How to reach seasonal, manufacturing and shift workers during open enrollment

Open Enrollment programs may work well for full time office-based populations, but not as well for workers in manufacturing, seasonal, or shift-based roles.

Have no fear! Reaching these employees is possible. Consider approaches like:

• Use break rooms and lunch rooms to share OE communications.
  • Put up large posters or retractable banners about OE in these locations. Since many employees bring mobile devices to these areas, make sure the posters have a URL that takes visitors directly to a mobile sign-up page.
  • Make brochures and copies of mailed flyers available, for those that don’t have permanent mailing addresses.
  • Print additional posters with tear-off strips at the bottom, so employees can tear off a paper with the URL on it to bring home.
  • Make several devices, like iPads or Chromebooks, available for use. Configure them for benefits sign-up, so employees with poor cell reception or limited internet can still sign up.
• Work with managers to schedule OE sessions.
  • Be flexible with timing: scheduling at the start or end of a shift may drive the highest attendance.
  • Ask for their suggestions and ideas, as they have inside knowledge of how to motivate their teams.
  • Consider making some into live webinars that employees can join from any location.
• Use technologies that trigger based on employee behavior to notify employees about OE.
  • It is possible to “geo-fence” a location so that anyone who visits it receives a mobile notification. You can work with your tech team to enable OE-specific notifications that trigger when someone enters a facility.
  • If employees have a mobile app for logging their time or seeing their pay, that app can trigger alerts all about OE too.
• Use other locations visited by a large number of your employees.
  • Post brochures and posters at on-site clinics or gyms.
  • Consider local community centers, employment offices, or popular hang-outs too. Many would be willing to put up a flyer to help get health benefits to their visitors. (The recruiting appeal of these flyers is a secondary benefit, of course!)
• Consider using existing influencers and social networks to get the word out.
  • Identify influential employees who could be internal ambassadors for OE. Empower them with extra materials and ways to provide feedback to your team.
  • If you have a social media channel for company employees, like a private company group, promote OE sign-up there as well.

Your employee experience matters all year long, not just during Open Enrollment.

See how leading companies are doing it differently, in a new Harvard Business Review Analytic Services report.