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LEGAL CAVEAT
The Benefits Roundtable has worked to ensure the accuracy of the information it provides to its members. This report relies upon data obtained from many sources, however, and the
Benefits Roundtable cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information or its analysis in all cases. Furthermore, the Benefits Roundtable is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting,
or other professional services. Its reports should not be construed as professional advice on any particular set of facts or circumstances. Members requiring such services are advised
to consult an appropriate professional. Neither The Corporate Executive Board Company nor its programs are responsible for any claims or losses that may arise from a) any errors or
omissions in their reports, whether caused by the Benefits Roundtable or its sources, or b) reliance upon any recommendation made by the Benefits Roundtable.
3. 3
From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
© 2010 The Corporate Executive Board Company.
All Rights Reserved. BR5555810SYN
TODAY’S DISCUSSION
Employee Preferences
for Work–Life Benefits
Context
Realizing the
Full Value from
Work–Life Offerings
Conclusion and
Roundtable Resources
4. From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
© 2010 The Corporate Executive Board Company.
All Rights Reserved. BR5555810SYN
4
Many organizations will
need to further alter their
benefits plan designs, as
health care cost inflation
continues to strain
budgets.
■ Average health care costs
will continue to increase,
with an average increase
in 2009 of 6.4% and
projections of increases in
2010 of approximately 6.9%.
■ This continued cost
pressure will require many
organizations to further
adjust plan designs; 48%
of Roundtable members
already anticipate the need
to redesign plans.
■ To do so effectively,
organizations must strike
the right balance between
achieving cost-reduction
targets while doing a
minimal amount of damage
to the value that employees
receive from their benefit
plans. Even organizations
that do not need to further
cut costs will want to ensure
they are maximizing the
impact of their plans on
employees.
INCREASING COST REQUIRES FURTHER PLAN REDESIGN
Average Health Care Cost Increases
2004 Through 2009
PercentIncrease
Running Blindfolded with Scissors
“This is hard. Cutting a budget isn’t hard, but
cutting it in the right way is extremely hard.
Our biggest problem is we have no idea what the real
impact of our plan changes will be on employees.
Are we cutting the wrong elements? Cutting too far?
I hope not.”
Senior Vice President
Compensation and Benefits
Fortune 100 Technology Company
Benefits Roundtable Membership Top Plan
Design Priorities
Select Priorities for 2010
Source: Mercer Consulting.
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
7.5%
6.1% 6.1% 6.1%
6.3% 6.4%
48%
37%
Cutting Costs
Increasing the Value
Employees Receive
from Benefits
5. From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
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5
Work–life balance is
a key employment
value proposition
(EVP) element for
driving attraction and
commitment.
■ Work–life balance elements
are the number-two driver of
attraction for U.S. employees
and can have a 35% impact
on employee commitment;
employees who are
committed work 57% harder
and are nine times less likely
to leave.
■ As the U.S. economy
improves in 2010, employers
whose business also
improves will need to recruit
new talent and keep their
existing solid performers.
Even employers whose
business does not improve
or worsens will still need
cost-effective tactics for
holding on to their best
talent.
PREPARING FOR THE RECOVERY
Respondents Rating EVP Element in Top Five
for Attraction
U.S. Employees
Impact of Element Delivery on Commitment
U.S. Employees
58%
42%
39% 39%
36% 35%
32%
26%
PercentageofRespondents
RatinginTopFiveforAttraction
EVP Element EVP Element
MaximumImpact
onCommitment
Compensation
FutureCareer
Opportunity
Work–LifeBalance
Work–LifeBalance
Stability
Compensation
HealthBenefits
HealthBenefits
Source: Corporate Leadership Council, EVP Design Center, 2009.
6. 6
From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
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CONJOINT SCORES DEFINED
Importance Scores—These show the
relative sensitivity that employees have to
change in a particular benefit compared to
other benefits. A higher score means that
employees are relatively more sensitive to
changes in the benefit.
Value Scores—These show the relative value
that employees perceive for different levels
or characteristics within a benefit. A higher
score means that employees assign that
level/characteristic more value; value scores
can be compared to each other.
The Benefits Value Survey
used conjoint preferences
techniques to determine
the value employees
place on different
benefits and different
levels of those benefits.
