SHRM’s 2014 Strategic Benefits Survey collected data on how organizations leverage benefits to retain employees, including employees at all levels of the organization, highly skilled employees and high-performing employees. This research found that about one-quarter (24%-26%) of respondents indicated their organization leveraged their benefits program to retain employees at all levels of the organization, highly skilled employees and high-performing employees in the past 12 months. Health care was the benefit most frequently cited as being leveraged to retain employees at all levels of the organization (74%), high-performing employees (60%) and highly skilled employees (70%). Retirement savings and planning were also frequently cited as being leveraged to retain employees at all levels of the organization (62%) and high-performing employees (54%), whereas more respondents indicated their organization leveraged leave benefits and flexible working benefits (both 53%) to retain highly skilled employees.

1. March 17, 2015
SHRM Survey Findings: 2014 Strategic Benefits—
Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees

2. 2
Introduction
The 2014 Strategic Benefits Survey, administered annually since 2012 by the Society for
Human Resource Management (SHRM), is used to determine whether various employee
benefits are leveraged to recruit and retain top talent. This research study, split into a six-
part series, features the following topics:
 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
Definitions
For the purpose of this survey, a high-performing employee was defined as any
employee ranked among the top 10% in an organization’s last performance review; a
highly skilled employee was defined as any employee with skills that are critical to the
short- and long-term success of his or her operating unit or organization.
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015
Introduction and Definitions

3. Employees at All Levels of the Organization
• Leveraging benefits to retain employees at all levels of the organization: One-
quarter (25%) of respondents indicated their organization leveraged their benefits
program to retain employees at all levels of the organization in the past 12 months.
• Benefits leveraged to retain employees at all levels of the organization: More
than one-half of respondents reported their organization leveraged health care (74%),
retirement savings and planning (62%), and leave benefits (51%) to retain employees
at all levels of the organization.
• Change in importance of benefits to retain employees at all levels of the
organization in the next three to five years: More than one-half of respondents
indicated they thought retirement savings and planning (67%), health care (58%),
preventive health and wellness (57%), flexible working benefits (54%), and
professional and career development benefits (51%) would increase in importance in
their organization’s efforts to retain employees at all levels of the organization in the
next three to five years.
3
Key Findings
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015

4. High-Performing Employees
• Leveraging benefits to retain high-performing employees: About one-quarter
(24%) of respondents indicated their organization leveraged their benefits program to
retain high-performing employees in the past 12 months.
• Benefits leveraged to retain high-performing employees: Three-fifths (60%) of
respondents said their organization leveraged health care to retain high-performing
employees; about one-half indicated their organization leveraged retirement savings
and planning (54%), professional and career development benefits (52%), and leave
benefits (49%).
• Change in importance of benefits to retain high-performing employees in the
next three to five years: About three-fifths of respondents believed retirement
savings and planning (62%), professional and career development benefits (62%), and
flexible working benefits (59%) would increase in importance in their organization’s
efforts to retain high-performing employees in their organization in the next three to
five years.
4
Key Findings (Continued)
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015

5. Highly Skilled Employees
• Leveraging benefits to retain highly skilled employees: About one-quarter (26%)
of respondents indicated their organization leveraged their benefits program to retain
highly skilled employees in the past 12 months.
• Benefits leveraged to retain highly skilled employees: More than two-thirds (70%)
of respondents reported their organization leveraged health care to retain highly skilled
employees; about one-half indicated their organization leveraged leave benefits (53%)
and flexible working benefits (53%).
• Change in importance of benefits to retain highly skilled employees in the next
three to five years: One-half or more of respondents said they thought flexible
working benefits (62%), health care (59%), retirement savings and planning (59%),
professional and career development benefits (58%), and preventive health and
wellness (50%) would increase in importance in their organization’s efforts to retain
highly skilled employees in the next three to five years.
5
Key Findings (Continued)
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015

6. 6
What Do These Findings Mean for the HR Profession?
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2015
• Organizations appear to focus on their benefits offerings as a way to retain employees approximately
as much as they do as a way to recruit them. Although organizations use benefits in their efforts to
both recruit and retain their employees, a competitive market for highly skilled talent may make some
organizations focus more on using their benefits packages as a retention tool, especially for their most
valued employees.
• Organizations may be focusing more on compensation than on benefits when it comes to the highly
skilled and high-performing employees they want to retain. The slightly lower percentages of
organizations reporting that they are using health care to retain their high-performing employees
compared with employees overall may be due to more emphasis being placed on compensation in the
form of wages/salaries/bonuses for this group. Recent SHRM Employee Job Satisfaction and
Engagement Surveys have found that compensation was the most important job satisfaction factor for
employees. Wages overall have been at a standstill for several years, but as market conditions
improve, employers may be more likely to consider raising salaries for employees they most want to
retain than to change their benefits packages.
• However, even if retention efforts focus more on offering raises to highly skilled and high-performing
employees, the range and complexity of benefits could also expand for hard-to-recruit job families.
Whereas this is most likely to occur during the recruiting phase, those employees in the most difficult-
to-fill roles may increasingly be in a better position to renegotiate their benefits packages to include
things like flexible work arrangements, more vacation time or even some concierge-style benefits.

