Tough Time Recruiting? It May Be Your Benefits Package.

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If your benefits plans have faded into the background of your daily HR happenings, now is the time to bring them to the forefront.

According to 2012 Employee Benefits: A Research Report by SHRM, if you are having a hard time recruiting top talent, it may be because of your benefits.

"More than one-half of organizations reported having difficulty finding skilled workers for specific job openings, with engineering, medical, technical, scientific and executive positions being especially hard to fill. Organizations that continue to have problems filling key jobs should examine their employee benefit offerings as a way to retain top talent."

Employees have different family situations, different wants and different needs. Benefit plan design does not work well with a one size fits all approach - even one that includes "the kitchen sink." Health plans are at the top of the list that can also include retirement, leave, professional and career, relocation and retention, travel and child care benefits.

Dusting off a benefits package is not a mandate to change, your package may be just what the organization needs. Do you know if yours is?

In taking the first step to assessing the effectiveness of your benefits package, ask yourself a few questions:

  • Is our compensation plan competitive?
  • Do I know what benefits we offer and why we are offering each?
  • Is our benefits package aligned with our strategic business objectives?
  • Are we making the most of low-cost initiatives such as workplace flexibility?
  • Do employees value and understand their benefits? Are we communicating well?
  • Are prepared to assess a request for additional benefits and perks when employees come a knocking to ask for more?

Are you familiar with the saying, "You can't get there from here, you'll have to start someplace else."

Thanks to a 1985 2LT N. Burnham, I can't get the picture of an older salt-of-the-earth guy, pipe in hand, speaking from his front porch rocking chair to a family of lost city folk maneuvering the backroads of Maine whenever I say that - but I digress.

With salary dollars tight, it's smart business to know what your strategic business goals are and yes, your benefits can get you from here to there if you know what road you are traveling.

In plain speak . . . know the costs, usage and effectiveness of your benefits package so you can make informed recommendations and decisions and be out front leading when it is time for a change.

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