The top personal and financial concerns of American workersvary, depending on the stage of their career. Those just enteringthe workforce have considerably different needs from those nearingretirement. Workplace benefit offerings and communications that aretailored to an individual's work stage can help an employee makethe best decisions for his or her personal situation and enhancehow much workers value their benefits.

Employees just beginning their careers (those within the firstfive years of employment) are predominantly focused on immediatefinancial needs. According to the third annual Guardian WorkplaceBenefits study, 92 percent said that making ends meet was a topconcern. Other priorities included having job security (88percent), achieving a better work-life balance (85 percent) andreducing debt (79 percent).

The concerns for near-retirees (those within five years ofretirement) focus more on their futures. Top priorities includedhaving adequate health insurance (94 percent), accumulatingsufficient retirement savings (93 percent) and maintaining ahealthy lifestyle (90 percent).

Tailoring educational topics to work Stage

Education provides an importantstarting point in helping employees maximize their benefits.Therefore, making education relevant to different employee groupsis critical. The study reflected that both early entrants andnear-retirees want more help with benefits and financial decisions.They prefer financial and retirement planning services and supporttools—delivered in various communications channels—that areappropriate to their work stage. For example, 6 in 10 employees saytheir benefits meetings would be more relevant if they weretargeted by age.

For early entrants, this means information about topics relatedto reducing debt, improving work-life balance, and how to protectthemselves from the unexpected, such as being out of work due toinjury or illness, premature death or accident. Early entrants alsodesire to learn more about how their benefits work and how toenroll.

Near-retirees seek to learn more about managing their money inretirement and understanding health care reform and impendingchanges to their health insurance coverage.

Early entrants need more education

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

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

Early entrants also express a strong desire for financialeducation and guidance on their benefits decisions. Compared tonear-retirees, they have even more of a preference for learningabout financial planning and products at work. Increased access toeducation and advice in the workplace would likely help the nearly7 in 10 early entrants who say that finding a trusted source offinancial advice is a highly important goal.

Opportunities with enrollment practices

The study also reflected that enrollment is aneasier process for near-retirees than for early entrants.Eighty-five percent of near retirees say it's “very easy” to signup for benefits compared to 68 percent of early entrants. This maybe because near-retirees use more of the written materials providedby their employer.

Although a slight majority of employees currently enroll inbenefits online, even more (two-thirds) would prefer onlineenrollment. Those who are able to enroll online are more likely tofeel their benefits positively contribute to their overallfinancial security.

Most workers (75 percent) feel it's important to receivebenefits information online. Early entrants are more likely to useother online sources, such as Google, company websites andcompany-sponsored social media, to learn about insuranceproducts.

In addition to desiring online information, a majority of earlyentrants also seek more personal guidance on their financial andbenefits decisions. It's important to them that they have anopportunity to discuss benefits options with their employer, aswell as with friends and family. Notably, however, very few haveused the services of a financial professional when evaluatingbenefits options.

Improved benefits communications

Increasingly, employers are recognizing the need to helpemployees make better benefit decisions. Forty percent report thatincreasing employees' access to education and financial advice isimportant.

While tailoring benefits communication to different employeesegments is seen as an important goal by one-third of employers,only 13 percent are currently producing communications for targetedaudiences. Targeted communications are most common among companieswith at least 1,000 employees and those with growing humanresources and benefits departments.

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

Outsourcing enrollment may help

One way that companies can enhance the successof their enrollment and communication strategies is tooutsource enrollment activities to carriers, brokers or enrollmentfirms. While nearly 2 in 3 employers outsource a portion ofenrollment services, such as enrollment materials and benefitspresentations, it often doesn't include the overall communicationstrategy or ongoing communications. Ultimately, only 18 percent ofemployers feel their benefits communications are extremelyeffective.

While most plan sponsors want to help their employees makebetter benefits decisions, some employers may not view tailoringbenefits offerings and communications as a high priority, given themany other challenges they have to manage in today's benefitsenvironment. But the technology, expertise and capabilitiesavailable in today's market make it possible for employers totailor benefit messages to meet specific employee needs andultimately provide the support employees are looking for.