leveraging benefits-to-retain

SHRM Survey Findings: State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees

January 10, 2013

• This is part four of a series of SHRM surveys examining the state of employee benefits in the workplace.

• The following topics are included in this six-part series:

Part 1: Wellness initiatives

Part 2: Flexible work arrangements

Part 3: Health care

Part 4: Leveraging benefits to retain employees

Part 5: Leveraging benefits to recruit employees

Part 6: Communicating benefits

Introduction

2State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2012

Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees at All Levels of the Organization • Do organizations leverage their benefits program to retain employees at all

levels of the organization? One in five (20%) organizations reported leveraging their benefits program to retain employees.

• What benefits offerings have been leveraged to retain employees at all levels of the organization? Organizations reported health care (72%) and retirement savings and planning (58%) were the benefits most frequently leveraged to retain employees.

• In the next three to five years, what benefits offerings will increase in importance to help organizations retain all employees? Organizations indicated that retirement savings and planning and health care are the benefits that will increase in importance with respect to retaining employees.

Key Findings


Leveraging Benefits to Retain Highly Skilled Employees

• Are organizations leveraging their benefits program to retain highly skilled employees? About two out of 10 (19%) organizations reported leveraging their benefits program to retain highly skilled employees.

• What benefits offerings have been leveraged to retain highly skilled employees? Health care (69%), professional and career development (54%), and retirement savings and planning (46%) were the benefits most frequently leveraged to retain these employees.

• In the next three to five years, what benefits offerings will increase in importance to help organizations retain highly skilled employees? Organizations indicated that 1) retirement savings and planning and 2) flexible working benefits are the benefits that will increase in importance with respect to retaining highly skilled employees.

Key Findings


Leveraging Employee Benefits to Retain High-Performing Employees

• Do organizations leverage their benefits program to retain high-performing employees? One in five (20%) organizations reported leveraging their benefits program to retain high-performing employees.

• What benefits offerings have been leveraged to retain high-performing employees? HR professionals reported health care (58%), professional and career development benefits (55%), flexible working benefits (48%), and retirement savings and planning benefits (47%) as the most frequently leveraged to retain these employees.

• In the next three to five years, what benefits offerings will increase in importance to help organizations retain high-performing employees? Organizations indicated that 1) retirement savings and planning, 2) health care, and 3) professional and career development are the benefits that will increase in importance with respect to retaining high-performing employees.

Key Findings


Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees at All Levels of the Organization

Yes

No

25%

75%

7

Over the past 12 months, has your organization had difficulty retaining employees at all levels of the organization?

Note: n = 389. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded for this analysis.

State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2012

Yes

No

20%

80%

8

Over the past 12 months, has your organization leveraged your benefits program to retain employees at all levels of the organization?

Note: n = 379. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.


Health care

Retirement savings and planning

Professional and career development benefits

Leave benefits

Flexible working benefits

Preventive health and wellness

Family-friendly benefits

Housing and relocation benefits

72%

58%

39%

37%

35%

30%

27%

20%

9

Which of the following benefits has your organization leveraged to retain employees at all levels within your organization?

Note: n = 74. Respondents who answered “not sure” and those whose organizations did not leverage their benefits program to retain employees at all levels within the organization were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.



Health care




Leave benefits



70%

70%

65%

64%

63%

51%

50%

24%

30%

26%

32%

33%

36%

46%

49%

62%

0%

4%

3%

3%

1%

3%

1%

14%

Increase in importance Remain the same Decrease in importance

10

Within the next three to five years, what benefits offerings will increase or decrease in importance in your organization’s efforts to retain all levels of employees?

Note: n = 58-74. Respondents who answered “not sure” and whose organization did not leverage their benefits program to retain employees at all levels within the organization were excluded from this analysis.


Leveraging Benefits to Retain Highly Skilled Employees

• For the purpose of this survey, a highly skilled employee is defined as any employee with skills that are critical to the short- and long-term success of their operating unit or the organization.

Definition


Yes

No

27%

73%

13

Over the past 12 months, has your organization had difficulty retaining highly skilled employees?



14

Over the past 12 months, has your organization had difficulty retaining highly skilled employees?

Comparisons by organization staff size

2,500 to 24,999 employees (42%) >

1 to 99 employees (21%)

100 to 499 employees (20%)

500 to 2,499 employees (21%)

Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

Comparisons by organization staff size

• Organizations with 2,500 to 24,999 employees are more likely than organizations with 1 to 2,499 employees to have had difficulty retaining highly skilled employees over the past 12 months.


Yes

No

19%

81%

15

Over the past 12 months, has your organization leveraged your benefits program to retain highly skilled employees?



16

Over the past 12 months, has your organization leveraged your benefits program to retain highly skilled employees?

Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

Comparisons by organization sector

• Nonprofit organizations are more likely than publicly owned for-profit organizations to leverage their benefits program to retain highly skilled employees.

Comparisons by organization sector

Nonprofit (23%) > Publicly owned for-profit (8%)


Health care





Leave benefits



69%

54%

46%

44%

35%

31%

27%

11%

17

Which of the following benefits has your organization leveraged to retain highly skilled employees?

Note: n = 71. Respondents who answered “not sure” and whose organizations did not leverage their benefits program to retain highly skilled employees were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2012



Health care




Leave benefits


70%

67%

66%

66%

59%

53%

49%

27%

30%

31%

31%

31%

38%

44%

48%

65%

2%

3%

3%

3%

3%

3%

8%


18

Within the next three to five years, what benefits offerings will increase or decrease in importance in your organization’s efforts to retain highly skilled employees?

Note: n = 52-68. Respondents who answered “not sure” and whose organizations did not leverage their benefits program to retain highly skilled employees were excluded from this analysis.


Leveraging Employee Benefits to Retain High-Performing Employees

• For the purpose of this survey, a high-performing employee is defined as any employee ranked among the top 10% in the organization’s last performance review cycle.

Definition


Yes

No

23%

77%

21

Over the past 12 months, has your organization had difficulty retaining high-performing employees?



Yes

No

20%

80%

22

Over the past 12 months, has your organization leveraged your benefits program to retain high-performing employees?

Note: n = 370. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.


Health care




Leave benefits




58%

55%

48%

47%

29%

27%

26%

21%

23

Which of the following benefits has your organization leveraged to retain high-performing employees?

Note: n = 73. Respondents who answered “not sure” and whose organizations did not leverage their benefits program to retain high-performing employees were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2012


Health care





Leave benefits


70%

69%

68%

65%

57%

51%

49%

23%

30%

28%

29%

33%

41%

46%

46%

70%

0%

3%

3%

1%

1%

3%

4%

7%


24

Within the next three to five years, what benefits offerings will increase or decrease in importance in your organization’s efforts to retain high performing employees?

Note: n = 56-71. Respondents who answered “not sure” and whose organizations did not leverage their benefits program to retain high-performing employees were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding. State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2012

State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2012 25

Organization Demographics

1 - 99 employees

100 - 499 employees

500 - 2,499 employees

2,500 - 24,999 employees

25,000 or more employees

23%

39%

22%

13%

3%

26

Demographics: Organization Staff Size

n = 447


Privately owned for-profit

Nonprofit organization

Publicly owned for-profit

Government sector

51%

22%

19%

8%

27

Demographics: Organization Sector

n = 440


PercentageHealth care and social assistance 19%Manufacturing 19%Professional, scientific and technical services 17%Finance and insurance 11%Government agencies 9%Educational services 7%Retail trade 5%Accommodation and food services 4%Construction 4%Information 4%Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional and similar organizations 4%Transportation and warehousing 4%Whole trade 4%Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services 3%Arts, entertainment and recreation 3%Repair and maintenance 3%Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 2%Mining 2%Real estate and rental and leasing 2%Utilities 2%Personal and laundry services 1%

Demographics: Organization Industry

28

Note: n = 447. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.


29

Demographics: Other

U.S.-based operations only 77%

Multinational operations 23%

Single-unit organization: An organization in which the location and the organization are one and the same.

39%

Multi-unit organization: An organization that has more than one location.

61%

Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices

62%

Each work location determines HR policies and practices

5%

A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices

34%

Is your organization a single-unit organization or a multi-unit organization?

For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit headquarters, by each work location or by both?

Does your organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only, or does it operate multinationally?

n = 447 n = 447

Note: n = 286. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.

Corporate (company-wide) 75%

Business unit/division 13%

Facility/location 12%

n = 286

What is the HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey?


SHRM Survey Findings: State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees

• Response rate = 12%

• 447 HR professional respondents from a randomly selected sample of SHRM’s membership participated in this survey

• Margin of error +/- 4%

• Survey fielded March 1-April 6, 2012

Survey Methodology


About SHRM Research

• For more survey/poll findings, visit www.shrm.org/surveys

• For more information about SHRM’s Customized Research Services, visit www.shrm.org/customizedresearch

• Follow us on Twitter @SHRM_Research

Project leaders:Shawn Fegley, SPHR, survey research analyst, SHRM ResearchChristina Lee, intern, SHRM Research

Project contributors:Mark Schmit, Ph.D., SPHR, vice president, SHRM ResearchEvren Esen, manager, Survey Research Center, SHRM Research

Copy editor:Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center


http://www.shrm.org/surveys

http://www.shrm.org/customizedresearch

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