strategic benefits--leveraging benefits to retain employees

March 17, 2015

SHRM Survey Findings: 2014 Strategic Benefits—

Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees

2

Introduction

The 2014 Strategic Benefits Survey, administered annually since 2012 by the Society for

Human Resource Management (SHRM), is used to determine whether various employee

benefits are leveraged to recruit and retain top talent. This research study, split into a six-

part series, features the following topics:

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

Definitions

For the purpose of this survey, a high-performing employee was defined as any

employee ranked among the top 10% in an organization’s last performance review; a

highly skilled employee was defined as any employee with skills that are critical to the

short- and long-term success of his or her operating unit or organization.

2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015

Introduction and Definitions

Employees at All Levels of the Organization

• Leveraging benefits to retain employees at all levels of the organization: One-

quarter (25%) of respondents indicated their organization leveraged their benefits

program to retain employees at all levels of the organization in the past 12 months.

• Benefits leveraged to retain employees at all levels of the organization: More

than one-half of respondents reported their organization leveraged health care (74%),

retirement savings and planning (62%), and leave benefits (51%) to retain employees

at all levels of the organization.

• Change in importance of benefits to retain employees at all levels of the

organization in the next three to five years: More than one-half of respondents

indicated they thought retirement savings and planning (67%), health care (58%),

preventive health and wellness (57%), flexible working benefits (54%), and

professional and career development benefits (51%) would increase in importance in

their organization’s efforts to retain employees at all levels of the organization in the

next three to five years.

3

Key Findings


High-Performing Employees

• Leveraging benefits to retain high-performing employees: About one-quarter

(24%) of respondents indicated their organization leveraged their benefits program to

retain high-performing employees in the past 12 months.

• Benefits leveraged to retain high-performing employees: Three-fifths (60%) of

respondents said their organization leveraged health care to retain high-performing

employees; about one-half indicated their organization leveraged retirement savings

and planning (54%), professional and career development benefits (52%), and leave

benefits (49%).

• Change in importance of benefits to retain high-performing employees in the

next three to five years: About three-fifths of respondents believed retirement

savings and planning (62%), professional and career development benefits (62%), and

flexible working benefits (59%) would increase in importance in their organization’s

efforts to retain high-performing employees in their organization in the next three to

five years.

4

Key Findings (Continued)


Highly Skilled Employees

• Leveraging benefits to retain highly skilled employees: About one-quarter (26%)

of respondents indicated their organization leveraged their benefits program to retain

highly skilled employees in the past 12 months.

• Benefits leveraged to retain highly skilled employees: More than two-thirds (70%)

of respondents reported their organization leveraged health care to retain highly skilled

employees; about one-half indicated their organization leveraged leave benefits (53%)

and flexible working benefits (53%).

• Change in importance of benefits to retain highly skilled employees in the next

three to five years: One-half or more of respondents said they thought flexible

working benefits (62%), health care (59%), retirement savings and planning (59%),

professional and career development benefits (58%), and preventive health and

wellness (50%) would increase in importance in their organization’s efforts to retain

highly skilled employees in the next three to five years.

5

Key Findings (Continued)


6

What Do These Findings Mean for the HR Profession?

2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2015

• Organizations appear to focus on their benefits offerings as a way to retain employees approximately

as much as they do as a way to recruit them. Although organizations use benefits in their efforts to

both recruit and retain their employees, a competitive market for highly skilled talent may make some

organizations focus more on using their benefits packages as a retention tool, especially for their most

valued employees.

• Organizations may be focusing more on compensation than on benefits when it comes to the highly

skilled and high-performing employees they want to retain. The slightly lower percentages of

organizations reporting that they are using health care to retain their high-performing employees

compared with employees overall may be due to more emphasis being placed on compensation in the

form of wages/salaries/bonuses for this group. Recent SHRM Employee Job Satisfaction and

Engagement Surveys have found that compensation was the most important job satisfaction factor for

employees. Wages overall have been at a standstill for several years, but as market conditions

improve, employers may be more likely to consider raising salaries for employees they most want to

retain than to change their benefits packages.

• However, even if retention efforts focus more on offering raises to highly skilled and high-performing

employees, the range and complexity of benefits could also expand for hard-to-recruit job families.

Whereas this is most likely to occur during the recruiting phase, those employees in the most difficult-

to-fill roles may increasingly be in a better position to renegotiate their benefits packages to include

things like flexible work arrangements, more vacation time or even some concierge-style benefits.

7

What Do These Findings Mean for the HR Profession?

(Continued)

2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2015

• An emphasis on flexibility for high-skilled jobs is likely to continue. HR professionals appear to

associate the need for flexibility with employees in high-skilled jobs. Thus, organizations are likely to

continue to build on their efforts to help employees in these roles find flexible ways of working.

