1. SHRM Survey Findings: State of Employee Benefits in
the Workplace—Communicating Benefits
January 10, 2013

2. Introduction
• This is part six of a series of SHRM surveys examining the state of employee benefits in the
workplace.
• The following topics are included in this six-part series:
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 2012 2

3. Key Findings
• How knowledgeable are employees about their employer-sponsored benefits? The
majority (86%) of organizations reported their employees are “very knowledgeable” or
“somewhat knowledgeable” of the employer-sponsored benefits available to them.
• Are organizations effective in informing employees about their benefits? Roughly three-
fourths (77%) 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 (22%) of
organizations had an employee benefits communications budget in fiscal year 2011.
• What are top employee benefits communications methods organizations use? The top
three communications methods used by organizations were online or paper enrollment
materials (84%), group employee benefits communications with a representative from his
or her organization (65%), and one-to-one employee benefits counseling with a
representative from his or her organization (51%).
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012 3

4. Key Findings
• 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, 4% 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 2012 4

5. Focus and Knowledge of Benefits

6. Overall, how knowledgeable are your employees about the employer-
sponsored benefits available to them?
Very
14%
knowledgeable
Somewhat
knowledgeable 72%
Not very
14%
knowledgeable
Not at all
0%
knowledgeable
Note: n = 433. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012 6

7. How does your organization determine the knowledge level of
employees about the employer-sponsored benefits available to them?
Employee surveys 24%
Interactions with HR 17%
Employee focus group 14%
Intranet use 12%
Employee meetings 4%
Other 2%
Note: n = 444. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012 7

8. Which benefit from your organization’s benefits package is the one that
is most important to the majority (more than half) of employees?
Health care 84%
Leave benefits 4%
Retirement savings and
planning 4%
Family-friendly benefits 2%
Flexible working benefits 2%
Preventive health and 2%
wellness
Professional and career
2%
development benefits
Housing and relocation
0%
benefits
Other 0%
Note: n = 425. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012 8

9. 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?
Health care 68%
Flexible working benefits 9%
Retirement savings and
planning 9%
Preventive health and
wellness 5%
Family-friendly benefits 3%
Professional and career 3%
development benefits
Leave benefits 2%
Housing and relocation
0%
benefits
Note: n = 416. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012 9

10. Communicating Benefits

11. 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.”
Strongly agree 20%
Somewhat
agree 57%
Somewhat
18%
disagree
Strongly disagree 5%
Note: n = 439. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012 11

12. Did your organization have an employee benefits
communications budget in fiscal year 2011?
Yes 22%
No 78%
Note: n = 467. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012 12

13. Did your organization’s fiscal year 2012 employee benefits communications
budget increase, decrease or remain the same when compared with the
fiscal year 2011employee benefits communications budget?
Remained
the same 67%
in 2012
Increased
in 2012 23%
Decreased
9%
in 2012
There is no
budget in 1%
2012
Note: n = 91. Organizations that did not have an employee benefits communication budget in fiscal year 2011 were excluded from
this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012 13

14. Within the last 12 months, did your organization make any changes to
your employee benefits communication materials?
Yes 63%
No 38%
Note: n = 432. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not total 100% due to
rounding.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012 14

15. Which of the following employee benefits communications methods
does your organization use?
Percentage
Enrollment materials (online or paper) 84%
Group employee benefits communications with an organizational representative 65%
One-to-one employee benefits counseling with an organizational representative 51%
Intranet 48%
Direct mail to home/residence 41%
Newsletters (online or paper) 39%
Benefit fairs 26%
Virtual education 13%
Social media 4%
Group employee benefits communications with your vendor 3%
Other 2%
Note: n = 447. 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 2012 15

16. Within the next 12 months, does your organization plan to using social
media as an employee benefits communications tool?
Yes 8%
No 60%
Not
33%
sure
Note: n = 429. Organizations that did not use social media as an employee benefits communications method were excluded from
this analysis. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012 16

17. Organization Demographics
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012 17

18. Demographics: Organization Staff Size
1 to 99
23%
employees
100 to 499
employees 39%
500 to 2,499 22%
employees
2,500 to
24,999 13%
employees
25,000 or
more 3%
employees
n = 447
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012 18

19. Demographics: Organization Sector
Privately
owned for- 51%
profit
Nonprofit
organization 22%
Publicly
owned for- 19%
profit
Government
sector 8%
n = 440
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012 19

20. Demographics: Organization Industry
Percentage
Health care and social assistance 19%
Manufacturing 19%
Professional, scientific and technical services 17%
Finance and insurance 11%
Government agencies 9%
Educational services 7%
Retail trade 5%
Accommodation and food services 4%
Construction 4%
Information 4%
Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional and similar organizations 4%
Transportation and warehousing 4%
Whole trade 4%
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services 3%
Arts, entertainment and recreation 3%
Repair and maintenance 3%
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 2%
Mining 2%
Real estate and rental and leasing 2%
Utilities 2%
Personal and laundry services 1%
Note: n = 447. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012 20

21. Demographics: Other
Does your organization have U.S.- Is your organization a single-unit organization or a multi-
based operations (business units) unit organization?
only, or does it operate Single-unit organization: An organization in
multinationally? which the location and the organization are 39%
U.S.-based operations only 77% one and the same.
Multi-unit organization: An organization that
Multinational operations 23% 61%
has more than one location.
n = 447 n = 447
For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices
determined by the multi-unit headquarters, by each work
What is the HR department/function for location or by both?
which you responded throughout this
survey? Multi-unit headquarters determines HR
62%
Corporate (company-wide) 75% policies and practices
Each work location determines HR policies
Business unit/division 13% 5%
and practices
Facility/location 12% A combination of both the work location
and the multi-unit headquarters determines 34%
n = 286 HR policies and practices
Note: n = 286. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012 21

22. SHRM Survey Findings: State of Employee Benefits in
the Workplace—Communicating Benefits
Survey Methodology
• Response rate = 12%
• 447 HR professional respondents from a randomly selected sample of SHRM’s
membership participated in this survey
• Margin of error +/- 4%
• Survey fielded March 1-April 6, 2012
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012 22

23. 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:
Shawn Fegley, SPHR, survey research analyst, SHRM Research
Christina Lee, intern, SHRM Research
Project contributors:
Mark Schmit, Ph.D., SPHR, vice president, SHRM Research
Evren Esen, manager, Survey Research Center, SHRM Research
Copy editor:
Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center
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State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Communicating Benefits ©SHRM 2012