Talent Management - November 2008 - (Page 26)

• 15 percent cite a lack of overall beneﬁts program visibility. Budget challenges need no explanation, but what about resistance to change? Interviews with companies revealed employees can become concerned when traditional beneﬁts plans are altered, fearing they are being asked to pick up more of the cost. Those fears are not unfounded, as data reveals that is exactly the strategy for 20 percent of all companies surveyed. But increasing employee contributions to a beneﬁt plan — so-called cost shifting — ﬂies in the face of the top two goals for a beneﬁts program: attracting and retaining workers. Further, passing on more of the cost to employees is not a permanent cure. Organizations need to treat the root causes. Just What the Doctor Ordered Organizations are taking a variety of steps in response to aforementioned beneﬁts program pressures, and the most important involve employee access to plan data, communication and regular program evaluation. Survey data and individual company interviews conﬁrm that the most successful beneﬁts management programs are those in which employees have clear views of program offerings and how each serves their individual needs. To aid in the communication of beneﬁts offerings, best-in-class organizations are more aggressive when providing employees with access to the full beneﬁts menu and offering descriptions — cited by 69 percent of best in class — and at providing employees with online portals that enable real-time access to their individual plan data — provided by 56 percent of best in class (See Figure 2.). Employees Know Best Organizations are quickly learning the best way to provide the right beneﬁts offerings is to ask employees what they want, not to assume what they need. Anecdotal evidence from the survey revealed that, historically, organizations have not been diligent in evaluating beneﬁts programs on a regular basis to ensure they are being used. Each program offering requires an investment, so the key is to make sure there is a return on each investment. One manner in which organizations are measuring the return on beneﬁt investments is to more aggressively automate and integrate beneﬁts data collection and analysis. This includes ap- Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008 • 11AM PT/2PM ET Testing the Test: What You Need to Know About Test Validation, Litigation and Risk Management In this Talent Management webinar, sponsored by APT Inc. (www.APTMetrics.com), participants will learn how to protect their investments and gain the experience necessary to recognize and implement testing instruments that will accurately predict job performance in a fair and legal manner. Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008 • 11AM PT/2PM ET Get Strategic About Integrated Human Capital Management Senior analyst Zach Thomas will present Forrester’s best-practices framework for human capital management during this Talent Management webinar sponsored by Salary.com. The best-practices framework helps firms identify critical short-term priorities within a longer strategic plan. T register, go to o www.talentmgt.com/events. Now featuring “Quick Register” for returning attendees. Powered by http://www.talentmgt.com/events http://www.APTMetrics.com http://www.Salary.com http://www.talentmgt.com/events

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Talent Management - November 2008

Talent Management - November 2008 Editor’s Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Learning Connections Recruitment & Retention Assessment & Evaluation Compensation & Benefits Performance Management Learning & Development Succession Planning Insight Dashboard Application Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Full Potential

Talent Management - November 2008

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