Beyond Open Enrollment Conversation 7: The Enrollment Experience Advantage
I used to think about enrollment in terms of efficiency. How could we make it faster, smoother, and easier to run? We looked at better technology, better platforms, and better ways to communicate. All of that helped, and I’m glad we did it.
At some point, though, I started asking a different question. What does enrollment feel like for the person on the other side of it?
We treat enrollment as an event. There’s a start date, an end date, a meeting, and a checklist of tasks to finish before the deadline. That makes sense from where HR and brokers sit, but employees see it differently.
For them, enrollment is personal. They’re making choices that affect their spouse, their kids, their budget, and their health care. Those choices stay with them until the next enrollment. That’s a big ask for a portal and a 30-minute presentation.
I think people deserve an enrollment experience that helps them feel good about what they chose. That means clear communication, access to someone who knows the plans, room to ask questions, and support that continues after the meeting ends.
Technology still has an important place in that. It makes enrollment more convenient, easier to access, and quicker for everyone. What it can’t do on its own is help someone feel confident. Confidence comes from understanding the options, and understanding comes from education that someone took the time to plan.
So I’ve started to think about enrollment the way we’d think about other customer experiences we care about. It’s something people move through over time, with a beginning, a middle, and questions along the way.
When employers approach it this way, good things can follow. Employees feel informed, HR feels supported, employers hear more appreciation for the benefits they’re investing in, and brokers build relationships that last past renewal season.
That’s what I mean by the Enrollment Experience Advantage. It starts with one belief: employees should feel confident about their benefits before they make their choices.
If we start there, the rest gets easier.
