Greater Reading Chamber Commerce Quarterly Fall 2017 - 15

GreaterReadingChamber.org

Scott Smith,
VP Human Resources,
Fleetwood Industries
During the recession period of 2008, I believe most
struggled with this. Since the rebound a few years
ago, the recession has not directly inhibited our
ability to invest in fair wages.

Katie Driscoll, PHR,
Human Resources Manager,
Fidelity Technologies Corporation
When we hire a new employee, I run a Payscale.com report for the job title to verify that
we are paying the new employee appropriately. I haven't seen any significant changes in
the Payscale.com reports we have received.

We now have a self-insured plan, which helps to keep our benefit costs lower than fully
insured plans.
We must control the escalation of costs while remaining competitive. We've been very aggressive in
working with our employees to manage claims.
Last year, we actually reduced our contribution
schedule. However, the cost is significant to our
overall competitiveness.

We don't seek to differentiate ourselves through
benefits. We offer a standard package at the most
competitive price we can. We seek to be great
through intangibles and opportunities.

We use ERI Salary assessor tools to market validate our
wages. Healthcare costs are contingent on controlling
population risk and the resulting claims. We have a
strategic broker that we partner with. We use Bravo
for screenings and managing an outcomes based
wellness program. We submit all claims and wellness
data to HCI to support population management.
Lastly, we work with MAP, a consultative resource,
to give our employees information about the best
provider and facility for treating their conditions.
Tools are adequate. The changes I would like to see
are within the healthcare industry. I also believe
that we don't take health serious enough - we all
know we need to eat better and exercise more, but
we often don't choose to make those choices.

We recently started Summer Fridays. Employees have the option of working either four
9-hour shifts and then 4 hours on a Friday or 4 ten-hour shifts and off on Friday. This
was a huge hit this past summer and we hope to continue it next year.
We offer several employee events throughout the year. This year we had an event at
Slick Willy's where employees got to eat and race go-carts for the afternoon. We also held
a family night at the Reading Phillies. Our most recent employee event was a visit from
the Sweet Ride ice cream truck. Employees enjoyed ice cream while on their afternoon
break. These events help with employee morale and really bring the group together to
get to know one another.
We also offer pet insurance. This is a supplement to our medical benefits and offers
several different levels of coverage depending on what type of coverage an employee
wants to elect. Employees must purchase the plans on their own, we can't do a payroll
deduction, so it offers flexibility when it comes to payment. We have several employees
that have taken advantage of the insurance and have saved them a lot of money.
For compensation, we have been using Payscale.com. We like the system because we
can input specifics about Fidelity. Company size, industry, and location are all factors
when the system generates a compensation range for a job title. I'm also a member of
SHRM and receive information from them on compensation and benefits. They are
a valuable resource when it comes to total compensation packages. In the past, I have
also reached out to the Chamber for information about local compensation. This has
been helpful. Our Benefits Broker is also very supportive. They give us information on
trends within the industry and offer suggestions.
The only resource that I feel would be helpful is a more anonymous way for local
employers to share their benefit costs. Glassdoor isn't reliable and doesn't address benefit
costs. I would be curious to know what other local manufacturers are charging their
employees for benefits. This would give us a better picture of what our competition
is doing so we can adjust what we do to keep our employees from leaving. I would
like to see a Glassdoor type of software that is only for benefits and only open to local
companies.

http://www.GreaterReadingChamber.org http://www.Payscale.com http://www.Payscale.com http://www.Payscale.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Greater Reading Chamber Commerce Quarterly Fall 2017