Benefits managers need to step into to fill the void in employees' basic understanding of insurance and financial concepts, sending out communications across multiple channels. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Benefits managers may think of open enrollment season more as open season for health care hassles. Our health care system is among the most complex in the world, and people just don't have the level of benefits “literacy” it takes to make informed and effective choices.

But by taking a look at the full gamut of the employees' challenges, you stand a better chance of helping them achieve best results from the whole enrollment process. Here are the items that should be in your toolkit to get through this.

1. Keep communications simple, varied and frequent

As employees try to grapple with basic insurance and financial savings principles—premiums, deductibles, coinsurance, investment concepts, and the health care alphabet soup (HSA, PPO, HDHP, HPN, FSA, and of course IRS)—they need a lifeline.