GameStop, the world’s largest video game retailer with more than:
6,200 locations in the U.S. and 17 countries
12,000 full-time and 24,000 part-time benefit-eligible employees in the U.S.
Benefits enrollment for GameStop’s full-time U.S. employees, requiring mandatory participation for the first time to update employee data for upload into the payroll system.
Custom-branded employee communications campaign; combination of onsite face-to-face and Call Center enrollment sessions with certified Univers counselors; paperless enrollment; new hire enrollments; part-time enrollment strategy for Fall 2009.
Met with almost all 12,000 full-time employees during open enrollment
Scrubbed employee data for use in the payroll system
Saw significant increases in participation in all benefit plans, including 38% increase in medical, 162% increase in FSA, 100% increase in accident, 211% increase in life, 96% increase in legal
"Very well orchestrated by Univers... the counselors were fantastic." — Faye Saenz Director of Benefits GameStop
"The mandatory approach to enrollment turned out to be the best thing we’ve done in our Benefits department in a long time." — CJ Boss Vice President of HR Operations GameStop
"Employees were actually calling HR and thanking them for the opportunity to have their benefits explained." — Faye Saenz Director of Benefits GameStop
Tapping Into Enrollment as an Employee Data Update Opportunity
After two years of partnering with Univers Workplace Solutions for benefit communications and paperless enrollment support, GameStop was ready to take its annual enrollment to the next level by making active participation in the enrollment process mandatory in 2009. With over 12,000 full-time employees in the U.S., GameStop needed mandatory participation in order to verify and update employee data records for upload into the payroll system, and to collect social security numbers per new Medicare regulatory requirements. GameStop also wanted to collect email addresses in order to start doing more internal communications by email.
Faye Saenz, Director of Benefits for GameStop, said, "We went through a merger in 2006, and our employee data really needed to be cleaned up. Univers had always suggested that we do mandatory enrollments, and we wanted to put good data into the payroll system this year, so we made a commitment to meet with every single employee and not roll over the previous year’s elections."
Reaching Employees from Every Angle to Ensure Enrollment Participation
Univers worked with GameStop to develop a comprehensive, custom-branded communications campaign in the company’s dark, video-game-inspired style, including an"E for Everyone"theme. The campaign was designed to ensure that employees understood exactly why GameStop was making this mandatory and what would happen to their benefits if they did not participate.
The complete solution included the following services at no cost (except postage), subsidized by GameStop’s voluntary plan offerings through Univers:
Content development, design and fulfillment of employee and manager communications in English and Spanish, including posters, mailers and an Enrollment Guide
Onsite, one-to-one enrollment meetings with Univers counselors for about 2,500 employees at corporate/distribution offices in Texas and Kentucky
Call Center staffed by Univers counselors for about 9,500 retail employees to call in during a specified week of the four-week open enrollment period
Paperless enrollment and employee data capture in the robust, proprietary myUnivers system
Automated follow-up with daily "not-seen" list via auto-dialer phone message reminders to individual employees and emails to store managers
Outbound calls by Univers and GameStop to follow-up with any stragglers in final week
Clean data files for carrier feeds and upload to GameStop’s payroll system
New hire enrollment on a monthly basis via call-in to Univers Call Center
Development of a targeted campaign promoting part-time employee benefits for Fall 2009 with Flash videos, text messaging, incentives, Web-based enrollment and guaranteed issue coverage
Saenz said, "The Call Center enrollments were very well orchestrated by Univers, and the onsite enrollments worked better this year because we scheduled everyone for a 15-minute visit with a counselor... no complaints about waiting for a turn. The Univers counselors were fantastic... very experienced, well-trained and insightful in helping employees understand their benefits."
Enrollment Results in Clean Data and Huge Increases in Benefit Participation
CJ Boss, Vice President of HR Operations for GameStop, said, "The mandatory approach to enrollment turned out to be the best thing we’ve done in our Benefits department in a long time." The results exceeded GameStop’s expectations:
Met or spoke individually with all but 20 of the 12,000 employees to complete enrollment and update employee data records
Saw an unprecedented 38% increase in medical plan participation and 162% increase in flexible spending account (FSA) participation
Achieved 100% increase in voluntary accident plan participation, 96% increase in legal plan, 211% increase in life plan, and 30% enrollment in first-time offering of critical illness plan
These increases stem from employees gaining a better understanding of their benefit options in the meetings with Univers counselors. "Employees were actually calling HR and thanking them for the opportunity to have their benefits explained," said Saenz.
Currently, Univers is working on launching communications for GameStop’s part-time enrollment strategy. "It’s a real collaboration between GameStop, Univers and the broker," said Saenz. "I like that Univers is a lean company with a great service. We will continue looking for ways to utilize them."
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