When employees get their open enrollment materials and forms around this time of year, many are so overwhelmed that they simply glaze over and forgo any new decisions, opting instead to go with what they had last year.

And as recent surveys have shown, many regret missing opportunities to participate in additional voluntary benefits, such as tax-advantaged benefits, which can help them save up to 40 percent on their routine and unavoidable health, dependent care and commuter costs.

To fix this, there are a couple of things HR advisors should emphasize. First, make sure that employees understand that workplace benefits are a substantial part of their overall compensation. You can help employees connect the dots between their benefits packet and their paycheck by providing them with an example like this: a family that sets aside $2,500 for health care, $5,000 for dependent care and $2,400 for commuting costs could save up to $3,960 in taxes annually—increasing their spendable income. I'm sure we can all think of ways to put that kind of money to good use.