Employee Benefits and Perks Climb; Just Don't Get Sick
Free parking and pats on the back aren't cutting it any more as employee benefits. In response to record-low unemployment rates and stiff competition for qualified workers, employers are increasing their employee benefits packages across the board, according to a recent survey by the Society of Human Resource Management.
"In today's business climate, recruitment and retention have to be key words in the vocabulary of any human resource professional," says SHRM President Michael Losey. "Efforts by employers to make it easier for employees to juggle their work and home lives can go a long way toward keeping quality employees and recruiting new ones."
Talent-hungry employers are more open to alternative scheduling options, a child-friendly atmosphere, prescription programs, retiree benefits, flexible spending accounts, wellness and fitness programs, and casual dress policies. Twenty-eight percent of respondents offer telecommuting and 25 percent offer compressed workweeks, a small jump from last year. Fifty-three percent offer flextime.
But those things are free for employers. When it comes to benefits that hit the bottom line, employees are on their own, according to Towers Perrin's 1999 Health Care Cost Survey. The average rate of cost increase for employee and retiree healthcare jumped 7 percent in 1999, up from a 4 percent increase last year. For employer-sponsored dental benefits, the average reported cost increase also is about 7 percent, up from 5 percent last year. On average, employees are contributing about 21 percent of the cost of their coverage in 1999 for employee-only coverage, and about 24 percent for family coverage. And that trend will continue. For 2000, companies are projecting rates of increase to average about 8 percent for managed care plans and more than 10 percent for indemnity healthcare coverage.
Contacts: SHRM, Kristin Accipiter, 703/535-6047, www.shrm.org; Towers Perrin, 800/525-6741, www.towers.com
When VP Won't Do; Job Titles of the Future
If you can't offer stock options, casual days and daycare, how about giving your best employees really cool titles? Fast Company magazine regularly tracks off-beat job titles. Some examples:
- Director of Bringing in the Cool People, Netscape
- Animation Skeptic, Pixar
- Messaging Champion, Sequent Computer Systems
- Chief Imagination Officer, Gateway 2000
- VP Cool, America Online
Tell all Your Employees
External firms are handling companies' internal communications twice as often as last year, according to the latest Thomas L. Harris/Impulse Research Public Relations Client Survey. Working under the assumption that an informed employee is a happy employee, 19 percent of corporate respondents are assigning their internal communications tasks to PR firms, up from 9 percent last year. Granted, the number is still the lowest number on the chart (24 percent of companies outsource their community relations work, the second-lowest on the list), but word is spreading - at least internally.
Contact: Thomas L. Harris, 847/266-1025
A Cautionary Trend
Okay, you've found a job that offers all of the aforementioned benefits, plus daily massages, a ski chalet in the Alps and all-you-can-drink Starbucks. Before you sign on, check for signs of trouble, says Stybel Peabody career consultants. Beware of these red flags:
- The board of directors lacks outside members
- The auditing firm is obscure
- The company is overly dependent on two or three individuals, product lines or customers
- Compensation incentives are dangerously focused on short-term results
- The company recently changed its bank, law firm, CPA firm, etc.
Contact: Stybel Peabody & Associates, www.stybelpeabody.com
The Cost of Hiring
In the past decade, employers spent an average of $3,949 on each new hire, and roughly $15,236 for every executive they relocated.
Source: Employment Management Association
Men, Women Differ on Executive Suite Barriers
Opinions differ between women and men about the factors that limit women's career advancement, according to the most recent POWER study conducted by the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association. The widest disparities include the following beliefs:
| Beliefs | Women | Men |
| Women are not "tapped into" the informal communication networks. | 69% | 31% |
| Women will place domestic matters ahead of professional matters when the two conflict. | 53% | 20% |
| Women are given fewer challenging assignments. | 40% | 26% |
| Source: Healthcare PR & Marketing News | ||