For much of the past year, talent retention and hiring has been a top concern for HR professionals. Now, a new survey from business services company HealthEquity suggests that, though turnover remains high, HR professionals are increasingly concerned about benefit cost-containment. In fact, while 48% of professionals ranked talent retention as a top concern, 60% say the same of benefit cost-containment.
The HealthEquity survey looked at responses from 174 HR professionals at a range of different employers in a range of different roles. While describing their concerns, nearly half of these HR professionals say managing benefit costs is like trying to buy a steak dinner on a spaghetti budget. Meanwhile, 39% say that it was like employees were asking for 31 ice cream flavors and all they had to offer was Neopolitan. Only 11% of survey respondents say they were like a kid in a candy store with their birthday money.
Concerns about employee benefits could impact talent retention, the survey suggests. While nearly all HR professionals say that benefits were key to talent retention, less than 7 in 10 say that their benefits packages improved retention efforts.
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Nearly three-quarters of HR leaders say that their turnover has increased in the past two years, according to the survey. Major drivers of the turnover include a strong labor market, compensation levels, and return to office efforts.
Additionally, consumer-driven benefits might be a way for employers to mitigate the impacts on inflation on employees by lowering premium costs, offering employer contributions to lower employees out-of-pocket health care expenses, and reducing taxes through HSAs. Only 13% of survey respondents say that consumer-driven benefits are not a viable way to fight inflation.
Other top concerns of HR professionals include employee wellbeing, which 49% of professionals ranked as a worry; employee engagement, at 36%; optimizing benefits through plan design, at 29%; and talent acquisition, at 26%.
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