■ Conjoint surveys require
respondents to actively
select which of several
benefits packages is of
greatest value; the different
benefits packages have
different designs, forcing
the respondent to implicitly
trade off different benefit
levels.
■ The resulting scores provide
more realistic assessments
of employee preference
than surveys that ask for
preference of individual
attributes in isolation; they
also allow an apples-to-
apples comparison among
different benefits and levels
of them.
■ Organizations can combine
conjoint scores with actuarial
costs to provide an ROI
of each benefit, thereby
creating a measure of return.
IDENTIFYING SMART PLAN CUTS OR CHANGES
Sample Conjoint Trade-Off Question
Health Plan Design Module
Survey Window: July 2009
CAVEAT
Employee perceptions of
benefits provide a critical
component in making plan
design decisions, and one
that is often overlooked.
However, there are other
considerations organizations
may want to take into
account that are not
embedded in these scores.
These include:
■ Costs (can be combined
with preferences to
calculate returns),
■ Company philosophy, and
■ Competitiveness.
n = 5,000.
7. 7
From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
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TODAY’S DISCUSSION
Employee Preferences
for Work–Life Benefits
Context
Realizing the
Full Value from
Work–Life Offerings
Conclusion and
Roundtable Resources
8. From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
© 2010 The Corporate Executive Board Company.
All Rights Reserved. BR5555810SYN
8
VACATION IS COMPARABLE TO CASH
Employee Importance Scores for Select Benefits
Paid vacation is by far
the most highly valued
work–life benefit and is
almost as important as
base salary.
■ Paid vacation ranks sixth
in relative importance to
employees when compared
to all other benefits, making
it more highly valued than
retirement offerings and
nearly as valued as base
salary.
■ Vacation’s high value score
means that employees will
be relatively more sensitive
to changes—either cuts or
enhancements—to it than
to other benefits with lower
scores.
■ The comparability between
the value scores of paid
vacation and base salary
(they differ by just two
points) means that the
impact of base pay cuts or
freezes on employee value
can be at least partially
mitigated by providing
additional paid time off.
Source: Benefits Value Survey, 2009.
58
56
51
48
24
20
19 19 19
17
13 13 12
10
9 8
BaseSalary
PaidVacation
Contributionto
RetirementPlan
Out-of-Pocket
Maximum
Telecommuting
PersonalLeave
On-SiteDaycare
Vacation
Carryover Limit
FlexibleWork
Schedule
SickDays
UseofPTOBank
ChildcareDiscount
EmergencyDaycare
PaternityLeave
MaternityLeave
Community
ServiceLeave
Work–Life Benefits
Non-Work–Life Benefits
9. From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
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9
VACATION MATTERS MORE NOW
Employee Importance Scores for Selected Work–Life Benefits
2007–2009
Paid vacation increased
in importance while
other work–life benefits
experienced modest
declines.
■ Economic uncertainty may
partially explain both trends:
News reports of unpaid
furloughs and mandatory
time off with no or reduced
pay could drive employees
to value the opportunity to
take paid time off from work
even more.
■ Similarly, concern over
potential layoffs could
be leading employees to
want to put in more “face
time” at the office, making
flexible scheduling and
telecommuting options less
attractive.
53
55
23
19
27
24
Source: Benefits Value Survey, 2009; Benefits Value Survey, 2007.
Paid Vacation Flexible Work Schedule Telecommuting
2007
2009
10. From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
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10
EMPLOYEES PREFER VACATION TIME TO SICK TIME
Employee Value Scores for Paid Vacation and Sick Leave
Employees show a strong
preference for vacation
over sick time.
■ Employees generally
perceive roughly two to
three times as much value
from paid vacation days
as they do from the same
number of sick days.
■ However, if only five days
of paid time off were being
offered, employees would
rather receive sick leave than
paid vacation.
■ While employees do care
about having some minimally
sufficient number of paid
sick days as an insurance
policy, the marginal change
in perceived value is a
lot more substantial from
increasing the number of
available vacation days than
from sick days.
■ Employers with separate
vacation and sick days
that provide more than 10
sick days per year have an
opportunity to improve
employees’ perceived value
of their time off benefits by
converting some of those
days to paid vacation.
Source: Benefits Value Survey, 2009.