Meanwhile, these flexible work opportunities and benefits may not always apply across the workforce,

in general.

• Employers are likely to continue to concentrate on providing the standard benefits they think are

important to retaining employees across all levels. To keep employee job satisfaction overall from

dropping, most organizations will want to avoid reducing their benefits offerings. Providing benefits

such as health care, retirement savings and planning, professional and career development,

preventive health and wellness, and flexible working benefits will continue to be considered a critical

part of employee retention strategies.

• However, as competition for talent heats up, many organizations may seek out more innovative ways

of offering these traditional benefits to remain competitive and perhaps even adding new kinds of

benefits altogether. Although most employers focus their benefits offerings on the more traditional

kinds of benefits and are likely to continue to do so, the way these benefits are offered, such as

creating greater customization or ease of use and the level of contributions by employers for things

like retirement and health care benefits, may make some employers stand out more than others.

2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015 8

Key Findings

Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees

32%

26%

25%

2014 (n = 302)

2013 (n = 349)

2012 (n = 389)

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What do these findings mean for the HR profession?


Comparison of Difficulty Retaining and Leveraging of Benefits to Retain

Employees at All Levels of the Organization in the Past 12 Months

Note: Response options provided for both items were “yes/no/not sure.” Respondents who indicated they were “not sure” were

excluded from the analyses. Only “yes” responses are shown.

25%

18%

20%

2014 (n = 295)

2013 (n = 335)

2012 (n = 379)

Organizations That Leveraged Their Benefits

Program to Retain Employees at All Levels of the

Organization in the Past 12 Months

Organizations That Reported Difficulty

Retaining Employees at All Levels of the

Organization in the Past 12 Months

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What do these findings mean for the HR profession?Benefits Positively Leveraged to Retain Employees at All Levels of the

Organization


74%

62%

51%

45%

42%

42%

25%

14%

68%

57%

37%

40%

43%

27%

38%

15%

72%

58%

37%

39%

35%

30%

27%

20%

Health care

Retirement savings and planning

Leave benefits

Professional and career developmentbenefits

Flexible working benefits

Preventive health and wellness

Family-friendly benefits

Housing and relocation benefits

2014 (n = 73)

2013 (n = 60)

2012 (n = 74)

Note: Respondents whose organizations leveraged their benefits program to retain employees at all levels of the organization were asked this question.

Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

9%7%

33%35%

55%41%

57%51%

57%54%

61%57%

67%58%

67%67%

64%70%

67%65%

45%59%

43%49%

39%46%

37%41%

33%40%

33%33%

27%24%

0%0%

0%0%

0%0%

4%0%

2%1%

0%1%

0%0%

20132014

20132014

20132014

20132014

20132014

20132014

20132014

20132014

Increase in importance Remain the same Decrease in importance

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What do these findings mean for the HR profession?Change in Importance of Benefits in the Next Three to Five Years to Retain

Employees at All Levels of the Organization


Note: 2014 n = 46-72; 2013 n = 44-58. Respondents whose organizations leveraged their benefits program to retain employees at all levels of the

organization were asked this question. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not total 100% due to

rounding.


Leave benefits


Professional and career

development benefits



Health care


28%

26%

23%

2014 (n = 299)

2013 (n = 350)

2012 (n = 386)




24%

19%

20%

2014 (n = 293)

2013 (n = 336)

2012 (n = 370)


Program to Retain High-Performing Employees

in the Past 12 Months


Retaining High-Performing Employees

in the Past 12 Months

Comparison of Difficulty Retaining and Leveraging of Benefits to Retain High-

Performing Employees in the Past 12 Months

13

What do these findings mean for the HR profession?Benefits Positively Leveraged to Retain High-Performing Employees


Note: Respondents whose organizations leveraged their benefits program to retain high-performing employees were asked this

question. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

60%

54%

52%

49%

40%

31%

22%

13%

63%

63%

49%

38%

57%

27%

37%

22%

58%

47%

55%

29%

48%

26%

27%

21%

Health care



Leave benefits





2014 (n = 67)

2013 (n = 63)

2012 (n = 73)

13%19%

42%42%

58%47%

52%48%

61%51%

64%59%

61%62%

72%62%

67%60%

56%57%

40%53%

45%52%

38%48%

32%41%

38%38%

28%37%

20%21%

2%2%

2%0%

3%0%

2%1%

3%0%

2%0%

0%2%

20132014

20132014

20132014

20132014

20132014

20132014

20132014

20132014


14


High-Performing Employees


Note: 2014 n = 47-67; 2013 n = 45-61. Respondents whose organizations leveraged their benefits program to retain high-performing employees were asked

this question. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.



