Some employers take the long view
At a time when it's extra painful to do so, some companies are providing new perks to workers in an effort to build loyalty.
It's the exception, to be sure. But a piece in the Wall Street Journal notes that some companies are adding relatively low-cost, high-appreciation benefits for workers -- such as child care assistance, concierge service and expanded health care.
At a time when a large percentage of workers are seeing cuts in pay and benefits, why would companies spend more? Here's the WSJ's Sue Shellenbarger:
The answer lies in these companies' unusually long-term view and in the refreshing note of optimism that underlies it. Employers' staffs are already lean, the thinking goes. Eventually the economy will rebound. If companies lose more workers, they fear being too understaffed to cash in when that day comes, Ms. Sladek says.
That's a real risk: A study cited last year in Harvard Business Review said even a small layoff shocks and demoralizes survivors so much that many walk out the door at the first opportunity, raising voluntary quit rates an average 31% above previous levels.
Read the full article here.
These companies are in the minority, obviously. More common these days are pay cuts, reduced health care benefits, and scaled-back retirement plans.
Of course, many people are losing benefits, from employer retirement-plan contributions to health benefits, at the same time these trend-bucking companies are adding perks. A Watson Wyatt survey last month found that 46% of employers either had cut or were planning to cut health benefits, and that about one in four had cut retirement-plan contributions or intended to do so.
That makes the payoff in employee loyalty even greater when benefits are added, some say -- even though it can be a tricky balance for companies who are laying people off to add even low-cost benefits.
USAA software engineer Kris Ramakrishnan's son, 4, has chronic health problems and is sick almost every week. So it's a big deal for him to be able to quickly tap his employer's backup care plan for a screened, subsidized nanny. He and his wife both have full-time jobs, and deciding who stays home when their son is ill has sparked tension and frequent absences from work, he says. The $4-an-hour service, which Mr. Ramakrishnan terms "amazing," enables them both to do their jobs.
Also, "during incredibly stressful times like this," says Jeff Henderson, chief financial officer of medical-supply maker Cardinal Health in Dublin, Ohio, "anything companies can do to reduce that stress level for employees is something you have to look at." When Cardinal started offering backup care in January, 600 employees signed up.
How loyal are you to your employer? What kinds of benefits -- either current or past -- have made you feel the most loyal? Or the least?
