The survey found that most organizations believe their employee benefits communications are effective. The top three communication methods were online/paper enrollment materials, group communications with organizational representatives, and one-on-one counseling. While few organizations currently use social media for communications, some plan to in the future. Health care remains the most important benefit to employees, though retirement and flexible benefits are growing in importance. Overall, employees were reported to be knowledgeable about available benefits, though few organizations have dedicated communications budgets.

1. SHRM Survey Findings: State of Employee Benefits in
the Workplace—Communicating Benefits
December 18, 2013

2. Introduction
• This is part six of a series of SHRM survey findings examining employee benefits in the workplace.
• The following topics are included in the six-part series titled State of Employee Benefits in the
Workplace:
»
»
»
»
»
»
Part 1: Wellness initiatives
Part 2: Flexible work arrangements
Part 3: Health care
Part 4: Leveraging benefits to retain employees
Part 5: Leveraging benefits to recruit employees
Part 6: Communicating benefits
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
2

3. Key Findings
• How knowledgeable are employees about their employer-sponsored benefits? The majority
(80%) of organizations reported their employees were “very knowledgeable” or “somewhat
knowledgeable” of the employer-sponsored benefits available to them.
• Are organizations effective in informing employees about their benefits? Roughly threefourths (79%) of organizations “strongly agree” or “somewhat agree” with the statement “My
organization’s employee benefits communications efforts are very effective in informing employees
about their benefits.” However, only about one-quarter (24%) of organizations had an employee
benefits communications budget in fiscal year 2012.
• What are the top employee benefits communications methods organizations use? The top
three communications methods used by organizations are online or paper enrollment materials
(82%), group employee benefits communications with an organizational representative (62%), and
one-to-one employee benefits counseling with an organizational representative (55%).
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
3

4. Key Findings (continued)
• Are organizations using social media as a platform in their employee benefits
communications efforts? Very few organizations are using social media in their communication
efforts. Overall, 3% of organizations reported using social media. Among organizations not using
social media in their employee benefits communications efforts, 8% of organizations indicated they
plan to start using social media within the next 12 months.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
4

5. What do these findings mean for the HR profession?
• In this post-recession period of slow salary growth, many employers and HR professionals are
using comprehensive benefits packages as a means to attract and retain talent. Consequently,
clear communication about benefits has become important. Most HR professionals think their
benefits communications are effective, but less than one in four (24%) had an actual benefits
communications budget in 2012.
• HR professionals have likely spent much time navigating the ins and outs of the Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Given the complexity of the law, HR professionals should pay
particular attention to health-care related benefits communications for the foreseeable future. And
though some employers may choose to opt out of coverage and pay a penalty, some experts have
argued that decision will have a negative impact on recruitment and retention. HR professionals
appear to be aware of that already: More than four in five (81%) said health care is the most
important benefit to the majority of their employees.
• Most organizations are not using social media channels for benefits-related communications.
However, that may change in the future, perhaps due to employers’ increased use of social media
in other aspects of business operations, as well as workers’ increased comfort with those forms of
technology. Only 3% of organizations reported using social media for benefits communications, but
among those who do not use it, another 8% said they plan to start in the next 12 months.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
5

6. Focus and Knowledge of Benefits
6

7. Overall, how knowledgeable are your employees about the employersponsored benefits available to them?
13%
Very
knowledgeable
14%
67%
Somewhat
knowledgeable
72%
Not at all
knowledgeable
2013 (n = 429)
19%
Not very
knowledgeable
2012 (n = 433)
14%
0%
0%
Note: Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
7

8. How does your organization determine the knowledge level of
employees about the employer-sponsored benefits available to them?
24%
24%
Employee surveys
13%
12%
Intranet use
10%
14%
Employee focus group
Employee meetings*
Log of question volume
and/or type**
9%
2012 (n = 444)
4%
3%
Interactions with HR**
Other
2013 (n = 441)
17%
7%
2%
Note: Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates that this response option was developed from
open-ended responses in 2013. A double asterisk (**) indicates that data were not available for 2012 or 2013.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
8

9. Which benefit from your organization’s benefits package is the one that
is most important to the majority (more than half) of employees?
2012
(n = 425)
2013
(n = 423)
Health care
84%
81%
Retirement savings and planning
4%
5%
Flexible working benefits
2%
4%
Leave benefits
4%
3%
Family-friendly benefits
2%
3%
Preventive health and wellness
2%
2%
Professional and career development benefits
2%
1%
Housing and relocation benefits
0%
0%
Other
0%
1%
Note: Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
9

10. In three to five years, which benefit from your organization’s benefits
package do you think will be the one that is most important to your
employees?
2012
(n = 416)
2013
(n = 418)
Health care
68%
67%
Retirement savings and planning
9%
11%
Flexible working benefits
9%
7%
Family-friendly benefits
3%
6%
Preventive health and wellness
5%
6%
Leave benefits
2%
1%
Professional and career development benefits
3%
1%
Housing and relocation benefits
0%
0%
Other
0%
0%
Note: Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
10

