, and some employers treat this as an annual benefit instead. Commuter benefits are not only a monthly benefit, but they are also considered 'evergreen'. This means that the benefits will continue monthly until you change them. Additionally, you don't need to re-enroll each year for this benefit. These benefits can be added and altered anytime for both employers and employees.

Specialty accounts or lifestyle benefits/accounts are generally post-tax benefits designed for a specific purpose. You can use them to drive desired behaviors and create unmatched flexibility when introducing new or unique benefits. These accounts create value in a way that employees will see as something that aligns with their personal goals. These accounts have recently been a great tool for retention and acquisition.

Resource programs come in all shapes and sizes, but because they are not tied to a specific health or insurance program, you can add them anytime. These programs can include mental health apps, parenting services or enriching employees' education. There's no one size fits all, but those can be added as you identify the needs in your organization.

Workplace benefits and policies cover the expanded areas that employees take into consideration when looking for a new employer. This includes PTO, policies regarding scheduling, volunteer and summer hours, and the ability to bring a pet to work. These are all things that can occur at any time, and there's no need to tie them into a specific schedule or time of year.

Preparations for new benefits you will introduce

Once you have considered new benefits offerings, you need to shift into the introduction phase. This is something you can start early and lay the groundwork for open enrollment.

Start with Early Education

• What's coming?
• Introduce concepts
• Video clips and quick facts are beneficial.

Move to Eligibility

• Who's eligible
• What will affect their eligibility?
• What will they need to do to take advantage of the benefit?

Finish with Teaser Communications and Contests

• Encourage engagement and interaction
• Help employees understand if it's right for them

The goal is to create a connection between the new benefit and employees. Help employees understand and make sense of whether this benefit is something where they can find value.

Related: 5 things you should be doing now to plan for open enrollment period

Build a communications calendar and stay on track all year long

The best way to get started with a communications calendar is to set a goal. Using the SMART goals rule of thumb, you can create goals that are Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, and Time-Bound.

Here are some potential ideas to start with:

• Send one reminder communication per month.
• Hold a quarterly benefits education workshop for employees.
• Invite benefits partners to speak and educate employees (outside of open enrollment).
• Commit to starting early open enrollment education 30 days earlier than in the past.
• Try one (or more) new methods of communication with employees.

Meet employees where they are at

There has been a growing shift in how people prefer to receive their content, especially these last few years. Rather than focusing on which channel employees prefer, use multiple channels to communicate messages. Leverage the tools and channels where employees actively communicate. In doing so, the topics communicated are hitting people where it naturally fits into their routines. This ensures that most people will see communications and have the best chance of the information being retained.

While your communication calendar should be flexible and adapted throughout the year, the key is to create a plan and remain committed to the incremental education of employees.

Effective communication is an ongoing process

Regardless of the benefits, effective communication is an ongoing process. By keeping the lines of communication open and using various methods, you can ensure that your employees understand their benefit options. Employees will appreciate knowing that their company cares about their wellbeing and wants them to access the best possible benefits. Using these four strategies, you can ensure that your employees are well-informed and confident in their choices. And that means a smoother open enrollment process for everyone involved.