0.3
2.4
17.6
10.4
44.5
13.7
55.5
17.3
5 10 20 25
Paid Vacation
Sick Leave
Number of Days Offered
11. From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
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11
PTO PLANS ENHANCE THE VALUE OF VACATION
Employee Value Scores for Different Paid Time Off (PTO) Arrangements
PTO banks that allow
employees to use more of
their time off for vacation
increase employees’
perceived benefits value.
■ Partly as a result of
employees’ preference for
paid vacation over sick
leave, employees also show
a marked preference for
consolidated paid time
off (PTO) banks versus
discrete vacation and sick
leave amounts. Employees
value the flexibility afforded
to them under a PTO
arrangement, since they can
choose to use as much or as
little of it as they would like
for personal vacation/time
off.
■ The good news is that this
preference aligns with the
existing trend for employers
to move toward PTO banks:
60% of organizations have
this type of arrangement.
Source: Benefits Value Survey, 2009.
9
13
Separate Vacations and Sick Days Vacation and Sick Days
Combined in a PTO Bank
12. From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
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12
(SOME) VACATION CARRYOVER CARRIES VALUE
Employee Value Scores for Different Levels of Vacation Carryover
Vacation or PTO plans
that allow employees to
carry over unused days
provide a substantial
increase in value.
■ Plans allowing employees to
carry over up to 10 days per
year (the average amount
for plans with carryover
features) generate 15 points
of employee value more than
plans that offer no carryover
provisions.
■ There are diminishing
marginal returns to offering
additional carryover days.
Going from no carryover
to 10 days creates 1.6 value
points per day. However,
going from 10 days to 20
days only creates 0.3 value
points per day.
■ Barring any legal reasons
not to do so, organizations
should not allow carryover of
more than 10 days per year.
Source: Benefits Value Survey, 2009.
1
16
19
No Carryover Up to 10 Days a Year Up to 20 Days a Year
Going from no vacation
carryover to allowing up to
10 days to carryover results
in a 16-fold increase in
employee value…
…but doubling the
carryover limit to
20 days adds little
incremental value.
13. From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
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13
A LITTLE FLEXIBILITY GOES A LONG WAY
Employee Value Scores for Different Levels
of Flexible Scheduling
The value employees
perceive from flexible
work arrangements
increases as the level of
flexibility increases—but
only up to a point.
■ For example, allowing
employees to shift or
reschedule 100% of their
work hours in a given week
creates less value than
allowing them to shift or
reschedule just 25% to 50%
of their work hours.
■ Similarly, allowing employees
to telecommute five days
per week creates slightly less
value than allowing them to
telecommute three or four
days per week.
■ It may be that the economic
climate of the past year
has tempered employees’
preferences for the highest
levels of flexible work
arrangements; in times of
uncertainty—and potential
layoffs—they want to ensure
they have at least some “face
time” in the office.
Source: Benefits Value Survey, 2009.
Employee Value Scores for Different Levels
of Telecommuting
3
13
14
8
1
20
24
23
100% Not
Offered
1–2 Days/
Week
3–4 Days/
Week
5 Days/
Week
50%25%0%
Percentage of Work Hours That Can Be Shifted,
Rescheduled, or Canceled in a Given Week
The bulk of the value employees
perceive from flexible scheduling and
telecommuting benefits comes from
a relatively low level of the offering.
14. From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
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14
EMPLOYEES DON’T CARE MUCH ABOUT CHILDCARE
Employee Importance Scores for Work–Life Benefits
Childcare benefits tend to
matter less to employees,
even relative to other
work–life benefits.
■ However, on-site daycare is
somewhat of an exception:
Its employee importance
score is slightly above
the average for work–life
benefits.
■ Organizations wanting
to provide childcare
assistance for reasons
of competitiveness,
organizational cultural, etc.,
should first consider on-
site daycare, purely from an
employee value perspective
(although costs should also
be evaluated).
Source: Benefits Value Survey, 2009.
56
24
20
19 19 19
17
13 13 12
10
9 8
PaidVacation
Telecommuting
PersonalLeave
On-SiteDaycare
Vacation
CarryoverLimit
FlexibleWork
Schedule
SickDays
UseofPTOBank
ChildcareDiscount
EmergencyDaycare
PaternityLeave
MaternityLeave
Community
ServiceLeave
Average = 18
Childcare discounts and
emergency daycare are below
average in importance, even
relative to other work–life benefits.
