1. SHRM Survey Findings: State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits
January 10, 2013

2. Introduction
This is part six 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
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012

3. Key Findings
How knowledgeable are employees about their employer-sponsored benefits? The majority (86%) of organizations reported their employees are “very knowledgeable” or “somewhat knowledgeable” of the employer-sponsored benefits available to them.
Are organizations effective in informing employees about their benefits? Roughly three-fourths (77%) of organizations “strongly agree” or “somewhat agree” with the statement “My organization’s employee benefits communications efforts are very effective in informing employees about their benefits.” However, only about one-quarter (22%) of organizations had an employee benefits communications budget in fiscal year 2011.
What are top employee benefits communications methods organizations use? The top three communications methods used by organizations were online or paper enrollment materials (84%), group employee benefits communications with a representative from his or her organization (65%), and one-to-one employee benefits counseling with a representative from his or her organization (51%).
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012

4. Key Findings
Are organizations using social media as a platform in their employee benefits communications efforts? Very few organizations are using social media in their communication efforts. Overall, 4% of organizations reported using social media. Among organizations not using social media in their employee benefits communications efforts, 8% of organizations indicated they plan to start using social media within the next 12 months.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012

5. Focus and Knowledge of Benefits

6. Overall, how knowledgeable are your employees about the employer-sponsored benefits available to them?
Note: n = 433. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012

7. How does your organization determine the knowledge level of employees about the employer-sponsored benefits available to them?
Note: n = 444. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012

8. Which benefit from your organization’s benefits package is the one that is most important to the majority (more than half) of employees?
Note: n = 425. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012

9. In three to five years, which benefit from your organization’s benefits package do you think will be the one that is most important to your employees?
Note: n = 416. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012

10. Communicating Benefits

11. How strongly do you agree or disagree with this statement, “My organization’s employee benefits communications efforts are very effective in informing employees about their benefits.”
Note: n = 439. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012

12. Did your organization have an employee benefits communications budget in fiscal year 2011?
Note: n = 467. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012

13. Did your organization’s fiscal year 2012 employee benefits communications budget increase, decrease or remain the same when compared with the fiscal year 2011employee benefits communications budget?
Note: n = 91. Organizations that did not have an employee benefits communication budget in fiscal year 2011 were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012

14. Within the last 12 months, did your organization make any changes to your employee benefits communication materials?
Note: n = 432. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012

15. Which of the following employee benefits communications methods does your organization use?
Percentage
Enrollment materials (online or paper)
84%
Group employee benefits communications with an organizational representative
65%
One-to-one employee benefits counseling with an organizational representative
51%
Intranet
48%
Direct mail to home/residence
41%
Newsletters (online or paper)
39%
Benefit fairs
26%
Virtual education
13%
Social media 4%
Group employee benefits communications with your vendor 3%
Other 2%
Note: n = 447. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012

16. Within the next 12 months, does your organization plan to using social media as an employee benefits communications tool?
Note: n = 429. Organizations that did not use social media as an employee benefits communications method were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012

17. Organization Demographics
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012

18. Demographics: Organization Staff Size
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012

19. Demographics: Organization Sector
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012

20. Demographics: Organization Industry
Percentage
Health care and social assistance
19%
Manufacturing
Professional, scientific and technical services
17%
Finance and insurance
11%
Government agencies 9%
Educational services 7%
Retail trade 5%
Accommodation and food services 4%
Construction
Information
Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional and similar organizations
Transportation and warehousing
Whole trade
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services 3%
Arts, entertainment and recreation
Repair and maintenance
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 2%
Mining
Real estate and rental and leasing
Utilities
Personal and laundry services 1%
Note: n = 447. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012

21. Demographics: Other
Is your organization a single-unit organization or a multi-unit organization?
Does your organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only, or does it operate multinationally?
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%
U.S.-based operations only
77%
Multinational operations
23%
n = 447
n = 447
For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit headquarters, by each work location or by both?
What is the HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey?
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%
Corporate (company-wide)
75%
Business unit/division
13%
Facility/location
12%
n = 286
Note: n = 286. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012

22. SHRM Survey Findings: State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits
Survey Methodology
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
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012

23. About SHRM Research
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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
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012