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Benefits crucial in career decisions

Perks can keep or attract talented employees

Would you work for an employer who paid $1 for every gallon of gas you put in your tank to get to work?

Northstar, Financial Services firm in Nebraska, is doing just that. And you can bet that Mike Miola, the company’s chairman, knows that added “perk” motivates the firm’s current employees want to stay and want to produce for such a generous boss.

RW Benefit Communications, a Scottsdale-based firm specializing in customized, total compensation statements, would add that unless the firm includes this information in a “benefits statement,” the company is not capitalizing on the value of that good deed.

So if you are someone currently looking for a job, or thinking of moving from your present position, knowing exactly what is on the table financially will help you to make the right decision. And if the company in question has compiled formal benefits statements, they should make these statements available to you.

RW Benefit Communication cites a 2005 study by the Employment Policy Foundation that reports benefits have replaced salary as the prime consideration of jobseekers when deciding to change their place of employment. In addition, according to a recent MetLife Employee Benefits Trend Study, roughly two-thirds of employees say that their benefits are an important reason they stay with their current employer (69 percent), are satisfied with their job (64 percent), and feel strong loyalty toward their employer (64 percent).

Romy Wightman, principal of RW Benefit Communications, attributes the increase in demand for benefit statements to rising health care costs. These and other rising costs prompt employers to not only seek creative ways to provide their employees valuable benefits, but to also educate their employees about the monetary value of company benefits beyond salary.

“Years ago, employers didn’t feel the need to share this information with employees,” Wightman says. “But more companies want to show employees exactly what it costs to provide medical, dental, and other benefits because the costs of these services are rising so fast.”

An improved job market, particularly in the southwestern region of the U.S., says Wightman, also has employers providing and fully disclosing total compensation statements to their employees. Companies divulge this information as a means to retain talent in a restless job market, and as a hiring tool to entice talented candidates in a highly-competitive job market.

Benefits that are part of an employee’s overall compensation package include stock options, retirement projections and participation in various investment programs. Additional benefits often overlooked as part of overall compensation include tuition reimbursement, use of a company car, safety uniforms and eyewear, company parties, service awards and incentives.

Employers are urged to use a benefits statement as a valuable tool, and for jobseekers to effectively gauge the true value of salary plus overall benefits package.

Wightman anticipates the employee benefit statement client base to increase as this era of soaring health care costs continues to be highlighted by double-digit increases.

“Employers are seeking to realize a better level of understanding among their employees,” she says. “Given the dramatic increases that people have and as employee cost-sharing goes higher, employee benefit statements can help employees understand that this is a pretty severe environment companies are faced with. It’s also a relatively inexpensive tool to convey the significance of the cost to the employee.”For more information about benefits statements from RW Benefit Communications, visit www.benefitstatements.com.