New Survey: HR Missing the Mark When It Comes To Open Enrollment

NEW YORK, Aug. 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- As many HR departments prepare for open enrollment, Namely, the leading HR platform for mid-sized companies, today released the results of its open enrollment survey and identified what is most important to employees in a top-notch benefits experience. In addition, the company welcomes Matthew Monahan as VP of Benefits and unveils its new open enrollment wizard to guide employees in making better benefits decisions.

Survey Findings

Key among the survey findings is that 36% of employees give their HR department a "C" or lower when it comes to open enrollment. While 57% of respondents said their employer prepared them "pretty well," only 27% give them an "A." The biggest causes of open enrollment frustration are 1) constant changes in plans, 2) collateral that's hard to understand, and 3) the rushed process.

Additional insights include:

• One month is the magic number when it comes to open enrollment. HR departments should build in extra time: 50% of employees want at least one month to make their selections. Of all age groups, Baby Boomers were most likely to want more time, perhaps due to additional healthcare concerns and family complexity as retirement nears.
• HR reps are not the go-to for benefits advice. Only 1 in 5 employees say they consult their HR representative. Instead, they turn to coworkers and family members to help make plan selections.
• Good healthcare matters more than fun perks. With rising healthcare costs, employees aren't taking healthcare for granted. 72% of employees are willing to give up perks in exchange for better healthcare benefits. Of the perks they're willing to ditch, 47% of respondents selected the company holiday party and happy hours. But only 7% of employees are willing to sacrifice vacation days—perhaps because time off is a health benefit in and of itself.
• Employees vastly underestimate how much employers spend on healthcare. 53% of employees think their employer spends under $5,000 on their healthcare benefits annually—where the average per-employee spend in 2016 was $8,669.

Helping HR Improve Their Grade
In order to help companies deliver a better benefits experience for employees, Namely is pleased to announce that Matthew Monahan has joined as VP of Benefits. Monahan, a long-time benefits executive who joins Namely after a decade at Aetna, will continue to expand Namely's best-in-class employee benefits offering.

One immediate way Namely is doing that is through its new open enrollment wizard, launching in time to support 2018 benefits elections. The updated wizard addresses the pain points revealed in the survey: as employees make their selections, it offers side-by-side comparisons and breaks down complicated jargon. Plus, it gives employees the flexibility to go at their own pace and truly understand their choices.

"These survey results underline the urgency for HR departments to invest in a better open enrollment experience. Employees want great benefits choices, ample time to make their selections, and a knowledgeable HR representative," says Monahan. "Namely's new open enrollment technology delivers all three. I'm thrilled to join Namely to continue helping mid-sized companies maximize the return on their benefits spend."

Download the full survey results here: https://library.namely.com/open-enrollment-employee-benefits-survey

Methodology: Survey results are based on 517 respondents. All respondents are between ages 18-65, based in the US, and employed full-time.

About Namely
Namely is the first HR platform that employees actually love to use. Namely's powerful, easy-to-use technology allows companies to handle all of their HR, payroll, time management, and benefits in one place. Coupled with dedicated account support, every Namely client gets the software and service they need to deliver great HR and a strong, engaged company culture. Namely is used by over 800 clients with over 125,000 employees globally. Headquartered in New York City, the company has raised $157.8 MM from leading investors, including Altimeter Capital, Scale Capital, Sequoia Capital, Matrix Partners, and True Ventures. For more information, visit www.namely.com.

SOURCE Namely

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