Work-Life Programs Help Companies Attract And Retain Talent

Human resources professionals are increasingly reporting that work-life programs, such as flex-time, telecommuting, and dependent care assistance, are influencing employees’ decisions about whether to take a job or remain with an employer, according to a survey on the prevalence and perceptions of benefit programs conducted by WorldatWork, a non-profit association of benefits professionals.

The survey of 649 U.S.-based members of WorldatWork showed that, of the 62% of respondents who indicated that their organization has a telecommuting program, 85% believe that this benefit has a high or moderate impact on retention, and 76% believe that offering the telecommuting option has a high or moderate impact on attraction. Of the 82% of respondents whose companies offer flex-time, 92% consider this program to have a high or moderate impact on retention, and 84% believe the availability of flex-time has a high or moderate impact on attraction.

In addition, a majority of the benefits professionals surveyed whose companies offered compressed workweeks and part-time schedules agreed that these benefits have a high or moderate impact on both retention and attraction. Meanwhile, a majority of respondents representing organizations offering job sharing and phased retirement rated these programs as having moderate or high impact on retention, but not on attraction.

Compared with work-life programs, providing dependent care services has a less significant, but still noticeable, impact on attraction and retention, the survey showed. Of those respondents whose organizations offered dependent care programs, on-site childcare was rated as having the most positive influence on attraction and retention, followed by emergency back-up dependent care, dependent care referral and resource services, and mother’s privacy and lactation rooms. Moreover, around three-quarters of those respondents representing employers that offer maternity leave, as well as about half of those whose companies offer paternity leave, thought these benefits have an impact on retention and attraction.

“Most organizations offer a wide array of benefit and work-life programs to attract and retain employees,” the report’s authors noted. “Many of these programs are highly valued by employees. The perceived value by employees is essential for a total rewards strategy to be successful.”

While observing that paid vacation time and medical plans topped the list of benefits rated as having a high impact on attraction and retention, researchers pointed out that defined benefit plans, flex-time, and telecommuting were also considered to be high impact programs by benefits professionals. “In today’s workforce,” the authors asserted, “many attraction and retention programs can be the differentiator that gives an organization the advantage in the war for talent.”