Forty-five percent of employers believe educating employees on benefits is a top priority among management, as more senior leaders are taking on advocate roles, according to the Employee Benefits Accountability and Consumerism 2011 survey by WorldatWork.

"It's interesting to note that, although the top human resources executive is still the primary champion of employee benefits consumerism, we saw an uptick in respondents reporting that the CEO, president or another member of the senior leadership team is their primary advocate," says Lenny Sanicola, a WorldatWork certified benefits professional. "What this tells me is that benefits and especially health care is increasingly being recognized as directly impacting bottom-line profits."

The survey also shows that 47 percent of respondents are offering consumer-driven health plans in 2011, as opposed to 27 percent in 2006.  These plans are being implemented as way to manage costs, and more employers are even providing health savings account-based plans as their favored choice.