Rightway, a company transforming care navigation and pharmacy benefits, has released new findings to help employers boost employee benefits activation ahead of open enrollment. The benefits activation study, conducted with a third-party research firm and based on responses from over 800 employees, reveals practical strategies to maximize the impact of employer benefits solutions.
The research highlights a key challenge: despite employers investing significant time and resources into their benefits strategy, 80% of employees activate only 1-2 benefits. With open enrollment approaching, the data is a timely resource for benefits teams looking to increase benefits activation and engagement.
Key findings in the study:
- Employees must have easy access to information: When deciding to activate a benefit, employees prioritize understanding how to access benefits and identifying out-of-pocket costs.
- Spread the word across your teams: Colleague recommendations and team discussions significantly drive benefit activation.
- Overcommunicate your benefits: Contrary to popular belief, employees want benefits updates multiple times a month. Younger generations like Gen Z want to hear about their benefits as often as every week, even after open enrollment.
- Timing is everything: Most employees activate their benefits within a month of learning about them.
Actionable strategies for open enrollment:
- Enhance communication: Increase email frequency, use internal meetings, and provide clear, easily accessible benefits information to keep employees informed.
- Simplify access: Ensure information about how to access benefits and any associated out-of-pocket costs is easy to find and understand.
- Leverage peer influence: Encourage employees to share their experiences with benefits to increase awareness and activation.
Maximize your benefits with Rightway.
Rightway collaborates with benefits leaders to identify top healthcare-related objectives for their team, such as increasing benefits awareness and utilization. Our dedicated clinical guides offer personalized care decision support, benefits education, and steerage to high-quality providers, ensuring clients and members get the most value from their benefits.
“Open enrollment is the time to ensure your team understands and uses the benefits you’ve worked hard to offer,” said Ashley Hirsch, Rightway’s Senior Director of Client Success. “At Rightway, we help employees fully understand and maximize their benefits, reducing the burden on benefits leaders so you can focus on other priorities.”
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