7. 7
What Do These Findings Mean for the HR Profession?
(Continued)
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees ©SHRM 2015
• An emphasis on flexibility for high-skilled jobs is likely to continue. HR professionals appear to
associate the need for flexibility with employees in high-skilled jobs. Thus, organizations are likely to
continue to build on their efforts to help employees in these roles find flexible ways of working.
Meanwhile, these flexible work opportunities and benefits may not always apply across the workforce,
in general.
• Employers are likely to continue to concentrate on providing the standard benefits they think are
important to retaining employees across all levels. To keep employee job satisfaction overall from
dropping, most organizations will want to avoid reducing their benefits offerings. Providing benefits
such as health care, retirement savings and planning, professional and career development,
preventive health and wellness, and flexible working benefits will continue to be considered a critical
part of employee retention strategies.
• However, as competition for talent heats up, many organizations may seek out more innovative ways
of offering these traditional benefits to remain competitive and perhaps even adding new kinds of
benefits altogether. Although most employers focus their benefits offerings on the more traditional
kinds of benefits and are likely to continue to do so, the way these benefits are offered, such as
creating greater customization or ease of use and the level of contributions by employers for things
like retirement and health care benefits, may make some employers stand out more than others.

8. 2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015 8
Key Findings
Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees

9. 32%
26%
25%
2014 (n = 302)
2013 (n = 349)
2012 (n = 389)
9
What do these findings mean for the HR profession?
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015
Comparison of Difficulty Retaining and Leveraging of Benefits to Retain
Employees at All Levels of the Organization in the Past 12 Months
Note: Response options provided for both items were “yes/no/not sure.” Respondents who indicated they were “not sure” were
excluded from the analyses. Only “yes” responses are shown.
25%
18%
20%
2014 (n = 295)
2013 (n = 335)
2012 (n = 379)
Organizations That Leveraged Their Benefits
Program to Retain Employees at All Levels of the
Organization in the Past 12 Months
Organizations That Reported Difficulty
Retaining Employees at All Levels of the
Organization in the Past 12 Months

10. 10
What do these findings mean for the HR profession?
Benefits Positively Leveraged to Retain Employees at All Levels of the
Organization
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015
74%
62%
51%
45%
42%
42%
25%
14%
68%
57%
37%
40%
43%
27%
38%
15%
72%
58%
37%
39%
35%
30%
27%
20%
Health care
Retirement savings and planning
Leave benefits
Professional and career development
benefits
Flexible working benefits
Preventive health and wellness
Family-friendly benefits
Housing and relocation benefits
2014 (n = 73)
2013 (n = 60)
2012 (n = 74)
Note: Respondents whose organizations leveraged their benefits program to retain employees at all levels of the organization were asked this question.
Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

11. 9%
7%
33%
35%
55%
41%
57%
51%
57%
54%
61%
57%
67%
58%
67%
67%
64%
70%
67%
65%
45%
59%
43%
49%
39%
46%
37%
41%
33%
40%
33%
33%
27%
24%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
4%
0%
2%
1%
0%
1%
0%
0%
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
Increase in importance Remain the same Decrease in importance
11
What do these findings mean for the HR profession?
Change in Importance of Benefits in the Next Three to Five Years to Retain
Employees at All Levels of the Organization
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015
Note: 2014 n = 46-72; 2013 n = 44-58. Respondents whose organizations leveraged their benefits program to retain employees at all levels of the
organization were asked this question. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not total 100% due to
rounding.
Housing and relocation benefits
Leave benefits
Family-friendly benefits
Professional and career
development benefits
Flexible working benefits
Preventive health and wellness
Health care
Retirement savings and planning

12. 28%
26%
23%
2014 (n = 299)
2013 (n = 350)
2012 (n = 386)
122014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015
Note: Response options provided for both items were “yes/no/not sure.” Respondents who indicated they were “not sure” were
excluded from the analyses. Only “yes” responses are shown.
24%
19%
20%
2014 (n = 293)
2013 (n = 336)
2012 (n = 370)
Organizations That Leveraged Their Benefits
Program to Retain High-Performing Employees
in the Past 12 Months
Organizations That Reported Difficulty
Retaining High-Performing Employees
in the Past 12 Months
Comparison of Difficulty Retaining and Leveraging of Benefits to Retain High-
Performing Employees in the Past 12 Months

