The Future of Open Enrollment Software

A company’s open enrollment period is the busiest time of year for HR. With new employees making their benefits selections for the first time, and long-term workers calling in to understand how their benefits may be changing, on top of the typical tasks of the day-to-day, the workload becomes immense for benefits professionals. Without the assistance of new technologies to streamline the open enrollment experience, this can cause some pretty serious backup in the human resources flow.

The past several years have seen new and different advanced solutions being introduced into the benefits selection process – with mixed results. But now, with generative AI and other advancements finally hitting their stride, benefits teams are taking a chance on today’s state-of-the-art open enrollment software.

Trends in modern open enrollment technology

Changes to how businesses are handling open enrollment are driven partially by the advancement of available tech itself, and partially by the preferences of an increasingly tech-savvy workforce. 

• A study from Alight Inc. points to several popular trends which may influence increased engagement and benefit enrollment. 95 percent of employees interviewed prefer digital benefit enrollment over physical or paper-based methods. To make this process really accessible, some companies are even allowing employees to enroll in benefits via a mobile app.

• A streamlined vendor makes all the difference: 65 percent of respondents say that a sub-par enrollment process could even prompt them to leave their current jobs.

• Organizations are attempting to make the enrollment experience easier and more effective by implementing generative AI at multiple stages within the total process.

• Some benefits solutions seek to give employees a holistic look at their benefits so they can make more informed decisions during open enrollment: platforms like Origin track benefits like health care next to other advantages so employees can access the bigger picture more easily while making changes to their total benefits package.

The benefits of a tech-forward open enrollment process

The role of HR during open enrollment is twofold:

1. HR and benefits professionals need to communicate with employees to make sure that they understand what benefits are available to them, and how to engage with the enrollment process itself.

2. HR and benefits professionals need to assist employees during the enrollment process. This involves answering questions, helping workers determine eligibility for certain voluntary advantages, and even guiding them through sign-up.

The primary advantage of a tech-assisted enrollment process is that administrative tasks are funneled away from HR professionals so they can spend their time and attention on employees who need more direct help understanding their benefits. For example, this means that empathetic experts are able to talk through enrollment with the 56 percent of Americans who are confused about their health care options while a smart solution routes calls and delivers content.

Organizations will continue to uncover some of the benefits AI and other new technologies have to offer during the open enrollment process as time goes on. In the following sections, we’ll talk about some of their potential applications.

The role of technology in modern open enrollment communication

Different employees have different needs when it comes to open enrollment. New employees for example may just be getting started with their benefits, while longer-term workers are shifting to a new advantage after years of working with a solution that is no longer relevant to their lived experience. Outreach both before and during open enrollment will look different for each of these camps if your organization is going to inspire optimum engagement.

Generative AI can be an excellent tool to handle these disparate communication needs. Especially for enterprise organizations with large workforces, an AI writer can summarize benefit information and compose personalized content which offers only the most relevant information to the demographic in question. This is especially useful with a workforce population which is diverse along a variety of identity lines, such as age.

The role of technology in modern open enrollment administration

Many open enrollment solutions already use modern interventions to help streamline the enrollment experience. Secure tools guide employees through enrollment forms based on critical health information, previous benefits, family requirements, and more to find the workplace advantages which best suit their needs.

Integrating solutions like ChatGPT into your open enrollment solutions additionally allows employees to get answers to a myriad of questions without human involvement. Employees can receive clear and personalized information regarding the state of their current benefits, benefit eligibility, and more – on demand – by engaging this intelligent tool.

The analytical power of AI can also help organizations decide which benefits to include in the first place – using information like worker engagement, benefit cost, employee demand, and organizational objectives, AI-enabled tools can model different benefit use case scenarios and make recommendations for the inclusion of certain future benefits.

What’s next with open enrollment software?

Open enrollment has long been a cumbersome and frustrating process, but it’s getting easier, little by little, with the help of integrated technologies. 

One of the critical tasks of HR pros and the tech they employ is helping the workforce understand how best to take advantage of their benefits. This can often start with a holistic view of their total benefits package, from salary to health care. And Origin is a solution that offers this perspective.

Origin is a financial wellness platform that puts the reigns firmly in the hands of your employees when it comes to managing their benefits: offering a side-by-side look at all aspects of their financial lives, including healthcare and more, your employees get the big picture on their workplace advantages so they know exactly what they need when open enrollment rolls around.

Learn more here about what Origin has to offer your company: Use Origin.