Beyond Open Enrollment Conversation Two: Why Participation Rates Stay Low

A common explanation for low participation during open enrollment sounds something like this:

“Our employees just don’t value benefits.”

It’s an understandable conclusion. When the numbers fall short, it’s natural to wonder if employees simply aren’t interested.

But I’ve been asking myself a different question.

What if that’s not the real issue?

Think about the workforce a lot of employers have today.

Employees work different shifts. They’re spread across multiple locations. Some spend their entire day away from a computer. Others may never make it to a company meeting because of scheduling, travel, or the demands of the job. Many organizations also employ people whose first language isn’t English.

Now compare that to the way a lot of enrollment processes still run.

A company sends an announcement email. A meeting gets scheduled. An enrollment platform opens. Employees are expected to review their benefit options and make decisions about their paycheck.

Then participation becomes the number we judge everything by.

Here’s the distinction that gets missed.

Sending information isn’t the same as building understanding.

An enrollment platform is a valuable tool. So are email reminders. So are enrollment meetings. But none of them, on their own, guarantee that employees understand the choices in front of them.

And when people don’t understand something, uncertainty usually wins.

They put off the decision. They pick what they picked last year. They waive coverage. Or they click through enrollment as fast as they can.

It isn’t that they don’t care. It’s that they don’t feel sure.

That’s what changed how I think about participation.

Maybe low participation isn’t an employee problem. Maybe it’s a reflection of the enrollment experience we build.

Because understanding builds confidence. Confidence drives participation. And participation is what decides whether a benefits strategy delivers the value it was meant to.

The question isn’t whether employees care about their benefits.

The better question might be:

Have we made it easy enough for them to understand what’s being offered?

That’s a conversation worth having.

Watch episode 2 of our Beyond Open Enrollment series here – https://www.youtube.com/@evolvedbenefits2838