Why Online Benefits Enrollment is a Smart Business Strategy

Once every year, during the “open enrollment period”, Human Resource
departments come to a stop, for a few weeks, in order to help employees’ enroll
or re-enroll in the company’s various benefit programs. This isn’t the only
time HR professionals are working on benefits enrollment. Every time a new
employee is hired or experiences a qualifying life event (gets married, has a baby,
etc.), the entire process starts again. This can feel like a daunting task.

Technology offers the best solution for how business owners and
managers can help alleviate this difficulty

There are great advantages to switching from paper-based benefits
enrollment process to an online enrollment process. A online enrollment process
saves time, and it gives employees the independence to make their own elections
and helps reduce costly mistakes.

Employee Empowerment

In the past, employees would need to meet individually with their
company’s benefits administrator or HR personnel in order to select their
benefit elections. Time is spent scheduling these one-on-one meetings, as well
as the meeting itself taking up valuable time in the workday for employees to
be able to perform their normal job duties. However, updating to an online
system gives employees the opportunity to look through the options at a
convenient time for them, without disrupting their workday. An online system is
able to display employee-specific costs with each option and calculate exactly
how much each plan will cost each pay period. Online enrollment systems also
come with employee communication tools like web links, FAQ sheets, additional
documents and even a glossary. This makes the information available for everyone
and empowers each employee to make an informed decision based on their
individual needs.

Avoid Mistakes

An online benefits enrollment system is designed to follow all
applicable rules, significantly decreasing mistakes often made due to simple “human
error.” Employee errors are minimal as well because they are able to carefully review
their benefit choices and elections at their own leisure, and even make changes
if necessary.

Online benefits enrollment saves time, empowers employees to understand their benefits program, and helps benefits administrators avoid costly mistakes. Now is the time to take your company’s benefits enrollment online.