Open enrollment is coming: How to get the most out of the toolkit you already have

Open enrollment season is right around the corner, and with it comes an opportunity to go beyond checking a box to elevate how your organization presents and delivers employee benefits. Too often, employers wait too long to plan, skip necessary new testing of existing plan designs or treat open enrollment as a back-office task rather than a strategic opportunity.

The truth is, you’ve already invested in a powerful platform; but without the right guidance or decision-support tools, it’s easy for Workday’s potential to go untapped. That’s where Strada and Nayya come in. Whether you’re struggling with complexity behind the scenes or looking to improve the employee experience, this is your moment to turn benefits into a driver of engagement and loyalty.  

This year, the most successful open enrollment seasons won’t be the ones with the slickest presentations or the most generous plans. They’ll be the ones that are smartly executed, personalized and employee focused. Here’s how to use the tools you already have to deliver what your employees need.

What’s new this year: The power of Nayya

Strada now partners with Nayya, an AI-powered benefits decision support platform that integrates directly with Workday. This partnership is designed to help your employees make smarter, more-personalized benefits choices and to help your organization get more value out of the benefits you already offer.

Nayya is native to Workday, meaning employees experience a seamless, in-platform interaction. There are no extra logins, and there’s no toggling between systems. Behind the scenes, Nayya draws on both Workday data and employee-provided inputs to deliver real-time, personalized guidance.

Nayya is a tool that:

• Tailors plan recommendations to each employee’s medical history, financial goals and lifestyle needs
• Uses wearable data (like Apple Watch activity) and health insights to support personalized programs, from pregnancy planning to wellness coaching
• Proactively suggests ways to save, such as contributing to tax-advantaged FSAs or HSAs during key life events
• Surfaces underused benefits like musculoskeletal care, second-opinion services, or condition-specific support programs that employees might otherwise overlook
  

This level of personalization helps employees make informed, confident choices and actually use the benefits their employer offers. Too often, people miss out simply because they don’t realize what’s available until it’s too late. Nayya closes that gap by surfacing the right options at the right time.

Even more valuable, Nayya urges employees to use their benefits throughout the year, guiding them through health events and increasing overall satisfaction with the programs your organization offers.

Make open enrollment work smarter, Not harder

Technology only works if your foundation is solid. If you’re using Workday Benefits and looking to unlock more value this open enrollment season, now’s the time to strengthen your strategy. Here are five ways to get more from your investment, while laying the groundwork for even greater impact:  

1. Start early, Especially in Workday

Open enrollment may be in October or November, but the summer is the time to evaluate your Workday environment. Many issues stem from outdated or cluttered configurations, like hundreds of legacy events that should have been cleaned up years ago. Organizations regularly and unknowingly carry these issues forward year after year. Fixing them before open enrollment is essential to a smooth rollout.

2. Test like it’s a new year, Because it is

Even when your plan designs aren’t changing, your data is. Every year introduces new logic, integrations and downstream dependencies. Too often, we see employers skip critical testing because “nothing has changed.” But failing to revalidate election logic, payroll deductions and carrier files can lead to major issues, including lapsed coverage, incorrect deductions and costly manual cleanup.

The fix? Plan for robust upstream (HR) and downstream (payroll, vendor) testing every time — ideally with support from a partner who understands Workday’s complexity.

3. Use Nayya as your engagement hook

Employees don’t wake up excited for open enrollment, but they do respond to tools that make life easier. A decision-support platform like Nayya gives you a compelling reason to re-engage your workforce in their benefits.

Instead of just sending out a 30-page benefits guide, which most employees won’t read, imagine being able to say: “We can help you find better coverage at a better price — in minutes.” Employees are far more likely to log in, update their elections and learn about new offerings when they know they’re getting something personalized in return.

4. Communicate like it matters, Because it does

Too many employers still rely on print mailers or PDFs to communicate open enrollment. That’s not only inefficient, but it also reinforces the perception that benefits are confusing or impersonal. If you’re not yet using tools like Nayya or taking full advantage of Workday’s communication capabilities, now is the time to modernize.

Frame open enrollment as more than a compliance window. It’s your most visible benefits moment of the year, the one time when every employee is asked to actively engage with what you offer. Make it count.

5. Treat open enrollment as a strategic touchpoint

Open enrollment is a powerful opportunity to reinforce your culture, support your people and show that you’re investing in their well-being.

When you combine Strada’s expertise with Workday’s infrastructure and Nayya’s personalization engine, you can create an enrollment experience that:

• Reduces downstream issues
• Increases benefits utilization
• Builds trust with your workforce

By making open enrollment more employee-friendly, you’re also protecting your investment. There will be fewer help desk calls, fewer coverage errors and better use of every dollar you spend on benefits.

Fully activate your tools for open enrollment

You’ve already invested in a strong foundation with Workday. The next step is to explore the full potential of what’s possible—with the right partners by your side. Strada and Nayya can help you run a high-performing, integrated, and employee-centric open enrollment.