I'm a huge fan of Gameof Thrones — and I'm far from alone. Millions of us spend an hourwatching the HBO hit every week (or more, if we're binge-watchingto catch up on back episodes).

There's nothing wrong with a 60-minute escape into the world ofnoble dynasties and fire-breathing dragons. What is aproblem, though — especially for those in our industry — is thathour is more time than most workers spend all yearthinking about their employee benefits choices and options.

That's one of the unfortunate findings in new research fromColonial Life. A survey of 1,500 full-time U.S. employees showed 70percent of them spend less than one hour each year consideringtheir benefits choices and options. In fact, a third say they spendless than 30 minutes learning what their employers provide to helpthem protect their families, their finances and their futures.

I get it. Talking about legendary creatures and battles forindependence is more exciting than benefits. But this skewedpriority has far-reaching implications — not only for workers, butfor your clients and your business. Why?

Lower morale and higher turnover are two big reasons. Theresearch showed employees who spend less than an hour consideringtheir benefits at enrollment time are significantly less likely toreport they understand their benefits moderately well or very well.That might not be surprising, but they're also more likely to:

• Feel dissatisfied in their jobs
• Think their employer doesn't care about them
• Leave their current jobs within the next six months

That last point — employee turnover — comes with a hefty pricetag. Consider it takes 51 days on average to fill an open position.During that time, employers have both direct costs, such as payoutsfor accrued vacation time and unused sick time, unemployment taxes,advertising job openings, paying overtime for employees to take onmore work until the position is filled, perhaps paying referralbonuses, and also indirect costs such as decreased productivity,knowledge loss and lowered morale.

Your clients are likely investing considerable resources in acomprehensive, competitive benefits package to attract and keep toptalent. But just offering benefits isn't enough to ensure employeesunderstand, value and participate in them. To make that investmentpay off, the benefits program must be complemented by an equallystrong education and communication program.

Get personal for greater effectiveness

An effective benefits communication plan will include a varietyof tactics and tools to reach different employees and allow them toaccess information when and where they want. The plan can includegroup and individual meetings, call centers and online chats,websites or portals, and print and digital materials over a periodof several weeks.

But research shows the single most effective benefits educationtechnique is a one-to-one benefits counseling session.

The Colonial Life survey showed more than half of employees makesome kind of change to their benefits every year. And the vastmajority of them (76 percent) want to talk to someone about it.Many turn to HR professionals, family members, friends orco-workers for advice. Yet these sources — including overburdenedHR folks wearing numerous hats — aren't likely to have theknowledge and expertise to help employees determine their needs andunderstand the sometimes-complicated types of coverageavailable.

Professional benefits counselors are trained and often certifiedto provide this service. And the survey showed it works. Nearly all(92 percent) of employees who've attended an individual benefitscounseling session reported the meeting was valuable. Employees whoenrolled in their benefits by sitting down with someone said theyunderstand their benefits better.

Benefits education is a no-cost investment

Why then, did only about a quarter of employees in the surveysay they enroll in their benefits with help from an expert? Thenumber one reason is they didn't get a choice. In other words,their employer simply didn't offer individual benefits counselingsessions.

Some employers think they don't have the manpower or money toorganize benefits education sessions or hire enrollers to meet withall their workers. But they don't have to, if you partner with theright benefits provider: one that offers this kind of benefitseducation support as a standard service at no direct cost. Atop-tier benefits partner will communicate with every employeeindividually to ensure they understand all their employer'sbenefits, not just those the provider offers.

Some employers may also think they're too small to qualify for,or benefit from, individual, personalized counseling sessions.Wrong again. This level of support isn't available or valuable toonly your large clients. In fact, the survey showed the smaller thecompany, the more interested employees are in one-to-onemeetings.

Be sure your clients are taking advantage of benefits educationand individual counseling services that will help them get the mostout of their benefits program. You'll look like a hero whenparticipation, satisfaction and productivity go up. And you can leave the heavysword at home.

Steven Johnson is vice president of Enrollment Solutions atColonial Life & Accident Insurance Company. He can be reachedat 803-678-6599 or [email protected].