1. SHRM Survey Findings: State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits December 18, 2013

2. This is part six of a series of SHRM survey findings examining employee benefits in the workplace. The following topics are included in the six-part series titled State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace:  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 20132 Introduction

3. How knowledgeable are employees about their employer-sponsored benefits? The majority (80%) of organizations reported their employees were “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 (79%) 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 (24%) of organizations had an employee benefits communications budget in fiscal year 2012. What are the top employee benefits communications methods organizations use? The top three communications methods used by organizations are online or paper enrollment materials (82%), group employee benefits communications with an organizational representative (62%), and one-to- one employee benefits counseling with an organizational representative (55%). State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 20133 Key Findings

4. 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, 3% 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 20134 Key Findings (continued)

5. In this post-recession period of slow salary growth, some employers and HR professionals are using comprehensive benefits packages as a means to attract and retain talent. Consequently, clear communication about benefits has become important. Most HR professionals think their benefits communications are effective, but less than one in four (24%) had an actual benefits communications budget in 2012. HR professionals have likely spent much time navigating the ins and outs of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Given the complexity of the law, HR professionals should pay particular attention to health-care related benefits communications for the foreseeable future. And though some employers may choose to opt out of coverage and pay a penalty, some experts have argued that decision will have a negative impact on recruitment and retention. HR professionals appear to be aware of that already: More than four in five (81%) said health care is the most important benefit to the majority of their employees. Most organizations are not using social media channels for benefits- related communications. However, that may change in the future, perhaps due to employers’ increased use of social media in other aspects of business operations, as well as workers’ increased comfort with those forms of technology. Only 3% of organizations reported using social media for benefits communications, but among those who do not use it, another 8% said they plan to start in the next 12 months. State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 20135 What do these findings mean for the HR profession?

6. Focus and Knowledge of Benefits 6State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013

7. Overall, how knowledgeable are your employees about the employer-sponsored benefits available to them? State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 20137 Note: Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding.

8. How does your organization determine the knowledge level of employees about the employer-sponsored benefits available to them? State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 20138 Note: Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates that this response option was developed from open-ended responses in 2013. A double asterisk (**) indicates that data were not available for 2012 or 2013.

9. Which benefit from your organization’s benefits package is the one that is most important to the majority (more than half) of employees? State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 20139 Note: Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. 2012 (n = 425) 2013 (n = 423) Health care84%81% Retirement savings and planning4%5% Flexible working benefits2%4% Leave benefits4%3% Family-friendly benefits2%3% Preventive health and wellness2% Professional and career development benefits2%1% Housing and relocation benefits0% Other0%1%

10. 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? State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 201310 Note: Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding. 2012 (n = 416) 2013 (n = 418) Health care68%67% Retirement savings and planning9%11% Flexible working benefits9%7% Family-friendly benefits3%6% Preventive health and wellness5%6% Leave benefits2%1% Professional and career development benefits3%1% Housing and relocation benefits0% Other0%

11. Communicating Benefits 11State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013

12. 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.” State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 201312 Note: Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

13. Did your organization have an employee benefits communications budget in fiscal year 2012? State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 201313 Note: Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

14. Did your organization’s fiscal year 2013 employee benefits communications budget increase, remain the same or decrease when compared with the fiscal year 2012 employee benefits communications budget? State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 201314 Note: Only respondents whose organizations have an employee benefits communication budget in fiscal year 2013 were asked this question.

15. Within the last 12 months, did your organization make any changes to your employee benefits communication materials? State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 201315 Note: Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.

16. Which of the following employee benefits communications methods does your organization use? State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 201316 Note: A dash (-) indicates that this question was not asked that year. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options. 2012 (n = 447) 2013 (n = 431) Enrollment materials (online or paper)84%82% Group employee benefits communications with an organizational representative 65%62% One-to-one employee benefits counseling with an organizational representative 51%55% Intranet48%46% Newsletters (online or paper)39%34% Direct mail to home/residence41%33% Benefit fairs26%24% Virtual education13%14% Social media4%3% Group employee benefits communications with your vendor 3%- Other2%9%

17. Within the next 12 months, does your organization plan to using social media as an employee benefits communications tool? State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 201317 Note: Only organizations that currently do not use social media as an employee benefits communications method were asked this question. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.

18. Organization Demographics State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 201318

19. Demographics: Organization Staff Size State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 201319 n = 363

20. Demographics: Organization Sector State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 201320 n = 377

21. Percentage Professional, scientific and technical services21% Health care and social assistance17% Manufacturing15% Government agencies12% Finance and insurance10% Educational services9% Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional and similar organizations5% Accommodation and food services4% Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services4% Construction4% Mining4% Transportation and warehousing4% Arts, entertainment and recreation3% Information3% Retail trade3% Real estate and rental and leasing2% Repair and maintenance2% Utilities2% Whole trade2% Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting1% Personal and laundry services1% Other7% 21State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2013 Demographics: Organization Industry Note: n = 375. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.

22. State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 201322 Demographics: Other U.S.-based operations only80% Multinational operations20% 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. 59% Each work location determines HR policies and practices. 4% A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices. 37% 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 = 381 n = 244 Corporate (company-wide)73% Business unit/division16% Facility/location11% n = 244 What is the HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey?

23. State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 201323 SHRM Survey Findings: State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits Response rate = 11% 441 HR professional respondents from a randomly selected sample of SHRM’s membership participated in this survey Margin of error +/- 5% Survey fielded May 3-22, 2013 Survey Methodology

24. Benefits Communication Resource Page Open Enrollment Resource Page State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 201324 Additional SHRM Resources

25. For more survey/poll findings, visit www.shrm.org/surveys.www.shrm.org/surveys For more information about SHRM’s Customized Research Services, visit www.shrm.org/customizedresearch.www.shrm.org/customizedresearch Follow us on Twitter @SHRM_Research.@SHRM_Research State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 201325 About SHRM Research Project leaders: Christina Lee, researcher, SHRM Research Project contributors: Alexander Alonso, Ph.D., SPHR, vice president, SHRM Research Evren Esen, manager, Survey Research Center, SHRM Research Copy editor: Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center

26. About SHRM The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world’s largest association devoted to human resource management. Representing more than 250,000 members in over 140 countries, the Society serves the needs of HR professionals and advances the interests of the HR profession. Founded in 1948, SHRM has more than 575 affiliated chapters within the United States and subsidiary offices in China, India and United Arab Emirates. 26State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013