Open enrollment isn’t just about making choices. It’s about education. To make better decisions, employees need to understand their benefit options. And as an HR team member, it often falls to you to be the teacher.
There’s a lot of material to cover. During open enrollment, employees must learn (among other things):
- The differences between benefit plans and how those differences can impact their health, their family, and their finances.
- How unfamiliar plans like HDHPS with HSAs work, who would benefit from them, and who would be better off remaining on a traditional HMO or PPO.
- Common health insurance terminology, even (especially for younger employees) the basics, like “premium,” “deductible,” and “out-of-pocket maximum.”
- What optional benefits your organization offers, their value, and how to enroll.
- How to participate in wellness program offerings, mental health benefits, financial counseling, and other non-traditional benefits.
- What is expected of them during open enrollment, how to enroll, and when the deadlines are.
Related: Flimp’s 2023-24 Open Enrollment Case Study and Trends Report Shows Average 70% Engagement Across 14 Industries. Read it here →
Despite this heavy “syllabus,” employees are far from full-time students. According to Aflac’s 2022-23 WorkForces Report, three out of five employees spend 30 minutes or less researching benefits. That puts the responsibility on you, as the teacher, to transmit essential benefits information as efficiently as possible.
It’s a tall order. Perhaps you never saw yourself as an educator, but in your efforts to expand your employees’ knowledge of the benefits landscape, you can take some inspiration from modern educational theory.
What Are Learning Styles and Why Do They Matter During Open Enrollment?
Many teaching experts believe that each student has a particular learning style, and by adapting the way information is presented to these learning styles, teachers can help students absorb and retain information more effectively.
New Zealand educator Neil Fleming developed one of the most influential learning style models, the VARK model. According to Fleming, each learner falls into one of five categories:
- Visual learners who learn best by seeing, preferring charts, graphs, illustrations, and diagrams to written information.
- Aural learners who learn best by hearing, absorbing information through discussions, lectures, and recordings.
- Reading learners who learn best via the written word. They also tend to be note takers.
- Kinesthetic learners who learn by doing, taking a trial-and-error, hands-on approach to education.
- Multimodal learners who rely equally on some or all of the above learning styles.
(What learning style are you? Try these online tests to find out.)
We should point out that not all experts agree that tailoring information to a student’s learning style will necessarily lead to better educational results. But this article isn’t about studying for the SATs; this is about preparing your organization’s employees for open enrollment.
What we can say for sure is that everyone has a learning preference. For example, if some of your employees prefer visual material, they may ignore your written emails and benefits guide during open enrollment. Those who prefer aural learning may ask for a one-on-one meeting and be disappointed if no one is available to walk them through their options.
To reach as many employees as possible, it’s important to accommodate all five learning styles (or preferences) in your benefits communication strategy. In the following sections, we’ll offer some tips for adapting open enrollment information for all types of learners
1. Visual Learners
Visual learners zone out during meetings, and their eyes glaze over while trying to read your benefits guide. You can connect with visual learners during open enrollment by:
- Populating your benefits guide with charts, graphs, and diagrams pictorially illustrating plan differences, open enrollment steps, and other key points.
- Offering appealingly animated explainer videos designed to demystify complex benefits topics such as HDHPs, mental health benefits, and financial wellness
Kicking off open enrollment with an eye-catching interactive digital postcard (rather than a static, text-heavy email).
2. Aural Learners
The employees sitting with rapt attention during HR presentations? Those are the aural learners. You can help them during open enrollment by:
- Holding in-person or virtual Q&A sessions to review plan details and benefit options.
- Hosting and distributing an open enrollment podcast. (Be sure to make it available on a mobile platform so that aural learners can consume it during their commute.)
- Sharing professionally narrated explainer videos.
3. Reading Learners
Employees who prefer written material may already be in good shape for open enrollment. Most organizations heavily favor email and printed or digital publications in their benefits communication strategy. Still, you can help boost comprehension for reading learners by:
- Formatting emails and benefits guides for easy scannability, using short paragraphs, frequent subheads, bullet points, and bolded emphasis on crucial points. (Or starting with a template that already includes these features.)
- Using adaptive web design to optimize content for mobile and desktop consumption.
- Ensuring that videos include informative text along with sound and imagery.
4. Kinesthetic Learners
Employees who favor the hands-on learning approach need to see how their open enrollment decisions will play out in the real world. You can help them translate benefits information into practical outcomes by:
- Providing a decision-support tool that accurately forecasts their healthcare needs and spending for the coming year and offers personalized plan recommendations.
- Including testimonials and real-world scenarios in your benefits guide.
- Sharing videos that illustrate how various plan choices impact common life situations, such as starting a family, dealing with chronic health conditions, or preparing for retirement.
5. Multimodal Learners
By catering to the four different learning styles described above you’ll — by definition — have created plenty of resources for multimodal learners to choose from. You can ensure that these employees have access to this grab bag of learning materials by:
- Consolidating all open enrollment resources within a 24/7 online portal or microsite. (Make sure it’s mobile-friendly.)
- Hosting a virtual benefits fair or showcase where employees can attend virtual presentations (aural learning), read plan literature (reading learning), watch animated explainer videos (visual learning), and access a decision-support tool (kinesthetic learners).
- Featuring video — which can include elements that appeal to all learning styles — throughout your benefits communication campaign.
It’s Open Enrollment Season, Class Is In Session
You may never have dreamed about a career as an educator, but helping employees learn is part of your role as an HR team member — especially during open enrollment. By doing some learning yourself, specifically about the five learning styles described above, you can help your employees gain the knowledge they need for an efficient and satisfactory open enrollment season.