Gauging Employee Benefits Communication
Effectiveness and Preferences
Open Enrollment season is the perfect time to showcase the breadth of your benefits program and the time of
year that employees have to decide which benefits they will choose for themselves and their families.
Understanding the effectiveness of benefits communications and employee communication preferences can help
you optimize Open Enrollment and help increase employees’ ability to make smart decisions to fit their particular
situations.
This sample employee survey, developed by MetLife, a leading provider of employee benefits, may help you
determine which benefits your employees need more help in understanding, which communications are most
effective and what you can do to help improve employees’ experience during Open Enrollment. This survey is a
sample of the kind of survey you can use to poll your employees. You should consult with your company’s human
resources professional and legal department to determine which questions are appropriate for your employee
population.
How to use this survey:

Review the survey questions. Use questions you feel are the most important to you and your company and
appropriate for your employee populations. Each question focuses on different aspects of an employee’s Open Enrollment
experience, from what tools and calculators do employees need to what can their employers do to improve employees’
experience.

Customize the survey. While common answers for each question are included, this sample survey is designed to
allow you to make edits and tailor the survey to your benefits program and communication tactics.

Distribute to your employees. To learn what your employees think, make the survey easily accessible by your
employees and clearly state that participation in the survey is completely optional. You can post to your intranet, create it
in an online survey program such as SurveyMonkey or distribute via email or during employee meetings.

Analyze survey responses. Based on the answers provided by your employees, you can use the information to help
you refine your Open Enrollment communication strategy. Suggestions for how you can leverage the responses are
provided below:

Question #1 – This question focuses on if your employees know how much of each benefit they need. If a majority of
employees have not determined their financial needs for one or more of the benefits, you may want to promote various
Tools & Calculators such as MetLife’s Life Insurance Calculator, Disability Income Insurance Calculator or Benefits
Simplifier Tool.

Question #2 – This question highlights the most helpful communication tactics. Based on the employee responses,
you can focus your communication plan on the tactics that are most helpful for your employees.

Question #3 – This question is designed to help benefits professionals understand what they could do differently to
help employees optimize Open Enrollment season. Depending on employee responses, you may want to choose one
or two of the top responses and incorporate into your Open Enrollment communication strategy.

Question #4 – This question identifies which benefits employees need more information on before making a
decision. Use employees responses as a tool to learn which benefits your communications should focus on in terms of
providing educational information. You may want to feature MetLife’s Benefits Simplifier Tool as a helpful, easy-to-use
tool that provides employees with benefits guidance for “people like me.”

Question #5 – This question focuses on major life events that an employee may have experienced within the last 18
months. Based on employees’ responses, you may want to provide access to MetLife’s Life Advice content, which
provides advice and guidance on more than 80 topics addressing issues that affect one's family, health, property and
financial well being.
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1) Have you determined your household’s financial needs for the following benefits?
SELECT ALL
THAT APPLY
Medical Insurance
Life Insurance
Disability Insurance
Long-Term Care Insurance
Retirement plan / 401(k)
2) Which of the following are helpful to you during your employer’s benefits enrollment period?
SELECT ALL
THAT APPLY
Emails announcing upcoming enrollment period
Flyers/Posters announcing the upcoming enrollment period
Packet of enrollment material
Meetings and seminars with your employer
Reminders to complete enrollment by the deadline
Your employer’s website/intranet
A benefits specific teleconference or webinar
Calculators or other decision tools to help you in making your benefits decisions
A “benefits fair” where you had the opportunity to meet representatives of various insurance companies and other
benefits providers
3) Which of the following, if any, would improve your overall experience
during the benefits enrollment period?
SELECT ALL
THAT APPLY
More time to decide
Detailed information about the employee benefits provided
Easier to understand format for benefits information
Benefit fairs or meetings where you can ask questions concerning benefits
Access to a benefits advisor or financial planner
Guidelines or instructions for “people like me” (i.e. someone of my age, marital status and/or family size/situation)
Other
4) Which of the following benefits do understand well and which would you like more information on?
UNDERSTAND
Health and Wellness Benefits
POS (Point-of-Service)
Medical Insurance: High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP)
Medical Insurance: Preferred Provider Organization (PPO )
Medical Insurance: Health Maintenance Organization)
Prescription Drug Plan
Health Savings Account (HSA)
Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
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Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, New York, NY 10166
WANT MORE
INFORMATION
UNDERSTAND
WANT MORE
INFORMATION
Wellness programs
Life Insurance Benefits
Term Life Insurance
Dependent Life Insurance
Supplemental Life Insurance
Dental Benefits
Dental Insurance
Retiree Dental Insurance
Disability Insurance Benefits
Short Term Disability
Long Term Disability
Individual Disability Income
Additional Benefits
Critical Illness Insurance
Long-Term Care Insurance
Legal Services Plans
Automobile Insurance
Homeowner’s Insurance
401(k) or other retirement plan
Annuities
Vision Care Insurance
Pet Insurance
5) Have you experience any of the following events in the past 18 months?
SELECT ALL
THAT APPLY
Recently graduated from college
Got married/engaged
Became a parent/ had a child
Bought car
Bought a home
Had a child enter college
Became a grandparent
Had a parent move into your home
Began providing care to a parent/friend/relative who needs help with activities of daily living (i.e, eating, bathing) or who
has a cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer’s Disease.
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Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, New York, NY 10166