Employee benefits programs and workforce retention strategies

Happy Employees

Please answer the questions about making employees number one. How prevalent do you find this to be?

This is an important strategy that is utilized by employers to retain and attract the best talent. Evidence of this can be seen with data from a study conducted by World at Work. They are an independent pollster which examines total rewards programs. What they found is that 86% of firms were using some kind employee benefits initiative to motive everyone. In most cases, they average employer had between four and six of these programs. (Schrader, 2004) ("Trends in Employee Recognition," 2012)

How prevalent do you find this to be?

This is very prevalent among employers. The reason why is because they are experiencing a shortage of skilled employees in different areas. The only way that they can keep them is to offer some kind of benefits package that will address their basic needs and go beyond them. (Schrader, 2004) ("Trends in Employee Recognition," 2012)

Moreover, many firms have found that a consistent turnover of staff members will result higher costs. This is from continually training each person and then having them leave before they have a chance to realize their true benefits. To avoid these kinds of challenges most firms will often use these programs as a way to ensure that staff members are satisfied. (Schrader, 2004) ("Trends in Employee Recognition," 2012)

Is it a lack of knowledge, ignorance, or arrogance?

These programs have nothing to do with any of these areas. This is because employers realize the challenges that they are facing and are addressing them. (Schrader, 2004) ("Trends in Employee Recognition," 2012)

You would think that this concept was easy to understand. Do you think today's managers and leaders forgot to read the handbook on effective employee management?

This concept is easy to understand because it boils down to individual needs. Most people will not continue working for employers if these issues have not been addressed. This is because they have to be able to live and deal with their challenges. Anything that does not address these problems is waste of the person's time. (Schrader, 2004) ("Trends in Employee Recognition," 2012)

However, some managers and leaders have forgotten to read the employee management handbook. This is because they are focused on reaching the firm's organizational objectives at any cost. When this happens, they will often treat their employees with less respect and do not offer competitive benefits. This is troubling, as these kinds of attitudes can increase regulatory challenges and will hurt the competitiveness of the company. (Schrader, 2004) ("Trends in Employee Recognition," 2012)

At the same time, some managers are providing benefits that do not make the firm competitive. This is because they are taking too much out of the corporation's profit margins and are impacting their ability to adapt. Over the course of time, this can hurt the financial stability of the company. As a result, all managers need to maintain some kind of balance in the process of providing benefits. (Schrader, 2004) ("Trends in Employee Recognition," 2012)