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HR party of one is brought to you by

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Bernie portal consider two facts first

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around 50% of employees report that open

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enrollment is too confusing overwhelming

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and or stressful second 80% of employees

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claim to fully understand their benefit

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options but upon testing the real number

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is closer to

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49% which of these statistics is more

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important regarding your company's open

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enrollment process number number one

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seems obvious but number two points to a

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hidden challenge many businesses face

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unknowingly that challenge is

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potentially catastrophic for recruitment

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retention culture in the bottom line but

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what specifically is the challenge I'll

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get to that and share the best Solutions

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but first let's cover common open

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enrollment complaints the facts that

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matter and why HR asks the wrong

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questions now let's dive into your

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favorite pastime handling complaints

Common Open Enrollment Complaints

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common open enrollment complaints you

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know the phrase the squeaky wheel gets

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the grease okay then stop offering

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WD40 is every suggestion you get

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regarding open enrollment just three

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unreasonable complaints in a trench coat

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that's not uncommon with few exceptions

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your suggestion box should be a paper

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shredder you'll you'll never get to high

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priority high impact projects if you

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grease every squeaky wheel you're in

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Human Resources every wheel is going to

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squeak think of every open enrollment

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related squeak you've heard many people

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make comments like I can't log into the

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portal and select benefits because the

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Wi-Fi is down 2 weeks isn't enough time

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to choose options you didn't tell me I

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can only do this once a year what if I

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change my mind I can't remember my

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password but changing it is too much

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work I can't figure out what my co-pay

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is versus a deductible wait open

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enrollment was last month you should

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have told people that can you just

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reopen it you've heard this all before

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and more we don't have time to cover

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providing Solutions or well thought out

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replies will never permanently Grease

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the wheels all of these are distracting

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you from identifying and solving the

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real problem the facts that matter so

The Facts That Matter

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fact number two is much more important

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than fact number one now shove all your

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data and thoughts that focus on the Open

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Enrollment process itself they won't be

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worth anything unless the real problem

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is solved the single exceptional outlier

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to that rule is this fact during open

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enrollment the average person only

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spends 18 minutes reviewing their

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various benefits options before

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confirming their

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elections if health insurance coverage

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is a major stressor for most American

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households and that figure is Rising

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then why do people speed through

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choosing benefits it's easiest to blame

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the Open Enrollment process itself open

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enrollment is too complex overwhelming

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stressful and confusing your process is

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a problem but not because of the reasons

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everyone complains about your obstacle

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is ignorance the blame resides within

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the Health Care System itself according

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to a Gallup study 94% of households

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worry daily over Healthcare costs some

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costs are beyond your immediate ability

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to change but there are many things you

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can do to mitigate these anxieties

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anxieties caused by confusion and

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misunderstandings employees can't have

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an easy open enrollment time due to how

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little they understand about healthc

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care coverage this is not a knock on

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anyone's intelligence even the most

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experienced professionals can make

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mistakes during open enrollment and then

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spend the next year fearing for their

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own health Health their spouse's health

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and their children's health of course

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people complain to you about how

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expensive Healthcare is they didn't know

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they could utilize a health care savings

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account or HSA to minimize expenses of

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course people complain to you about how

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much is deducted from their paycheck for

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benefits they didn't know the difference

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between employer sponsored benefits and

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voluntary benefits benefits are

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complicated advisors like your

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organization benefits broker must study

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and pass vigorous testing to become

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licensed the average person is busy with

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their own life and job and doesn't have

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time to become an expert you shouldn't

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ask the question how can I improve open

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enrollment you should ask how can I

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ensure my people know enough about

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benefits to feel comfortable and

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confident about Open Enrollment wait

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wait I know what you're thinking didn't

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that previous episode about four things

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R is not advise you not to educate

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employees on benefits yes it did that

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fact has not changed there are solutions

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to this problem that don't add a

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healthcare expert hat to your daily wear

Finding the Right Solutions

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finding the right

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Solutions we've uncovered the true Enemy

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by identifying a lack of knowledge as

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the real problem open enrollment

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shouldn't have to be such an agonizing

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experience for you as the HR Pro leading

5:28

it or for every everyone going through

5:30

it however you need solutions that don't

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overextend your labor you do enough and

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all share solutions that require the

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least effort but net High rewards first

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up talk to your broker your benefits

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advisor should be the first line of

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defense for any and all benefits

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education really if your broker isn't

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going above and beyond to provide

5:54

resources well in advance you should

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check out our other episode how to hire

5:59

a broker many Brokers provide their

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clients with resources Bernie portal

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creates for example we have a whole reel

6:05

of HR party of1 videos that quickly and

6:08

succinctly explain everything your

6:10

employees Harbor worries about we cover

6:12

it all from benefits Basics like what is

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a qualifying event to specific

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hypotheticals like can I contribute to

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an HSA If my spouse has an

6:22

HRA up next create a home for resources

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I'm spoiled I use Bernie portals

6:29

benefits of Administration feature to

6:30

house all the resources my employees

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need to feel secure making their

6:35

benefits elections I can put videos in

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hight traffic areas like how I have how

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does dental insurance work right with

6:44

all the summary plan documents election

6:46

information Etc needed for our dental

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plan you know what no one else asked me

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during our most recent open enrollment

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period anything no one asked about our

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EAP dfsa benefits nothing Bernie

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Portal's open enrollment process is the

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most streamlined part of my role saves

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me hours upon hours of time and energy

Final Thoughts

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with it those are solid Solutions on

7:12

their own but I have a better one for

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you ask your broker to provide your

7:16

benefits Administration platform Bernie

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portal partners with Brokers to provide

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small to medium-size employers with the

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key features of our all-in-one HR at

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little to no cost this includes

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onboarding benefits Administration and

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of course streamlined open enrollment

7:34

for more information on using Bernie

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portal to manage your employee facing

7:38

administrative tasks meet with one of

7:40

our product experts we will reach out to

7:43

your broker for you like I said my

7:45

Solutions require no extra effort it's

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part of what makes burning portals hr's

7:51

best friend remember your role is as

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strategic as you make