SHRM Survey Findings: State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees January 10, 2013

This is part five 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 2 State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2012

Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees at All Levels of the Organization Do organizations leverage their benefits program to recruit employees? Approximately one-third (29%) of organizations reported leveraging their benefits program to recruit employees. What benefits offerings have been leveraged to recruit employees? Organizations reported health care (80%) and retirement savings and planning (63%) were the benefits most frequently leveraged to recruit employees. What benefits offerings will increase in importance to help recruit employees in the next three to five years? Organizations indicated that health care benefits (79%) and retirement savings and planning benefits (76%) are the benefits that will increase in importance with respect to recruiting employees. Key Findings 3 State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2012

Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Highly Skilled Employees Are organizations leveraging their benefits program to recruit highly skilled employees? Almost one-third (31%) of organizations reported leveraging their benefits program to recruit highly skilled employees. What benefits offerings have been leveraged to recruit highly skilled employees? Health care (75%) and retirement savings and planning (58%) were the benefits most frequently leveraged to recruit these employees. In the next three to five years, what benefits offerings will increase in importance to help organizations recruit highly skilled employees? Organizations indicated that health care benefits (75%), retirement savings and planning benefits (58%), and professional and career development benefits (41%) will increase in importance with respect to recruiting highly skilled employees. Key Findings 4 State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2012

Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees at All Levels of the Organization

6 Over the past 12 months, has your organization had difficulty recruiting employees at all levels of the organization? Note: n = 394. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded for this analysis. State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2012

7 Over the past 12 months, has your organization leveraged your benefits program to recruit employees at all levels of the organization? Note: n = 377. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2012

8 Which of the following benefits has your organization leveraged to recruit employees at all levels within your organization? Note: n = 108. Respondents who answered “not sure” and whose organizations did not leverage their benefits program to recruit employees at all levels within the organization 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 Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2012

9 Within the next three to five years, what benefits offerings will increase or decrease in importance in your organization’s efforts to recruit all levels of employees? Note: n = Respondents who answered “not sure” and whose organizations did not leverage their benefits program to recruit employees at all levels within the organization were excluded from this analysis. State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2012

Leveraging Benefits to Recruit 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 his or her operating unit or the organization. Definition 11 State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2012

12 Over the past 12 months, has your organization had difficulty recruiting highly skilled employees? Note: n = 400. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded for this analysis. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding. State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2012

13 Over the past 12 months, has your organization leveraged your benefits program to recruit highly skilled employees? Note: n = 379. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded for this analysis. State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2012

14 Which of the following benefits has your organization leveraged to recruit highly skilled employees? Note: n = 116. Respondents who answered “not sure” and whose organizations did not leverage their benefits program to recruit 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 Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2012

15 Within the next three to five years, what benefits offerings will increase or decrease in importance in your organization’s efforts to recruit highly skilled employees? Note: n = Respondents who answered “not sure” and whose organizations did not leverage their benefits program to recruit highly skilled employees were excluded from this analysis. State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2012

16 Organization Demographics State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2012

17 Demographics: Organization Staff Size n = 447 State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2012

18 Demographics: Organization Sector n = 440 State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2012

Percentage Health care and social assistance19% Manufacturing19% Professional, scientific, and technical services17% Finance and insurance11% Government agencies9% Educational services7% Retail trade5% Accommodation and food services4% Construction4% Information4% Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional and similar organizations4% Transportation and warehousing4% Whole trade4% Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services3% Arts, entertainment and recreation3% Repair and maintenance3% Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting2% Mining2% Real estate and rental and leasing2% Utilities2% Personal and laundry services1% Demographics: Organization Industry 19 Note: n = 447. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2012

20 Demographics: Other U.S.-based operations only77% Multinational operations23% 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 Note: n = 286. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding. Corporate (company-wide)75% Business unit/division13% Facility/location12% n = 286 What is the HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey? State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2012

SHRM Survey Findings: State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit 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 21 State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2012

About SHRM Research For more survey/poll findings, visit For more information about SHRM’s Customized Research Services, visit Follow us on Twitter Project leaders: Shawn Fegley, SPHR, survey research analyst, SHRM Research Christina Lee, intern, SHRM Research Project contributors: Mark Schmit, Ph.D., SPHR, vice president, SHRM Research Evren Esen, manager, Survey Research Center, SHRM Research Copy editor: Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center 22 State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2012