For many brokers, the breakneck pace of open enrollment season may not evenleave time for doctor appointments or lunch breaks, let alone bigpicture thinking and moments of introspection. I imagine many ofyou taking the time to read this are doing so with bleary eyes andfrazzled nerves. But I recently came across a couple of things thatmight give you a little boost as you battle end-of-the-yearburnout.

The first is a recent study by the Society for Human ResourceManagement, which provides the latest evidence of the importantrole that benefits play in job recruitment. The report found thatwithin the last year, 38 percent of recruiters had leveragedbenefits to recruit employees at all levels of their organization.That figure is up significantly from 26 percent in 2013.

And the positive trend carries over to employee retention.One-third of the recruiters surveyed said their company wasplanning to enrich its benefits plan in the hopes ofkeeping workers on board, a big jumpfrom just 18 percent in 2013. With salaries largely stagnant, therole played by benefits is growing more vital every year.