My best HR management idea: Getting people to appreciate their benefits
October 16, 2008 by Jim GiulianoPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Incentives, Latest News & Views, Money, My best management idea, Retention and turnover, policies
Your employees don’t appreciate their benefits package? Neither did the people at the company where HR manager Doug Reys worked. So he decided to do something about it.
His story:
We have what I consider to be a better-than-average benefits package, but to listen to our employees, you’d
never know it.
It seemed all they ever did was complain about what we didn’t have. In some ways, I understood their feelings. It’s a natural tendency to think the grass is always greener – and the benefits package is better – somewhere else.
So, yes, it’s understandable, but I decided it wasn’t totally acceptable. If for no other reason than keeping down turnover, our employees had to know what a good deal they were getting.
Compared data
To help them understand, I explored a few Web sites and publications, and pulled off some data about average employee benefits. I noted every instance where our benefits exceeded the average, and listed them in a letter to each of our employees.
On top of that, I sent a copy of the letter to each employee’s spouse, where appropriate. I’ve learned that sometimes good news from work doesn’t make it home, so we wanted to make sure we touched that base.
The results: We now hear employees talk about what a good deal they have here. Or, better yet, they’ll say, “My wife [or husband] was impressed with that letter.”
(Doug Reys, HR manager, Columbus, OH)
October 20th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
What websites did you get your data from? I would love to do the same thing here.
October 21st, 2008 at 10:10 am
I am interested in a sample of the letter presented to your employees as well as where
the comparison data was found. I would like to submit a similar letter to our employees, who
at one time or another have complained that our very generous benefit package, was not
all it could be. I found this article interesting, but I would like some detail information.
Thank you,
Mary Foley
October 21st, 2008 at 11:36 am
Our benefit package is good, but some parts are difficult to measure. We feed our employees lunch daily, have very flexible schedules. Vacation and sick is easy to equate. I’d be interested in more information, websites, whatever it takes to help people to appreciate what they have. Thanks!
October 21st, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Ditto all the other comments!
October 21st, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Ditto also – thank you.
October 21st, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Our benefit package is also very rich and I would love to see a sample of the letter Doug sent out as well as the websites.
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:18 am
I am looking for some idea and stumble upon your posting
decide to wish you Thanks. Eugene
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:36 am
Also interested in a sample letter and website sources for the data.
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:47 am
We’ve also let employees know the dollar value of the benefits provided to them (at no cost). I think some folks are surprised how much it all costs. A few years ago, the company decided to increase our copays & deductibles on our helath insurance which would substantially lower the cost of insurance premiums. From the money they saved on premiums, the company is able to provide funds to reimburse employees for the higher copays & deductibles.
October 29th, 2008 at 10:55 am
I would love to see a copy of that letter.
October 29th, 2008 at 11:18 am
I have been asking for a copy of that letter also, and I get messages that new remarks have been
added, but never receive a response from the author of the letter himself. I also, wanted to know
where he was able to gather the data he based his information on. Anyway, hopefully we will get the response we are looking for.
October 29th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Regarding requests for copies of the letter and other follow-up for stories of this type:
The authors of these stories are actual HR managers who voluntarily submit the stories. The authors are not employees of HR Morning, and are not obligated to provide follow-up to the stories or respond to requests for follow-up. Neither can the staff at HR Morning demand or request that the authors respond to comments pertaining to the stories.
We hope you understand the policy and the reasons for it.
Jim Giuliano
Managing Editor
HR Morning
July 21st, 2009 at 5:26 pm
It’s too bad that HR Morning could not obtain the referred to information as it would be a benefit to all who read the publication. Maybe HR Morning could just let the writer know the extend of the inquiries and ask if they would be willing to share the sites they sources.
No one in our position would be offended and it was an awesome solution. The rewards are greater than the request. Feed back is healthy and knowing your story caught the attention of so many is a great boost. You are doing you writers (and readers) a great disservice by not letting the writer know the extend of responses to their story.
I hope HR Morning will consider this approach.
February 25th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Being in the HR profession for 10+ years, I find the article to be vague. If you know benefits, then you know there are many factors that are involved in determining how your particular company’s benefits line up with others.
I am doubtful that this information could be obtained from a website and/or publications.
My suggestion would be that if you really want to measure how your company compares with other local companies of the same general size in the same geographical location, join a local HR chapter that participates in a county survey. This provides valuable information regarding many areas including but not limited to training, promotions from within and also benefits. This is an accurate way to see areas for improvement with LIKE comparisions.
Then educate your employees where you stand with the results. This is independent research that is indisputable.