As an SMU employee, I’ve never really thought too much about all the work that happens for us before open enrollment in order for us to access our benefits. According to Priyanka Nigam, an OIT employee, “when no one notices, and everything magically works right to access benefits, that’s success.”
Meet Priyanka Nigam, a seasoned Senior Business Analyst in the Office of Information Technology (OIT) at SMU. With five years of dedicated service, Priyanka has been a crucial player in the intricate process of setting up the back end of my.SMU for the prior Open Enrollment period.
In a recent conversation, Priyanka shared with our team how this year’s setup for Open Enrollment slightly varied from years past as SMU included three new benefit choices for university employees: Hospital Indemnity, Accident Insurance, and Critical Illness. Since additional plans had not been added since 2019, her previous work primarily involved updates to the cost of plans and annual testing.
Priyanka explained that HR’s extensive market research must conclude before she can begin work on open enrollment. Typically, it takes about 6 to 8 weeks of concentrated work for setup, but with additional plans being onboarded, it meant several additional weeks for configuration and testing to ensure the proper deductions are made to future payrolls. Since SMU has nine different pay groups of employees, Priyanka had to plan for each one to be configured and tested to meet the different rates, deductibles, and options for each of the three new plans, totaling 27 different options that could be selected. This was on top of making adjustments to reflect rate changes for all existing plans.
Collaborating for Success
Priyanka shared, “While I am the main person doing the setup and handling approximately 70% of the work, it’s important to remember that the 30% of time invested for testing by our HR and Payroll partners is not done; this project would not have been fruitful. The 30% makes the difference because it is dependent on other people. This was the highlight for me. Everyone was invested as much as I was. They were involved in brainstorming, giving feedback, and testing within a timely manner. That made all the difference to ensure a successful Open Enrollment period.”
While Open Enrollment has passed, Priyanka will keep busy throughout the year managing the many processes and adjustment for life events and coverage changes.
This weekend, I received my 2024 Blue Cross Blue Shield card, I couldn’t help but think of Priyanka and our HR and Payroll partners. Their dedication has truly made enrolling for benefits seamless. A heartfelt thank you resonates beyond the enrollment period, as I recognize the collective effort that ensures our well-being at SMU.
