It's Time to Get Ready for the Year Ahead
Here are a few things to consider as you get ready for the new year.
It's that time of year, when open enrollment is behind you and budget season is wrapping up. Performance management is a few months away. Once the holidays are behind you, things invariably will be primed to pick back up. Why not use this brief window of calm to introduce administrative changes that can ease the volume of workforce planning in coming months?
Boost Employee Claim Volumes With Benefit Reminders
The beginning of a new year provides a great opportunity to remind employees of benefit changes implemented during open enrollment that will take effect. A little up-front work can prepare employees for that new vendor or benefit.
Take time to explain holistically the collective tax benefits of offerings like health savings accounts, 401(k) offerings and flexible spending accounts. The beginning of the new is the perfect time to raise employee awareness of the total value proposition of organizational benefits.
Build Momentum in Advance of the New Year
Organizations that haven't celebrated a success in the fourth quarter of 2018 should be looking for that opportunity. Use positive feelings of progress to build momentum. Praising first and in volume can also create space and opportunities to address coming challenges and opportunities.
Spread Out Change to Help Employees Absorb It
December is also an excellent time to look at budget requests across the organization. New and large budget requests are often associated with changes that require the time and attention of large groups of employees. You have a unique vantage point from which to see where three or four corporate efforts may be scheduled for the same window of time. Share that context with your peers to help ensure that high-volume, high-impact change efforts don't land on top of each other.
Spreading large efforts across the year can make each workforce planning effort more likely to succeed.
