Companies are clearly scrambling these days for tools to help them with retention and recruiting. The company benefits package is a vital tool in that effort.
Yet a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management found that only 9 percent of HR managers interviewed believe their employees are knowledgeable about plan details. And more than three-quarters (78 percent) have serious doubts about the effectiveness of their plan communications strategy.
Despite the concerns around recruiting and retention, SHRM said that fewer than three in 10 respondents are leveraging the benefits package to recruit and retain top performers. The survey suggested plan designers aren't trying out new ideas to enhance their team-building; 85 percent listed health care as their top "leveraged" benefit to support recruiting, and 74 percent listed it as No. 1 for retention. All this despite the easier access to health insurance under PPACA.
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However, their secondary focus may be more in tune with employee needs. Retirement savings and planning benefits were cited by 72 percent of organizations to recruit and by 62 percent as a retention tool.
While most are acknowledging the communications failure, respondents don't seem to be addressing the issue in innovative ways.
"The majority of organizations use online or paper enrollment materials (83 percent) and group meetings with an organizational representative (70 percent) to inform employees about benefits. Very few organizations (4 percent) use social media to share information about their benefits with employees," the SHRM study revealed.
"There is room for companies to improve their communication about benefits, so that employees are continually up-to-speed about the total rewards package," said Evren Esen, director of survey programs at SHRM. "Communication is key because previous SHRM research has shown that the benefits package is an important contributor to employee job satisfaction."
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
