Tailored Benefits Strategy Can Help Employee Retention
A MetLife news release said that was one finding of its new Employee Benefits Benchmarking Report, which it said will help employers figure out what other firms in their market are doing to hang onto skilled workers and try to adjust their own benefits strategy.
“Employers really want a clear understanding of the competition’s practices and benefits product offerings so they can create an effective retention strategy,” said Randy Stram, vice president, MetLife Institutional Business, in the news release.
According to the news release, while white-collar and blue-collar workers both said that medical coverage was their most important benefit, white-collar employees ranked vacation as the second most important benefit and blue-collar workers named prescription drug coverage.
Vacation was ranked number five in importance by
blue-collar workers. Blue-collar workers are also about
twice as interested in long-term care insurance than
white-collar employees, according to MetLife.
Size can make a difference in an employer’s benefits
package. For example, while executive benefits amounted to
only 4% of benefits spending for employers between 2-49
employees, that number jumped to 12% with companies with
10,000 to 24,999 employees.
There also can be a significant disparity between certain
industries. Only 19% of retail employees report being
satisfied with their benefits, while four in 10
manufacturing workers are satisfied and 49% of those
employees in finance and real estate feel that way
According to MetLife, 44% of young families with children
under the age of six reported being worried about benefits
affordability over the next five years, but other
demographic groups are less concerned. Yet, 49% of young
families are very satisfied with benefits, but only 35% of
singles voice similar satisfaction.
“Insights into employee mindsets and priorities could prove
a significant competitive advantage as the workforce ages
and talented employees become more difficult to attract and
retain,” Stram said. “One size does not fit all when it
comes to benefits plans, and it also pays to know what the
competition is doing.”
The announcement said the report presents data broken down by industry, company size, geographic region, employee job type (executive, white-collar, blue-collar) and employee life stage.
Key study findings are at http://www.whymetlife.com/trends/keyfindings.asp. To access the Benchmarking Tool, go to http://whymetlife.com/benchmarkingtool/tool.asp .