Open enrollment – the time when employees can elect their benefits for the year … and the time that many HR professionals dread. Are you making benefits enrollment and management harder than it has to be? While some HR teams have moved benefits administration online, many are still following outdated, manual processes that make enrollment and management difficult and increase the chances of it being fraught with errors. Instead of using online options, some teams are still collecting paper forms when it comes time for open enrollment, which isn’t fun for you or your organization’s employees.

How does manual benefits administration make your job more complicated?

Well, for starters, it makes you responsible for distributing, reminding, collecting, entering, and tracking paper forms for all employees. These steps add complications and can be points of failure in the process. For companies with many employees or multiple site locations, it can mean even more complex coordination for the HR team – and more frustration, too.

What are the cons of manual processes?

Manual, paper processes are time-consuming, are harder to administer, have lower employee participation, and can cause costly errors. They can create challenges and headaches for the HR team administering the benefits because there are so many pitfalls, as they require human-performed data entry, processing, and nagging employees for their forms; it’s easy to make a mistake when you are relying on people. Another major downside to paper forms is data security – securing the process online is much safer and helps keep all of that information out of the wrong hands.

What are most businesses doing these days?

More and more businesses today are taking benefits administration and enrollment online, as going paperless can help eliminate many of the associated difficulties. With less data entry and room for human error, the likelihood for mistakes on both the employee and human resources sides is reduced. Today, the online options for benefits enrollment and administration, which can be accessed from anywhere with internet and a connectable device, are especially convenient for both administrators and participants, and this makes the HR team’s job much easier.

How can outsourcing or using benefits administration software make things much easier?

With benefits administration software – which, simply put, is software that helps organizations manage employee benefits – you can verify data quickly and accurately. By using online software year-round, you can streamline the benefits administration and tracking process, make annual enrollment less complicated, accommodate changes due to life circumstances more smoothly, and complete day-to-day administration with ease.

What are the benefits?

• Reduces workload for the HR team – enrollment and administration are easier, and employees can access self-service options, freeing up time for other HR tasks
• Costs less in the long run, in both time and human error
• Helps save the environment – no printing and mailing packets or paying for postage
• Requires less time for both the administrator and the employees
• May increase employee participation
• Ensures that all enrolled employees are truly eligible, including verifying their dependents
• Improves data accuracy – no more trying to decipher the handwriting of your colleagues as you manually enter their paper forms
• Increases efficiency – spend less time distributing forms and chasing down responses
• Allows for the ability to personalize offerings and guide employee choices through automated systems
• Connects to your benefits carriers more easily
• Enables the ability to provide the same information and support to all employees, regardless of location or shift
• Allows access to benefits information 24 hours a day, seven days a week
• Facilitates easier communication with employees about enrollment, elections, and changes

The good news – with the right software, you can make life much easier by reducing manual processes and sending all that paper to the recycling bin.