Beyond Open Enrollment

Conversation Five: Why HR Can’t Carry Enrollment Alone

A big shift I’ve noticed in employee benefits has very little to do with benefits.

It has to do with HR.

Over the years, HR professionals have taken on more and more responsibility. They’re recruiting talent. Supporting managers. Managing compliance. Handling payroll. Driving employee engagement. Navigating workplace culture. Leading organizational change.

And somewhere along the way, they also became the primary educators during open enrollment.

Think about that for a moment.

When employees have questions about deductibles, provider networks, dependent eligibility, prescription coverage, or plan comparisons, who do they usually call?

HR.

When someone misses enrollment?

HR.

When an employee doesn’t understand why a claim wasn’t paid?

HR.

When confusion surfaces months later?

HR.

That’s a lot to carry for a department already balancing dozens of competing priorities.

None of this happened on purpose. Enrollment simply grew this way over time, one question and one exception at a time, until it became part of the job.

As advisors, we have a chance to rethink what support really looks like. Instead of asking how HR can do more, maybe the better question is how we can help HR carry less.

Picture an enrollment process where employees have access to knowledgeable guidance before they make decisions. Where questions get answered promptly. Where education happens before problems come up, not after. Where confidence gets built before confusion turns into frustration.

That doesn’t replace HR. It strengthens HR.

It lets HR professionals focus on the strategic work they were hired to do, while employees get the support they need during one of the more important decisions they’ll make all year.

I’ve come to believe that one of the best services we can offer our clients isn’t just recommending better benefit plans. It’s helping create a better experience for the people responsible for putting those plans into action.

Because when HR feels supported, employees feel supported.

And that’s good for everyone.

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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

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