15. From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
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15
15
7
18
19
Offering childcare
benefits that are
relatively costly for
employees does not
help—and may even
hurt—employee value.
■ Offering an expensive
($1,000 per month) on-site
daycare option to employees
is worse than not offering it
at all, in terms of employee
value.
■ Purely from an employee
value perspective,
organizations that are going
to offer childcare benefits
should make them available
at relatively low costs
to employees. However,
organizational culture,
costs, competitiveness, or
other factors should also be
considered—along with the
fact that even offering free
on-site daycare provides
only a modest increase in
employee-perceived value.
CHILDCARE BENEFITS THAT CREATE HIGH EMPLOYEE
COSTS DON’T CREATE VALUE
Employee Value Scores for Different Levels of On-Site Daycare
…but even offering
free on-site daycare
provides only a modest
increase in employee-
perceived value.
Going from not offering
any on-site daycare to
offering it at a cost of
$1,000 per month for
the employee results in
a nearly 50% decrease
in perceived value…
Not Offered Offered for $1,000
per Month
Offered for $500
per Month
Offered at No
Cost
Source: Benefits Value Survey, 2009.
16. From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
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16
Offering midlevel
amounts of maternity and
paternity leave creates
the most employee value.
■ Employees prefer one month
of maternity leave to two
months and one month of
paternity leave to three
months.
■ Reducing leave amounts
can generate modest
improvements in
employee value (although
organizational culture and
competitiveness should also
be considered).
■ The growing presence of
Generation Y employees
in the workforce may be a
contributing factor: Those
who are less likely to use
the benefit still value having
a “basic” amount available,
but perceive overly generous
offerings to be unfair.
■ In addition, those employees
who do take advantage of
parental leave benefits may
worry that if they are away
from work for too long, they
will be “forgotten.”
OFFER PARENTAL LEAVE—UP TO A POINT
Employee Value Scores for Different
Amounts of Maternity Leave
Employee Value Scores for Different Amounts
of Paternity Leave
8
9
6
4
10
9
Offered
as Legally
Required
One Month
Beyond
Legal
Requirement
Two Months
Beyond
Legal
Requirement
Not Offered One Month Three
Months
Employees perceive the greatest value
from parental leave benefits when just
one month off is made available.
Source: Benefits Value Survey, 2009.
17. From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
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17
1
6
14
20
Employees prefer shorter,
at least partially paid
leaves (for sabbaticals
or eldercare) to longer,
unpaid leaves.
■ For example, employees
perceive up to one month
of personal leave with 50%
of salary as more than twice
as valuable than up to three
months of personal leave
with no salary.
■ Employers offering unpaid
leave should be mindful of
the fact that employees’
concerns over lost salaries
could dissuade them from
taking advantage of the
benefit when they really
need it.
MONEY, NOT TIME, MATTERS FOR PERSONAL LEAVE
Employee Value Scores for Different Levels of Personal Leave
Not Offered Up to Three
Months with
No Salary
Up to One Month
with 50% Salary
Up to Three
Months with
50% Salary
∆ = 133%
Source: Benefits Value Survey, 2009.
18. From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
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All Rights Reserved. BR5555810SYN
18
Employees place
relatively little
importance on time
off for volunteering or
community service.
■ While employers may have
many reasons for wanting to
provide community service
leave (e.g., adhering to
company values, generating
goodwill in the community),
they should not expect this
type of benefit to have much
of an impact on employees’
perceived value of their
benefits package.
■ Employees prefer flexibility
in their time off: Paid
vacation matters more than
sick leave (which can only be
used when you are sick), and
PTO banks (which let you
use up to all of your time off
for vacation) are preferred
to discrete vacation and
sick leave offerings. The
constraints associated with
many community service
leave programs—such as
limits on what activities can
be done—likely contribute
to their relatively modest
impact on employee value.
COMMUNITY SERVICE LEAVE GENERATES GOODWILL,
BUT NOT MUCH EMPLOYEE VALUE
Employee Value Scores for Different Levels of Community Service Leave
3.7
8.1
7.8
Not Offered Up to Five Days a Year Up to 10 Days a Year
Source: Benefits Value Survey, 2009.
19. 19
From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
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TODAY’S DISCUSSION
Employee Preferences
for Work–Life Benefits
Context
Realizing the
Full Value from
Work–Life Offerings
Conclusion and
Roundtable Resources
20. From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
© 2010 The Corporate Executive Board Company.
