Addressing Municipal Industry Challenges Through Personalized Benefits Education Support

Municipal leaders face key challenges, including recruitment, budget constraints, and employee engagement, while striving to deliver essential services and also meet community needs.

Let’s break down these challenges and explore how personalized, one-to-one benefits education may help you create a stronger workforce.

Challenges Municipal Decision Makers May Face

Recruitment and Retention Struggles

Municipalities may often find themselves competing for talent against private-sector organizations. Retaining skilled employees can be equally challenging.

Offering individualized benefits education helps demonstrate that your municipality values its employees and is invested in their quality of life. When your employees fully understand the depth of their benefits, they may be more likely to appreciate their total compensation package. In turn, this can help boost retention, making your organization more competitive in attracting top talent.

Budget Constraints

While employee benefits programs are essential, they can represent a significant financial commitment for municipalities. If you’re already managing tight budgets, juggling this priority can be challenging. That’s why finding cost-effective ways to maximize their value is so important.

One-on-one benefits education can encourage employees to participate in existing programs, taking advantage of resources that might otherwise go unused. For example, if employees are educated about preventative health services included in their insurance, you may see an overall reduction in long-term healthcare costs. This approach also helps minimize waste as employees are guided toward selecting plans and options that may better meet their individual needs.

Complex Benefits Packages

Even if your municipality offers a robust benefits program, your employees could be struggling to navigate their options. Large benefit packages can be overwhelming, leading to underutilization or frustration. Employees may be looking to utilize specific, personalized benefits offered in their plans but aren’t sure if they are offered. For example, in a 2024 BEAT study, most employees were interested in having more mental health support.

75% of employees reported experiencing “at least one mental health challenge either ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ during the past year.”¹

While the frequency and intensity of these 2024 Insights Benefits Report struggles varied based on employee demographic characteristics, the most common issues were anxiety, depression, and difficulty managing stress.

With 90% of Americans feeling as though the nation is in a mental health crisis,² it’s likely the need and desire employees are showing for mental health benefits will continue in 2025.

By providing employees with the opportunity to speak directly with benefits experts, municipalities can help their workforce better understand and take advantage of the programs available to them that can help support their mental health needs.

Generational Differences

Municipal workforces are diverse, with employees spanning various age groups, roles, and backgrounds. This diversity can make it challenging to offer one-size-fits-all benefits education, as employees have unique needs and levels of understanding.

A personalized benefits approach helps ensure that every employee—regardless of their age, role, or level of understanding—receives tailored support. For example, younger employees may benefit from guidance on long-term retirement savings, while older employees may be more interested in navigating their healthcare options. This customized support can help ensure all employees feel included and valued.

Employee Engagement and Satisfaction

If you are looking to prevent a disengaged workforce, high turnover rates, and a negative company culture, focusing on employee engagement and satisfaction could be the right call.

86% of employees find in-person, one-on-one meetings helpful resources to understanding their benefits.³

With a benefits partner like American Fidelity, you can address these challenges to create an effective benefits communication plan that may lead to a more engaged and happier workforce.

This blog is up to date as of July 2025 and has not been updated for changes in the law, administration or current events.