2. Choosing health insurance is stressful for many

Forty-nine percent of employees say that "making health insurance decisions is always very stressful" for them — Note the "always." Note the "very." Having half of your employees enter enrollment season very stressed is something you can't ignore.

Take action: Make sure people know where to go for help. Getting a good decision support to and promoting the heck out of it is still possible between now and the start of OE. But you can also just make sure your people know how to find you and your colleagues on the benefits team by adding helpful photographs to identify faces, and relevant phone numbers, email addresses, and desk locations so people can find you. Also, if you're personally available to help people walk through tough decisions, let them know! Add a postscript to your email signature saying, "Come to me with your open enrollment questions. I'm happy to help."

3. Younger employees need some extra help

Chalk it up to inexperience — employees between the ages of 18 and 34 are more likely to find a company's open enrollment process "extremely" confusing than their more seasoned peers (49 percent versus 35 percent for ages 35 to 49, and 27 percent for ages 50+).

Take action: Create messaging that targets younger workers specifically. Even if your company's enrollment process is a breeze and you know Jony Ives is putting screen shots of your platform on his Pinterest page under the "Super Easy Software I Love and Want to Steal" board, you can give younger employees a boost by offering supplemental open enrollment break-out sessions after your general benefits meetings. You might consider segments for those who are just entering the workforce, leaving their parents' insurance plans after age 26, or facing new life stages like getting married and having kids.

4. Partnered people want their better halves involved

A whopping 91 percent of those living with a partner think it's important for them to understand the benefits on offer during open enrollment, and two-thirds (67 percent) of partnered people wish their employers would make materials specifically designed for their better halves.

Take action: Make open enrollment content easier to share. Add "and Family" next to employees' names on the address lines of anything you send them in the mail. For live meetings, considering offering a session or two after working hours or on the weekend so partners can attend, but if that's not possible, see if you can offer access to your meetings by webinar or phone. 

5. Boring content turns people off fast

Do you know what happens when the open enrollment communication is complex, dry, or just not at all appealing? People start skipping benefits meetings (20 percent versus just 6 percent when meetings aren't perceived as boring). They throw mailers in the trash unread (22 percent versus just 7 percent when the content isn't dull). They (gasp!) stop paying attention to what you have to say, and go on to make decisions they later regret. 

Take action: Write shorter emails. Most people will tap out of a message after about 200 words or so, so give yourself a budget of 150 words. Then make sure you always provide one strong call to action (CTA) that clearly describes what you want the employee to do. If that means sending additional emails, that's OK. Several short emails are always better than fewer longer ones.

No regrets: The new goal for open enrollment

Given all that we know now, it's no surprise that 21 percent of employees say they often regret the benefits decisions they've made. You've got a lot on your plate this time of the year and may not want to go tinkering around with communication that's nearly ready to go, but can you afford to have 1 in 5 of your employees feeling anything other than confidence and satisfaction about their benefits choices? 

Improving your open enrollment communications — even in small ways — can make people feel better about the important choices they have to make. It not only helps reduce the chances of people making decisions they may regret, it also helps boost morale and satisfaction throughout your organization.