Health care


Leave benefits




Preventive health and

wellness

35%

28%

27%

2014 (n = 296)

2013 (n = 348)

2012 (n = 389)




26%

20%

19%

2014 (n = 294)

2013 (n = 335)

2012 (n = 371)


Program to Retain Highly Skilled Employees in

the Past 12 Months


Retaining Highly Skilled Employees in

the Past 12 Months

Comparison of Difficulty Retaining and Leveraging of Benefits to Retain Highly

Skilled Employees in the Past 12 Months

16

What do these findings mean for the HR profession?Benefits Positively Leveraged to Retain Highly Skilled Employees


Note: Respondents whose organizations leveraged their benefits program to retain highly skilled employees were asked this question.

Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

70%

53%

53%

46%

41%

37%

27%

13%

63%

38%

55%

59%

55%

28%

41%

19%

69%

31%

44%

46%

54%

27%

35%

11%

Health care

Leave benefits







2014 (n = 70)

2013 (n = 64)

2012 (n = 71)



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Highly Skilled Employees


Note: 2014 n = 49-70; 2013 n = 45-61. Respondents whose organizations leveraged their benefits program to retain highly skilled employees were asked this

question. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.




Leave benefits



Health care

11%16%

42%35%

66%44%

53%50%

55%58%

64%59%

60%59%

64%62%

71%57%

58%63%

34%53%

45%50%

40%41%

36%40%

38%41%

31%35%

18%27%

0%1%

0%3%

2%0%

5%2%

0%1%

2%0%

5%3%

20132014

20132014

20132014

20132014

20132014

20132014

20132014

20132014


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Note: n = 320. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

Percentage

Manufacturing 27%

Professional, scientific and technical services 14%

Health care and social assistance 14%

Finance and insurance 12%

Government agencies 9%

Educational services 7%

Transportation and warehousing 5%

Construction 5%

Real estate and rental and leasing 5%

Retail trade 4%

Utilities 3%

Demographics: Organization Industry


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Key FinDemographics: Organization Industry (continued)

Note: n = 320. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

Percentage

Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction 3%

Arts, entertainment and recreation 3%

Wholesale trade 3%

Repair and maintenance 3%

Accommodation and food services 2%

Administrative and support, and waste management and remediation services 2%

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 2%

Information 2%

Religious, grant-making, civic, professional and similar organizations 2%

Personal and laundry services 0%

Other industry 8%


21

Key FinDemographics: Organization Sector

53%

23%

13%

9%

2%

Privately owned for-profit

Nonprofit

Publicly owned for-profit

Government

Other

n = 317


22

Key FinDemographics: Organization Staff Size

n = 304

26%

39%

19%

12%

4%

1 to 99 employees

100 to 499 employees

500 to 2,499 employees

2,500 to 24,999 employees

25,000 or more employees


23

Key FinDemographics: Other

n = 319

U.S.-based operations only 75%

Multinational operations 25%

Does your organization have U.S.-

based operations (business units) only,

or does it operate multinationally?

n = 320

n = 207

n = 208

Single-unit organization: An organization in

which the location and the organization are

one and the same.

38%

Multi-unit organization: An organization that

has more than one location.62%

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?

Multi-unit headquarters determines HR

policies and practices.58%

Each work location determines HR policies

and practices.3%

A combination of both the work location and

the multi-unit headquarters determines HR

policies and practices.

39%

Corporate (companywide) 79%

Business unit/division 12%

Facility/location 9%

What is the HR department/function for

which you responded throughout this

survey?


24

SHRM Survey Findings:

Survey Methodology

• Response rate = 10%

• 380 HR professionals from a randomly selected sample of SHRM’s membership participated in this

survey

• Margin of error +/- 5%

• Survey fielded April-May 2014

Survey Methodology


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

For more information about SHRM’s Customized Research Services, visit

shrm.org/customizedresearch

Follow us on Twitter @SHRM_Research


About SHRM Research

Project lead:

Karen Wessels, researcher, SHRM Research

Project contributors:

Evren Esen, director, SHRM-SCP, Survey Programs, SHRM Research

Alexander Alonso, Ph.D., SHRM-SCP, vice president, SHRM Research

Jennifer Schramm, manager, SHRM-SCP, Workforce Trends and Forecasting, SHRM Research

http://www.shrm.org/surveys

http://www.shrm.org/customizedresearch

http://twitter.com/SHRM_Research

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Founded in 1948, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the

world’s largest HR membership organization devoted to human resource management.

Representing more than 275,000 members in over 160 countries, the Society is the

leading provider of resources to serve the needs of HR professionals and advance the

professional practice of human resource management. SHRM has more than 575

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United Arab Emirates. Visit us at shrm.org.


About SHRM

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strategic benefits--leveraging benefits to retain employees

Recruiting & HR

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