All Rights Reserved. BR5555810SYN
20
83%
50%
44%
37% 36% 36% 36%
31%
29%
27%
22%
20%
17%
15%
11% 11%
Roughly 70% of
employees are not aware
of their employers’
work-life programs.
■ While almost all employees
know about and understand
their organization’s vacation
or paid time off policy,
most do not realize they
also have access to a wide
array of “non-core” work-life
offerings.
UNDER–UTILIZED BENEFITS
Employee Awareness of Work–Life Offerings
Vacation
PersonalInsurance
FlexibleSchedulingArrangements
TelecommutingOptions
CounsellingServices
EmergencyLeave
RemoteWorkArrangements
CommunityServiceLeave
OptionalWorkloadAdjustments
PersonalTime
ParentalLeave
On-SiteDaycare
ConciergeServices
Part-TimeWorkOptions
Job-Sharing
SabbaticalLeave
PercentageofEmployees
AwareofOfferingandHowitWorks
21. From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
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All Rights Reserved. BR5555810SYN
21
31%
Disagree
35%
Neutral
34%
Agree
21%
Disagree
29%
Neutral
50%
Agree
Only a third of all
managers promote
work–life balance
and benefits, leading
employees to discount
and under-utilize those
benefits.
■ Lack of manager support
leads to employee
assumptions that do not
promote the use of work–life
programs.
THE PERCEPTION OF WORK–LIFE INFLUENCES ITS USE
“My Manger Promotes the Use of Work–
Life Programs Offered by My Organization”
Percentage of Employees Agreeing or Disagreeing
“In Order to Get Ahead in This Organization
Employees Should Work Long Days and Be
Available All of the Time”
Percentage of Employees Agreeing or Disagreeing
Source: Corporate Leadership Council research.
22. From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
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22
The most cost-efficient
method for using work-
life balance is to increase
employee knowledge
of these programs and
change employee and
manager perceptions
of them.
INFORM AND CONVINCE TO ACHIEVE ROI
Benefits Decision Readiness Stages
Knowledge:
Understanding the Offering
Perception:
Evaluating the Offering
Behavior:
Using the Offering
Theme
“I know what benefits I need,
and I know what this offering
does.”
“I want (to use) this offering.” “It’s worth the price right now.”
Sample
Benefits
Objectives
■ Increase employee
awareness of an offering
■ Remind employees of an
upcoming date or event
■ Inform employees about
a specific offering change
■ Increase employee
perceived value of an
offering
■ Change employee
perceptions toward
certain benefits
■ Increase employee
participation in
a benefits activity
■ Increase usage of one
offering over another
Information
Needed
■ What is this work-life
program?
■ How will it help me balance
my work and personal
responsibilities?
■ How well does this
offering help me balance
my work and personal
responsibilities?
■ What are some of the
specific advantages to
participating in this work-
life program?
■ Are there any drawbacks or
costs associated with this
work-life offering?
■ Why is it important for me
to begin taking advantage
of work-life offerings now?
■ Will the improvements
in my work-life balance
outweigh any drawbacks,
such as decreased “face
time” in the office?
23. From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
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All Rights Reserved. BR5555810SYN
23
A RECOMMENDED COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
Communication Strategy for Changing the Perception of Work–Life Benefits
The Roundtable’s
communication
framework recommends
four steps for changing
employee perception.
Segment
communications to
allow for targeted
messaging,
focusing on
managers and
key employee
segments.
Carefully focus
content to answer
“what’s in it for
me.”
The “what’s in it for
me” should focus on
diffusing the perceived
risk of using the
benefits as well as
promoting the positive
aspects of the benefits.
The “what’s in it for
me” should focus more
on tangible examples
of how productivity
can be maintained, or
increased, with the use
of work–life programs.
■ Through
communications
■ By example
Use senior
management as
a communication
source to lend
credibility to the
organization’s
commitment to
work life programs
Leverage
coworkers as a
communication
source to further
promote the
programs to their
peers.
1 2 3 4
EMPLOYEES
MANAGERS
+ +
24. From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
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All Rights Reserved. BR5555810SYN
24
A SAMPLE COMMUNICATION
Pearson’s Work-Life Newsletter
Excerpt
Pearson’s work-life
newsletter emphasizes
the mental and physical
health benefits of taking
personal time away from
work.
