Author: Joe Dobson, HCM Payroll Consultant at Namos Solutions
Enable Redwood Experience for Benefits Self-Service Landing Page
The first impressions that the Benefits area leaves on new users will immensely improve with the new UI. Where previously the sections were divided up by tiles in an intermediary screen, now everything is in one place. The design is much more intuitive, so the user doesn’t have to go back and forth between pages, for example to check their contacts before opening a life event. In my opinion customers have previously struggled to grasp the benefits area due to the segregation of tasks and the many cascades of screens included in raising a life event. Without a doubt the 24D update eliminates a lot of that hassle.
Oracle have also added a Quick Actions menu, pictured on the right of the above screenshot, where you can jump straight into important areas like Beneficiaries, Document Records, Person Information and Report a Life Event, without having to go back through the “foyer”. They have also added links to new areas like Employee Resources, forecasting calculators and a Designated Contact Helpline which I believe, if utilised properly, will massively enhance employee experiences in this area and reduce the number of HR tickets raised.
Enable Redwood Experience for Benefits Self-Service Enrolment
Continuing the enhanced UI is the Self-Service Enrolment screen. This is another example of condensing a process previously made up of multiple screens into one, but it doesn’t lose that step-by-step characteristic. For me, it is reminiscent of the Journeys area which several customers will already be familiar with.
The ‘Get to know your benefits’ section offers customers the opportunity to add an overview of what benefits they offer before the enrolment really begins. In my opinion this is an addition, as previously the employee would have to progress through to the Enrolment Opportunities screen to see what they were eligible for.
Oracle have also added ‘Express’ and ‘Discovery’ pathways:
If you are a settled employee partaking in a benefits scheme you’re very familiar with, such as Life Insurance or Private Medical, but you just want to check some details or amend a coverage amount, then you might opt for the ‘Express’ pathway to get things done quickly. A new employee taking the time to peruse the benefits offered by their new employer is more likely to select ‘Discover’, which will offer them more information on what exactly each plan can give them. This could do many customers a favour by reducing the number of employees requesting benefit information from HR, as it can now be provided as part of the enrolment process.
At the end of the enrolment process, shown at the bottom of the screenshot above and in the screenshot below, there is a ‘Post-Enrolment Activities’ section.
There are usually always some actions an employee or administrator needs to complete before a benefit can be activated, so this is a great way to tick off at least a few of those tasks immediately, whether this is completing a form or designating dependents.
Enable Redwood Experience for Approvals and Alerts in Benefits Report a Life Event Page
Once again Oracle have rolled up several screens into one with the ‘Report a Life Event’ action. Of course, there will still be those Life Events automatically entered by scheduled jobs, and admins will still be able to create them where necessary, but I daresay the new UI will make self-service Life Event reporting seem much less arduous for benefit members. With administrator privilege raising Life Events was easy before, but not so much for employees who had less understanding of how Life Events work in relation to the rest of the module. I think at least in its similarity to the Self-Service Enrolment page the 24D update will help that somewhat.
Approvals (if required) help reduce the number of errors in benefit enrolments, and the employee can easily see whether the Event they raised has been approved, as seen in the screenshot. This Life Event, now approved, will cycle through the usual subsequent stages: ‘Evaluated’ then ‘Processed and Closed’. In the video demonstrating the new features by Oracle, you can also see guidance on required documentation which further contributes to eliminating errors and the overall efficiency of the module.
Another thing to note here is that a point-of-contact for help has been designated in the screenshot. Whether customers use this option is another matter of course, but if resources allow then I can see this being an excellent feature to add more guidance, even if the helpline is a link to a SharePoint document or Shared Mailbox.
Enable New Benefits Alerts
The new Benefits summary and self-service pages certainly demonstrate a conscious effort to hand some control back to the employee, along with the facility for them to make better-informed decisions, but is the module still as flexible as it used to be?
An area where customisation has been improved upon, is alerts and notifications. With 24D, the option is available to set up real-time alerts for Billing, Court Orders and (as we saw previously) Life Events.
As shown in the screenshots for this new feature, within the Alert Composer area, ‘Successful Submission’ and ‘Unpaid Bill’ messages can be configured and can include information specific to each business. Used correctly I trust these notifications can contribute to the reduction of errors, or instances where an Admin will have to intervene, by prompting engagement from the workforce and keeping them in-the-know.
Enhanced Purge Process and Benefits Diagnostic Reports
The final update appears to be more of a housekeeping exercise than an enhancement, but it can’t be understated how important it is that these processes and reports remain consistent with new functionality, so that users can continue to rely on accurate results and information.
Below is a full list of what has been updated.
Benefits ‘purging’ processes now containing parameters to accommodate new functionality such as ‘Self-Report Life Events’:
- HDL Remove Person Info
- Delete Person Benefits Diagnostic
- Purge Backed-Out or Voided Life Event Data
Diagnostic reports which have been updated to contain information on the new functionality:
- Person Benefits Diagnostic
- Benefits Setup Diagnostic
- Life Event Setup Diagnostic
- Beneficiary Enrolment Details Report & Person Electable Choice Diagnostic
- Benefits Plan Compare Diagnostic
- Program Information Diagnostic
- Benefits Open Enrolment Diagnostic
OVERALL BEST NEW FEATURE
Refined Life Event Reporting Functionality
From personal experience, customers had been known to find the old UI confusing when it came to raising Life Events. The process of reporting Life Events, enrolling and resolving any pending actions, though clearer for administrators, were all separate processes with little cohesion between the screens.
The new and improved process of raising a Life Event, incorporating a document upload section and ‘Need Help?’ option is a great way to enhance the process, and overall, it is much easier to use. The UI emulates the enrolment process, which may help users to understand the relationship between the two functions.
If you’re not sure how to take advantage of these new features and what impacts these changes will have on your organisation, then feel free to speak to #TeamNamos and we’d be happy to discuss – Contact Us.
