How to Increase Employee Engagement During Open Enrollment

It's open enrollment season

It’s late on a weeknight, and one of your employees is on her phone comparing deductibles. She’s tired. The plan summary might as well be in another language. She’ll pick whatever she picked last year and hope it works out.

More than 20% of employee benefits questions arrive outside business hours. People are deciding in the margins of their day, often on mobile.

Meanwhile, you did everything right. You built the guide, sent the reminders, and hosted the info session. And your inbox is still full of questions you’ve already answered.

Open enrollment is usually treated as an admin task. For employees, it’s a high-stakes decision made under stress. For you, it’s one of the heaviest stretches of the year. The organizations that run it well treat it as an engagement moment: they create an environment where people feel informed, supported, and comfortable asking “dumb” questions.

Why do employees disengage from open enrollment?

Employees disengage because they’re anxious, short on time, and don’t feel confident in their decisions. It isn’t because they don’t care.

• They’re financially stressed. A mid-year 2026 BenefitHub survey of more than 25,000 employees found 55% describe their relationship with money as “anxious.”
• Costs keep rising. KFF’s 2025 survey put average family premiums at $26,993, a 6% increase that outpaced 4% wage growth.
• Few feel confident. Prudential found 20% of employees feel overwhelmed during benefits enrollment, and only 38% describe themselves as confident.
• They avoid changes. 36% of employees avoided changing their benefits because they weren’t sure of the rules.

The takeaway for HR: completion rates hide the real problem. An employee can complete open enrollment without ever feeling confident in the choices they made. Measure confidence, not just completion.

What does recognition have to do with benefits?

Recognition builds the trust and psychological safety employees need to ask questions, speak up about what they need, and engage with decisions that feel intimidating.

Benefits and recognition are both part of the same promise: we see you, and we’ve got your back. When employees feel undervalued day to day, a glossy benefits guide won’t change that. MetLife found that 77% of employees intend to stay with their employer, but 56% are staying out of necessity rather than genuine commitment. Better benefits communication won’t close that gap alone. Feeling valued will.

This matters for retention, too. Among employees very likely to stay with their employer, 82% are very satisfied with their benefits, and half of all employees have taken or turned down a job because of benefits.

Recognition is part of how employees experience their total rewards. In Kudos’ 2026 Customer Impact Study, conducted by Leger Research, 60% of employees using Kudos reported feeling more appreciated, and 51% reported a stronger sense of belonging.

How can you use recognition to increase open enrollment participation?

Use recognition to make participation visible, celebrate the people who help others, and turn deadlines into shared milestones instead of individual chores.

1. Celebrate team milestones, not individual choices. Recognize departments or locations when they hit completion targets, such as “75% enrolled by Friday.” Never recognize anyone for what they chose. Benefits decisions are private.
2. Name your Open Enrollment Champions. Some employees naturally explain HSA rules to coworkers or walk a new hire through the portal. Recognize them publicly, and tie the recognition to your values, such as “Supports others” or “Community first.”
3. Thank early finishers without shaming late ones. A thank-you to early completers builds momentum. A public “who’s left” leaderboard does the opposite. Skip it.
4. Give managers a recognition prompt. Managers are often the first person an employee asks. Give them a short script for checking in, and remind them to recognize team members who finish or help others.
5. Recognize your HR and benefits team. Open enrollment is one of HR’s heaviest stretches. Ask leaders to recognize the people answering questions at 9 p.m. They need it too.
6. Close the loop. Once the window closes, announce the participation rate and thank everyone who took part. People should see that their effort was noticed.

What open enrollment incentives actually work?

The best incentives reward completion and education, such as finishing enrollment or attending a benefits session. They never reward choosing a particular plan.

SHRM highlighted how Collective Health builds engagement before its window opens, launching weekly wellness tips leading up to open enrollment and sending reminders throughout its two-week window. Small, consistent touchpoints beat one giant email.

Incentive ideas that work:

• Recognition points for everyone who completes enrollment by the deadline
• A challenge for attending a benefits Q&A or watching a short explainer video
• A team-level reward when a department reaches 100% completion
• A small reward for submitting feedback on the enrollment experience

Two cautions. First, employee rewards can be taxable, so plan for that up front (Are Employee Rewards a Taxable Benefit?). Second, incentives tied to health plan enrollment or wellness activities can be subject to specific regulations. Confirm your approach with your benefits advisor or counsel before launch.

How do you keep benefits communication going after open enrollment?

Keep benefits visible year-round by revisiting them at life moments and in everyday channels, not just once a year.

Open enrollment alone doesn’t drive understanding. In one 2026 survey, only 7% of employees said the open enrollment period made them think about using their benefits. Selerix’s research suggests the problem isn’t that employees ignore benefits content, but that they don’t encounter it at the right moment.

• Recognize employees who use their benefits in visible ways, such as finishing a learning stipend course or joining a wellness challenge.
• Keep a permanent, searchable benefits hub instead of a PDF buried in email.
• Mark life milestones like new babies, new homes, and work anniversaries, and pair the celebration with a gentle reminder of relevant benefits.

How Kudos supports open enrollment

Kudos gives HR one place to communicate, recognize, and incentivize, so open enrollment doesn’t live across five disconnected emails.

• Announcements: Post open enrollment deadlines in a high-visibility space separate from the recognition feed. Target specific audiences, schedule and pin updates, and track who has read them.
• Spaces: Build a benefits hub where employees find plan summaries, FAQs, and session recordings, and can ask questions in context.
• Incentives & Challenges: Launch a challenge for completing enrollment or attending a benefits session. Employees can submit proof of completion right in the platform.
• Awards & Nominations: Let peers nominate Open Enrollment Champions who went out of their way to help others.
• AI Recognition Assistant: Help busy managers write specific, meaningful thank-you messages in seconds.
• Reporting: See participation trends by team or location, and spot where people need more support.

Frequently asked questions

How do I increase open enrollment participation?‍

Communicate early and in multiple formats. Make information easy to find on mobile, give managers a simple check-in prompt, and use recognition and small incentives to celebrate completion milestones by team.

Why are employees confused during open enrollment?‍

Most employees think about benefits only a few times a year, and they make complex financial decisions in a short window. Only 46% of employees feel confident managing benefits on their own.

Should you reward employees for completing open enrollment?‍

Yes, if you reward completion or education rather than plan choice. Recognition points, team-level rewards, and challenges for attending benefits sessions all work. Check tax and regulatory implications with your advisor first.

How can managers help during open enrollment?‍

Managers can remind their teams of deadlines, answer basic questions or point people to the right resource, and recognize team members who complete enrollment or help colleagues.

How do you measure open enrollment success?‍

Track completion rates alongside confidence. Run a short post-enrollment pulse survey asking whether employees feel confident in their choices, and watch the volume of questions in the weeks after the window closes.

Is open enrollment only a U.S. thing?‍

The term is most common in the U.S. Many Canadian and global employers run a similar annual benefits re-enrollment or flex-benefits selection period, and the same engagement principles apply.