As the most recent benefits enrollment period transitions from reality to second guesser's playground, benefits managers can begin to sort through advice for improving it next time around. One roadmap for a better experience comes from Minnesota Life/Securian Life, and focuses on calibrating enrollment communications by generation.

The folks at Minnesota Life/Securian Life counsel that the Big Three generational  groups — baby boomers, X and Y (millennials) — all suffer from a lack of sufficient life insurance, a condition the employer can address during enrollment time, and in between enrollment periods as well.

The average gap: $320,000 per person, says Minnesota Life/Securian Life, citing a New York Life study. But that gap varies by generation, thus setting the stage for separate messages based loosely upon year of birth. (The Minnesota Life/Securian Life advisors note that one size does not fit all in any of the three major categories, but for purposes of a general improvement in communications and outcomes, creating a trio of messages will help considerably.)