For a growing number of people, there’s a surprising antidote to those
Winter Blues: winter gardening! Whether indoors or out, gardening and
the nurturing of living things can improve your mood… and your health.
LET IT GROW… INDOORS
For many, the subtle joys of indoor
gardening are the winter focus. With the
ground frozen outdoors, a flowerpot can
yield a world of benefits. In studies, indoor
plants have been shown to reduce stress,
while moderating indoor humidity and
actually cleansing the air you breathe, thus
reducing your chances of catching an
airborne bug. Plant herbs and have the added benefit of a tasty boost
to your winter menu!
One word of caution: if you do bring any new plants into your
home, keep them separate from your existing plants until you’re sure
they’re not bringing in any unwelcome pests.
To light up these dark winter nights, you could plant an amaryllis
bulb. Available in a spectrum of beautiful colors at your local garden
center, tend them well in a well-lighted space and you’ll have a
blossoming amaryllis to lift your mid-winter spirits!
PLAN NOW FOR THE SPRING
One of the great delights of gardening is the anticipation of new
growth and new beauty in the lengthening days to come. Therefore,
you might choose to focus your energies on plans for the coming
spring (it may not seem like it sometimes, but it is coming!).
Go through gardening
magazines for ideas you may
want to try. Keep a journal of
the ones you like. Read up on subjects you’re curious about: there’s
always something new to learn, even for a Master Gardener. Which,
incidentally, you might choose to become. Odds are a nearby college
or university offers the requisite horticultural courses on flower and
vegetable gardening, insect pests and plant diseases, trees and shrubs,
and landscape design. Or you may prefer to expand your knowledge
via the seminars offered through many township recreation
departments and community college night schools.
Getting together with friends in a garden book club is another nice
way to combine the love of gardening with a chance for casual
socializing to break up the winter doldrums.
Whatever way you choose to enjoy winter gardening, you’ll find the
mental and physical health benefits will surely grow on you.
http://gardening.about.com
THANKS FOR READING
WORKLIFE WATCH.
PLEASE SEND ANY FEEDBACK TO
worklife@pearsoned.com
PERSONAL TIME
4
JANUARY
NATIONAL SOUP MONTH Now that
National Gazpacho Day (December 6) and
National Bouillabaisse Day (December 14) are past, you can
cheer up the winter days in a month-long celebration of soup:
one of the most comforting of comfort foods. Nutritious, easy
to make, and as diverse as your own imagination, soup can be a
quick snack or a main course (and if it’s chicken soup, a virtual
medication). To plan your soup celebration, log on at
soup.allrecipes.com, where you’ll find 1,250 reader-submitted
soup recipes, complete with reader reviews!
FEBRUARY
HEART HEALTH MONTH Local chapters
of the American Heart Association will
celebrate throughout the month with events
designed to raise awareness of heart-related health issues (as well
as funds). For instance, were you aware that heart disease and
stroke are the #1 and #3 killers of women today? To learn about
events in your area, log onto americanheart.org and look up
your local chapter under “Local Info.”
MARCH
NATIONAL WOMEN’S HISTORY Month
The theme for this year’s celebration is
“Women Change America.” Since President
Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation calling on
Americans to remember women’s contribution to America,
women as diverse as blues singer Ma Rainey and aviator Amelia
Earhart have been honored for their role in transforming our
society and continuing to move it forward. To learn more, log
on to the National Women’s History Project site at nwhp.org.
DID YOU KNOW?
25. 25
From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
© 2010 The Corporate Executive Board Company.
All Rights Reserved. BR5555810SYN
IMPLICATIONS
Implications for Work–Life Benefits
1. Communicate work–life benefits to drive attraction and commitment. Particularly as the economy improves and labor markets
tighten, work–life benefits will be a cost-effective way to help keep and acquire talent. Employers looking to use work–life offerings
to drive attraction and commitment should use communications to emphasize benefits that are more important to employees, like
paid vacation or telecommuting.
2. Offer more vacation if you have to cut pay. Since employees value paid vacation almost as much as cash compensation, the impact
of base pay cuts or freezes on employee perceptions can be mitigated somewhat by offering additional paid time off, which is likely
to cost the organization less.
