The Seasons of Benefits

As part of our new sales training, we asked our newest SDRs to write about what it’s like being a Director of Benefits. Meghan took some extra initiative and turned the exercise into a poem. We hired a panel of poetry experts, who independently verified that this may or may not be the first such poem ever written. We couldn’t help but share it!

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As the Director of Benefits, my job is technical and precise.

I follow regulations, and operations are tight.

Here is an insight into my entire year in little bits

My year of planning, administering, and managing benefits!

Late Oct-Early Nov

The leaves crinkle under my shoes as the crisp, cold air hits my cheeks,

An unpleasant greeting to welcome me into a busy few weeks.

As November approaches, it brings along the most critical time of year,

Open Enrollment: the time where I enroll employees in benefits is here.

Oh, I hope I am successful, and most employees will engage.

If not, I’ll feel like a failure, the scariest part of this stage.

Nov-Jan

Fast forward, and my stomach is full from my Thanksgiving feast.

Trees are bare, open enrollment is over, but there comes another beast.

For three months, I check that employee questions are resolved, and mistakes are reversed,

Then data transfers occur so employees can go to the appropriate nurse.

Health insurance cards are also issued – the clean-up is close to complete.

I hope my communication was clear and concise, or else I get the heat.

Feb-April

It is now the month of love, or in this case, my love to relax.

I can finally breathe, knowing our busy season is in the past.

Until spring has sprung, it is time to evaluate and start a plan.

As a director, I evaluate vendors- different ones than where the year began.

I want to implement new ideas and plant them in the ground.

Ideas, like leaves on spring’s new trees, start blooming as we prepare for next time around.

May-July/Aug

The next few months are when the leaves are in bunches of green.

Implementation is in full force, and the benefits department works like a machine.

We took our ideas from before and got everyone to approve.

These are our only months to implement them, so we have to quickly move.

Aug-Oct

Autumn is among us, a breeze is born, and the leaves start to fall and change.

Open enrollment is near, and it’s time to manage, prepare, and arrange.

We need to get our renewals for the plans we’d like to keep,

And manage competitive bids to secure prices for cheap.

These months set the tone for the rest of next year.

I hope we made good decisions and communications will be clear.

A month later, as I walk to work, a leaf crinkles under my feet,

It’s the idea I planted a couple of months ago-the cycle is complete.

Of course, others will come, and the cycle will repeat once more,

Open enrollment is a few days away, and I’ll be busy like before.

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