This Open Enrollment Period, Benefits Communications Take Center Stage: Employees Care More, Demand More

As human resource and benefits executives gear up for this year’s fall Open Enrollment season, they have a tremendous opportunity to enhance the enrollment experience for their workers. More than ever, employees are looking to their employers and their human resource (HR) departments for guidance. In fact, employers and their human resource departments are now the number one source consulted for advice during Open Enrollment (63%), according to MetLife’s 2008 Open Enrollment Survey – ahead of co-workers (55%), spouse (54%) and benefits advisors (39%). Going forward, 27% of workers said they plan to listen to – and act on – their HR department’s advice during their next benefits selection period, a higher percentage than those that expect to confer with and act on the advice of co-workers, benefits advisors, medical insurance providers or their parents. Traditionally, a company’s Open Enrollment period is the time between October and November when employees determine which benefits they will select for themselves and their families for the coming year. "As employees continue to bear more responsibility for choosing and paying for their benefits, they have a stronger interest in making smarter decisions than they did in years past, and they are asking their employers for the information and tools that will help them choose wisely,” said Bill Mullaney, president, Institutional Business, MetLife. Closing the "Guidance Gap” Closing the "guidance gap” between the benefits offered during Open Enrollment and employees’ access to tools and information to make the decision-making process less complicated can pay strong dividends for employers. According to the MetLife survey, released today, among those workers that report having access to resources to help them make informed decisions, 82% were satisfied with their benefits offerings – compared to half (51%) of employees who stated that they didn’t get the resources they needed. Employees who feel confident about their benefits decisions credit both themselves (80%) and their employers (26%). However, among employees who didn’t feel confident, more than half (54%) hold their employer or HR department responsible, over themselves (45%). "For employers, Open Enrollment is an important time of year to showcase their company’s benefits offerings. They have an opportunity to enhance the Open Enrollment experience by offering a robust combination of employer- and employee-paid benefits, and communicating about them simply and effectively,” added Mullaney. "After all, according to MetLife’s research, effective benefits communications programs pay strong dividends – among them increased benefits satisfaction, employee engagement and workforce loyalty.” According to this year’s survey, one in four (23%) employees are very satisfied with the benefits their employer offers during Open Enrollment, even though almost an equal number (27%) now pay at least half their cost and 17% pay the majority. As employees assume more financial responsibility for funding and selecting their and their family’s protection products, they are engaging more actively in the Open Enrollment process. Consistent with last year’s findings, nearly half (47%) of employees now say they read their Open Enrollment materials from cover to cover – a positive development. At the same time, they are asking that materials and tools become more consumer-friendly and interactive. Even though 22% of employees surveyed said they were happy during last year’s Open Enrollment period, a sizeable percentage of employees said they felt either confused (25%) or frustrated (24%) while selecting their benefits during Open Enrollment. Perhaps because of this, three-quarters of employees made no changes to their 2008 employee benefits selection during their most recent enrollment period – a surprising statistic given that nearly half (44%) experienced a major life event, such as a divorce, having a baby, buying a home or getting married. Knowledge is Power Fortunately, there are various ways for employers to get the right information into the right employees’ hands during Open Enrollment. When asked what their HR department could do to make the process easier, roughly one-quarter of employees said either provide more information about benefits (23%), present benefits information in an easier to understand format (25%) or offer guidelines or instructions for "people like me” (24%). In addition to wanting simple tools and easy-to-understand guidelines, employees need straightforward product information. Many report having trouble understanding the benefits that their employers offer. More than one-third (37%), for example, are confused by annuities. Roughly the same percentage (31%) have trouble understanding legal services plans, while one quarter have the same issues with critical illness insurance. Solutions for Employers The good news for employers is that high-payback solutions are within their reach – two of the strategies found most helpful during Open Enrollment are, for many companies, relatively inexpensive and easy to implement, yet under-utilized. Two-thirds (66%) of employees find meetings and seminars with HR representatives extremely or very helpful, but only 30% of employers offered such programs. And, while 79% of employees find calculators or decision tools extremely or very helpful, only 10% of employers offered these tools. In particular, Young Singles and New Families want their employer to provide guidelines for people like them. Treating Employees as Benefits Consumers Giving employees access to benefits information and the products they care about most also changes their benefits behavior. While only one in four employees made changes to their benefits during their company’s most recent Open Enrollment period, those employees who did make modifications cited the availability of new benefits offered by employer (23%) as their primary reason; another popular trigger was education offered by their employer, cited by 10% of the respondents. Among Established Families, the percentage of employees basing their benefits changes/elections on educational materials jumps to 19%. When it comes to the benefits that employees would most like their employers to consider adding, dental insurance (56%) tops the list. The second and third most wished-for additions are vision insurance (47%) and prescription drug plans (32%). Enhancing the Open Enrollment Experience As employers prepare for the upcoming Open Enrollment period, MetLife offers the following suggestions to help them enhance the experience for their workers: *Look at the composition of your workforce to determine how to best communicate benefits offerings and which benefits and coverage levels to offer. *Survey employees to find out what benefits and tools they most want during Open Enrollment, and see how you can work to fulfill employees’ wishes. *Consider making available more voluntary benefits, where the employee would pay 100% of the cost. Among the most popular voluntary benefits are dental, auto & homeowners insurance and legal services plans. *If feasible, offer one-on-one meetings with HR representatives to discuss employees’ personal needs and the benefits that are right for their family situation. *Provide educational tools, such as easy "rules of thumb,” benefits calculators and simplified product information. *Consider having an off-cycle offering of a new benefit (part of a new trend in the benefits industry) – this will bring more attention to the new addition and allow employees to fully research and review the offering prior to enrollment. Survey Methodology The MetLife 2008 Open Enrollment Survey was conducted online February 25 – March 4, 2008 and was fielded by GfK NOP. This survey polled 1,204 full-time employees, age 21 and older, which are working full- time for a company offering benefits and have at least some say in the benefits decision-making for their household. To learn more about how employees think and behave during their company’s Open Enrollment period, you can download a copy of MetLife new white paper entitled "Open Enrollment at a Crossroad: New Employee Expectations, New Employer Opportunities” at www.whymetlife.com/enrollment2. Celebrating 140 years, MetLife is a subsidiary of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), a leading provider of insurance and financial services with operations throughout the United States and the Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific regions. Through its domestic and international subsidiaries and affiliates, MetLife, Inc. reaches more than 70 million customers around the world and MetLife is the largest life insurer in the United States (based on life insurance in-force). The MetLife companies offer life insurance, annuities, auto and home insurance, retail banking and other financial services to individuals, as well as group insurance, reinsurance and retirement & savings products and services to corporations and other institutions. For more information, please visit www.metlife.com.