3. Build more flexibility into vacation plans. Design elements that enhance employee control or flexibility over how much vacation to
take when, such as a consolidated paid time off (PTO) bank or carryover feature, can generate substantial increases in employee
value.
4. Take a closer look at parental leave benefits. While organizational culture and competitiveness also need to be considered from a
standpoint of employee perceptions, many employers can safely reduce the generosity of parental leave benefits.
5. Enhance the generosity of childcare benefits—or cut them. Organizations that want to provide childcare coverage for competitive
or other reasons should consider relatively more generous offerings to address employee preferences and promote utilization; low
amounts of these benefits (i.e., where childcare is available but relatively expensive for the employee) can hurt employee value.
26. 26
From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
© 2010 The Corporate Executive Board Company.
All Rights Reserved. BR5555810SYN
TODAY’S DISCUSSION
Employee Preferences
for Work–Life Benefits
Context
Realizing the
Full Value from
Work–Life Offerings
Conclusion and
Roundtable Resources
27. 27
From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
© 2010 The Corporate Executive Board Company.
All Rights Reserved. BR5555810SYN
9.3
12.7
15.5
19.8 21.5
Be Cautious of Going to $20 for Generic Drugs
There are certain thresholds that
employees are especially loathe to cross
Generic Prescription Drug Co-Pay
Employee
Value
$30
Co-Pay
$25
Co-Pay
$20
Co-Pay
$15
Co-Pay
$10
Co-Pay
Going from a $15 co-pay for generic drugs destroys
4.3 “value points” compared to 1.7–3.4 for all other
tested changes of equivalent magnitude.
BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE PLAN DESIGN RESOURCES
Get comprehensive and unlimited benchmarks for
10 benefits by size and industry.
Identify design changes that increase perceived
value or lower costs using data-driven guidance.
BENCHMARK PLAN DESIGNS TARGET HIGH-RETURN DESIGN
CHANGES
To Access
Roundtable Resources: Go to www.br.executiveboard.com. Click on the Topics tab. Click on the Plan Design Center link.1 2 3
Save time, lower consulting spend, and reduce overall benefits spend.
Plan Design Benchmarking—Medical Plans
Industry: All Employee Size: All
Fortune 100/500: All Number of Observations: 458
Annual Deductible
The chart below shows the average annual deductible for full-time
employees as single enrollees in different types of medical plans.
Average Annual Deductible, Employee Only
$512
$927
$457
$879
$45
$417
$28
$275$215
$539
$416$485
$1,343
$1,766
All Plans Type 1 Type 2
Medical Plan Type
Type 4 Type 5 Type 6
In-Network Out-of-Network
Type 3
RESOURCE: PLAN DESIGN AND POLICY
BENCHMARKING CENTER
RESOURCE: EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
PREFERENCES SERIES
28. 28
From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
© 2010 The Corporate Executive Board Company.
All Rights Reserved. BR5555810SYN
Key Features
Target ompany fi
Ta n- es
e
In -momen xper roups
Benefits Roundtable Consulting
Helping benefits executives and their teams reduce consulting costs and
increase staff efficiency by providing end-to-end assistance for major projects
and supporting the day-to-day management of key benefits processes
BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE PLAN DESIGN RESOURCES
Use our online modeling tool to evaluate your plan
designs and compare plan changes.
Work directly with a senior consultant or use our
project plans and tools to complete your project.
MODEL VALUE AND COST IMPACT NEW! GET EXECUTION SUPPORT
FOR PLAN DESIGN PROJECTS
To Access
Roundtable Resources: Go to www.br.executiveboard.com. Click on the Topics tab. Click on the Plan Design Center link.1 2 3
Save time, lower consulting spend, and reduce overall benefits spend.
RESOURCE: BENEFITS VALUE
ASSESSMENT TOOL
RESOURCE: DIY AND ADVICE-BASED
CONSULTING
Plan(s) PPO Proposal #1 PPO Proposal #2 PPO Proposal #3
Component(s) Level Value Level Value Level Value
Annual Deductible $500 (single)/
$1,000
(multiple)
17.5 $625 (single)/
$1,250
(multiple)
13.3 $1,000 (single)/
$2,000
(multiple)
0.8
Health Premium
Share
$35 (single)/
$95 (multiple)
38.8 $75 (single)/
$150 (multiple)
28.9 $50 (single)/
$100 (multiple)
35.1
Generic Drug
Co-Pay
$12.50
copayment
20.7 Employee pays
15%
15.4 $22.50
copayment
14.1
Monthly 401(k)
Match
.75/$1 match,
$200 max
46.9 .75/$1 match,
$150 max
42.1 50 cents per
dollar match (max
of $150/month)
36.7
Paid Vacation 2 more weeks 24.7 Half a week
more
7.1 1 more week 14.3
Total Value 402 354 342
29. 29
From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
© 2010 The Corporate Executive Board Company.