11. Communicating Benefits
11

12. How strongly do you agree or disagree with this statement, “My organization’s
employee benefits communications efforts are very effective in informing
employees about their benefits.”
24%
Strongly agree
20%
55%
Somewhat agree
57%
2013 (n = 426)
2012 (n = 439)
15%
Somewhat disagree
18%
Strongly disagree
6%
5%
Note: Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
12

13. Did your organization have an employee benefits communications
budget in fiscal year 2012?
24%
Yes
2013 (n = 360)
22%
2012 (n = 467)
76%
No
78%
Note: Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
13

14. Did your organization’s fiscal year 2013 employee benefits communications budget
increase, remain the same or decrease when compared with the fiscal year 2012
employee benefits communications budget?
28%
Increased in
2013
23%
Remained
the same in
2013
60%
67%
2013 (n = 85)
2012 (n = 91)
8%
Decreased
in 2013
There is no
budget in
2013
9%
4%
1%
Note: Only respondents whose organizations have an employee benefits communication budget in fiscal year 2013 were asked this question.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
14

15. Within the last 12 months, did your organization make any changes to
your employee benefits communication materials?
58%
Yes
63%
2013 (n = 410)
2012 (n = 432)
42%
No
38%
Note: Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
15

16. Which of the following employee benefits communications methods
does your organization use?
2012
(n = 447)
2013
(n = 431)
84%
82%
65%
62%
51%
55%
Intranet
48%
46%
Newsletters (online or paper)
39%
34%
Direct mail to home/residence
41%
33%
Benefit fairs
26%
24%
Virtual education
13%
14%
Social media
4%
3%
Group employee benefits communications with your vendor
3%
-
Other
2%
9%
Enrollment materials (online or paper)
Group employee benefits communications with an organizational
representative
One-to-one employee benefits counseling with an organizational
representative
Note: A dash (-) indicates that this question was not asked that year. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
16

17. Within the next 12 months, does your organization plan to using social
media as an employee benefits communications tool?
8%
Yes
8%
57%
No
60%
Not sure
2013 (n = 416)
2012 (n = 429)
34%
33%
Note: Only organizations that currently do not use social media as an employee benefits communications method were asked this question.
Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
17

18. Organization Demographics
18

19. Demographics: Organization Staff Size
1 to 99
employees
33%
100 to 499
employees
32%
500 to 2,499
employees
17%
2,500 to 24,999
employees
25,000 or more
employees
12%
6%
n = 363
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
19

20. Demographics: Organization Sector
Privately owned forprofit
51%
Nonprofit organization
24%
Publicly owned for-profit
12%
Government sector
11%
Other
2%
n = 377
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
20

21. Demographics: Organization Industry
Professional, scientific and technical services
Health care and social assistance
Manufacturing
Government agencies
Finance and insurance
Educational services
Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional and similar organizations
Accommodation and food services
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services
Construction
Mining
Transportation and warehousing
Arts, entertainment and recreation
Information
Retail trade
Real estate and rental and leasing
Repair and maintenance
Utilities
Whole trade
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting
Personal and laundry services
Other
Percentage
21%
17%
15%
12%
10%
9%
5%
4%
4%
4%
4%
4%
3%
3%
3%
2%
2%
2%
2%
1%
1%
7%
Note: n = 375. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2013
21

22. Demographics: Other
Does your organization have U.S.based operations (business units) only,
or does it operate multinationally?
U.S.-based operations only
80%
Multinational operations
20%
n = 381
Single-unit organization: An organization in which
the location and the organization are one and the
same.
39%
Multi-unit organization: An organization that has
more than one location.
61%
n = 381
What is the HR department/function for
which you responded throughout this
survey?
Corporate (company-wide)
73%
Business unit/division
16%
Facility/location
11%
n = 244
Is your organization a single-unit organization or a multiunit organization?
For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices
determined by the multi-unit headquarters, by each work
location or by both?
Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies
and practices.
59%
Each work location determines HR policies and
practices.
4%
A combination of both the work location and the
multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies
and practices.
37%
n = 244
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2013
22

23. SHRM Survey Findings: State of Employee Benefits in
the Workplace—Communicating Benefits
Survey Methodology
• Response rate = 11%
• 441 HR professional respondents from a randomly selected sample of SHRM’s membership
participated in this survey
• Margin of error +/- 5%
• Survey fielded May 3-22, 2013
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
23

24. Additional SHRM Resources
• Benefits Communication Resource Page
• Open Enrollment Resource Page
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
24

25. About SHRM Research
For more survey/poll findings, visit www.shrm.org/surveys.
For more information about SHRM’s Customized Research Services, visit
www.shrm.org/customizedresearch.
Follow us on Twitter @SHRM_Research.
Project leaders:
Christina Lee, researcher, SHRM Research
Project contributors:
Alexander Alonso, Ph.D., SPHR, vice president, SHRM Research
Evren Esen, manager, Survey Research Center, SHRM Research
Copy editor:
Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
25

26. About SHRM
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world’s largest association
devoted to human resource management. Representing more than 250,000 members in
over 140 countries, the Society serves the needs of HR professionals and advances the
interests of the HR profession. Founded in 1948, SHRM has more than 575 affiliated
chapters within the United States and subsidiary offices in China, India and United Arab
Emirates.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2013
26