Education provides an important starting point in helping employees maximize their benefits. Therefore, making education relevant to different employee groups is critical. The study reflected that both early entrants and near-retirees want more help with benefits and financial decisions. They prefer financial and retirement planning services and support tools—delivered in various communications channels—that are appropriate to their work stage. For example, 6 in 10 employees say their benefits meetings would be more relevant if they were targeted by age.

For early entrants, this means information about topics related to reducing debt, improving work-life balance, and how to protect themselves from the unexpected, such as being out of work due to injury or illness, premature death or accident. Early entrants also desire to learn more about how their benefits work and how to enroll.

Near-retirees seek to learn more about managing their money in retirement and understanding health care reform and impending changes to their health insurance coverage.

Early entrants need more education

Compared to near-retirees, early entrants are often underinsured and not saving for retirement. They are much less likely to have disability insurance (54 percent versus 67 percent) or life insurance (61 percent versus 85 percent). Only 66 percent have a 401(k) plan, versus 88 percent of near-retirees, and just 3 in 10 have a pension plan.

The majority of both early entrants and near retirees believe that buying insurance and saving for retirement is easier through work than doing it on their own. Early entrants want even more choices and options, with a majority saying they would buy all of their insurance and financial products through work if they could.

Early entrants also express a strong desire for financial education and guidance on their benefits decisions. Compared to near-retirees, they have even more of a preference for learning about financial planning and products at work. Increased access to education and advice in the workplace would likely help the nearly 7 in 10 early entrants who say that finding a trusted source of financial advice is a highly important goal.

Opportunities with enrollment practices

The study also reflected that enrollment is an easier process for near-retirees than for early entrants. Eighty-five percent of near retirees say it's “very easy” to sign up for benefits compared to 68 percent of early entrants. This may be because near-retirees use more of the written materials provided by their employer.

Although a slight majority of employees currently enroll in benefits online, even more (two-thirds) would prefer online enrollment. Those who are able to enroll online are more likely to feel their benefits positively contribute to their overall financial security.

Most workers (75 percent) feel it's important to receive benefits information online. Early entrants are more likely to use other online sources, such as Google, company websites and company-sponsored social media, to learn about insurance products.

In addition to desiring online information, a majority of early entrants also seek more personal guidance on their financial and benefits decisions. It's important to them that they have an opportunity to discuss benefits options with their employer, as well as with friends and family. Notably, however, very few have used the services of a financial professional when evaluating benefits options.

Improved benefits communications

Increasingly, employers are recognizing the need to help employees make better benefit decisions. Forty percent report that increasing employees' access to education and financial advice is important.

While tailoring benefits communication to different employee segments is seen as an important goal by one-third of employers, only 13 percent are currently producing communications for targeted audiences. Targeted communications are most common among companies with at least 1,000 employees and those with growing human resources and benefits departments.

The majority of employees—including both early entrants and near-retirees—feel more can be done to educate them on financial planning and how to reach their goals. Six in 10 feel their benefits meetings would be more relevant if they were targeted by age. Workers in smaller companies (those with less than 100 employees) are more likely to feel their employer doesn't provide adequate education on financial planning.

Outsourcing enrollment may help

One way that companies can enhance the success of their enrollment and communication strategies is to outsource enrollment activities to carriers, brokers or enrollment firms. While nearly 2 in 3 employers outsource a portion of enrollment services, such as enrollment materials and benefits presentations, it often doesn't include the overall communication strategy or ongoing communications. Ultimately, only 18 percent of employers feel their benefits communications are extremely effective.

While most plan sponsors want to help their employees make better benefits decisions, some employers may not view tailoring benefits offerings and communications as a high priority, given the many other challenges they have to manage in today's benefits environment. But the technology, expertise and capabilities available in today's market make it possible for employers to tailor benefit messages to meet specific employee needs and ultimately provide the support employees are looking for.