All Rights Reserved. BR5555810SYN
BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE COMMUNICATION RESOURCES
Save time and reduce consulting spend by using the Roundtable’s suite of online, project
support resources to develop plans and create employee benefits communications.
Audit your plan’s effectiveness and get targeted
recommendations to increase impact on employee
benefits knowledge and decisions
Define your strategy to launch high
impact campaigns that achieve your
benefits objectives
Work directly with a senior consultant or use our
project plans and tools to complete your project
EVALUATE YOUR PLAN’S
EFFECTIVENESS
TAILOR READY-TO-USE PLAN
DOCUMENTS
NEW! GET EXECUTION SUPPORT
FOR COMMUNICATION PROJECTS
RESOURCE: BENEFITS COMMUNICATIONS AUDITOR RESOURCE: COMMUNICATION PLAN PRESENTATIONS RESOURCE: ROUNDTABLE CONSULTING SERVICES
To Access Roundtable
Communications Resources: Go to www.br.executiveboard.com. Click on the Topics tab. Click on the Benefits Communications link.1 2 3
30. 30
From the BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE®
of the www.br.executiveboard.com
© 2010 The Corporate Executive Board Company.
All Rights Reserved. BR5555810SYN
BENEFITS ROUNDTABLE COMMUNICATION RESOURCES
To Access Roundtable
Communications Resources: Go to www.br.executiveboard.com. Click on the Topics tab. Click on the Benefits Communications link.1 2 3
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3
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datat non proident, sunt in
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Pull quote goes here and here
and here. Pull quote goes here
Use simple pictures and
illustrations to break up the
look of “heavy” text and make
the brochure more inviting.
Use examples to answer the
“how does this affect me”
question.
Use two column layout.
Use bright colors to give the
impression of simplicity.
49%
31%
20%
2
Secondary Head
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ing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut
labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim
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nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis
aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate
velit e sse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
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sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id
est laborum:
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Occaecat cupidatat non proident
Sunt in culpa qui officia
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ing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut
labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim
veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris
nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Lorem
ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit,
sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et
dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam,
quis no strud e xercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut
aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute
irur e dolor in r eprehenderit.
Main Head Goes Here
Use bullets to simplify messages.
Rephrase paragraph text when
necessary.
Third-level Head
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isicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut
labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad
minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullam-
co laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo conse-
quat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in
voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla
pariatur. esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla
pariatur. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud
exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea
commodo consequat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit
amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eius-
mod t empor incididunt ut labore et dolore
magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim v eniam, quis
nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut
aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. datat non
proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mol-
lit anim id est laborum.
Low
(under 10%)
Medium
(10–30%)
High
(over 30%)
Sample of a Bar Chart
Title of chart goes here
40%
30%
20%
10%
Use a variety of headers to
break up text. Vary the color
of headers by level to add
interest.
Use charts and graphs to reinforce
messages. Keep labels simple and use
data relevant to your audience. For
example, if average salary is $30,000,
don’t use $75,000 in an example.
Jump-start the communications creation process
by drawing upon content and layout ideas used by
your peers
Use professionally designed templates, ready to
“cut and paste” text, and formatting advice proven
to be effective
Work directly with a senior consultant or use our
project plans and tools to complete your project
REVIEW SAMPLE
COMMUNICATIONS FROM PEERS
BUILD CUSTOM
COMMUNICATIONS MATERIALS
NEW! GET EXECUTION SUPPORT
FOR COMMUNICATION PROJECTS
Save time and reduce consulting spend by using the Roundtable’s suite of online, project
support resources to develop plans and create employee benefits communications.
RESOURCE: SAMPLE COMMUNICATIONS LIBRARY RESOURCE: COMMUNICATIONS BUILDER RESOURCE: ROUNDTABLE CONSULTING SERVICES