13. 13
What do these findings mean for the HR profession?Benefits Positively Leveraged to Retain High-Performing Employees
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015
Note: Respondents whose organizations leveraged their benefits program to retain high-performing employees were asked this
question. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
60%
54%
52%
49%
40%
31%
22%
13%
63%
63%
49%
38%
57%
27%
37%
22%
58%
47%
55%
29%
48%
26%
27%
21%
Health care
Retirement savings and planning
Professional and career development
benefits
Leave benefits
Flexible working benefits
Preventive health and wellness
Family-friendly benefits
Housing and relocation benefits
2014 (n = 67)
2013 (n = 63)
2012 (n = 73)

14. 13%
19%
42%
42%
58%
47%
52%
48%
61%
51%
64%
59%
61%
62%
72%
62%
67%
60%
56%
57%
40%
53%
45%
52%
38%
48%
32%
41%
38%
38%
28%
37%
20%
21%
2%
2%
2%
0%
3%
0%
2%
1%
3%
0%
2%
0%
0%
2%
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
Increase in importance Remain the same Decrease in importance
14
What do these findings mean for the HR profession?
Change in Importance of Benefits in the Next Three to Five Years to Retain
High-Performing Employees
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015
Note: 2014 n = 47-67; 2013 n = 45-61. Respondents whose organizations leveraged their benefits program to retain high-performing employees were asked
this question. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.
Housing and relocation benefits
Family-friendly benefits
Health care
Flexible working benefits
Leave benefits
Professional and career
development benefits
Retirement savings and planning
Preventive health and
wellness

15. 35%
28%
27%
2014 (n = 296)
2013 (n = 348)
2012 (n = 389)
152014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015
Note: Response options provided for both items were “yes/no/not sure.” Respondents who indicated they were “not sure” were
excluded from the analyses. Only “yes” responses are shown.
26%
20%
19%
2014 (n = 294)
2013 (n = 335)
2012 (n = 371)
Organizations That Leveraged Their Benefits
Program to Retain Highly Skilled Employees in
the Past 12 Months
Organizations That Reported Difficulty
Retaining Highly Skilled Employees in
the Past 12 Months
Comparison of Difficulty Retaining and Leveraging of Benefits to Retain Highly
Skilled Employees in the Past 12 Months

16. 16
What do these findings mean for the HR profession?Benefits Positively Leveraged to Retain Highly Skilled Employees
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015
Note: Respondents whose organizations leveraged their benefits program to retain highly skilled employees were asked this question.
Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
70%
53%
53%
46%
41%
37%
27%
13%
63%
38%
55%
59%
55%
28%
41%
19%
69%
31%
44%
46%
54%
27%
35%
11%
Health care
Leave benefits
Flexible working benefits
Retirement savings and planning
Professional and career development
benefits
Preventive health and wellness
Family-friendly benefits
Housing and relocation benefits
2014 (n = 70)
2013 (n = 64)
2012 (n = 71)

17. Professional and career
development benefits
17
What do these findings mean for the HR profession?
Change in Importance of Benefits in the Next Three to Five Years to Retain
Highly Skilled Employees
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015
Note: 2014 n = 49-70; 2013 n = 45-61. Respondents whose organizations leveraged their benefits program to retain highly skilled employees were asked this
question. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.
Housing and relocation benefits
Flexible working benefits
Family-friendly benefits
Leave benefits
Retirement savings and planning
Preventive health and wellness
Health care
11%
16%
42%
35%
66%
44%
53%
50%
55%
58%
64%
59%
60%
59%
64%
62%
71%
57%
58%
63%
34%
53%
45%
50%
40%
41%
36%
40%
38%
41%
31%
35%
18%
27%
0%
1%
0%
3%
2%
0%
5%
2%
0%
1%
2%
0%
5%
3%
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
Increase in importance Remain the same Decrease in importance

18. 2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015 18
Key Findings
Demographics

19. 19
Note: n = 320. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.
Percentage
Manufacturing 27%
Professional, scientific and technical services 14%
Health care and social assistance 14%
Finance and insurance 12%
Government agencies 9%
Educational services 7%
Transportation and warehousing 5%
Construction 5%
Real estate and rental and leasing 5%
Retail trade 4%
Utilities 3%
Demographics: Organization Industry
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015

20. 20
Key FinDemographics: Organization Industry (continued)
Note: n = 320. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.
Percentage
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction 3%
Arts, entertainment and recreation 3%
Wholesale trade 3%
Repair and maintenance 3%
Accommodation and food services 2%
Administrative and support, and waste management and remediation services 2%
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 2%
Information 2%
Religious, grant-making, civic, professional and similar organizations 2%
Personal and laundry services 0%
Other industry 8%
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015

21. 21
Key FinDemographics: Organization Sector
53%
23%
13%
9%
2%
Privately owned for-profit
Nonprofit
Publicly owned for-profit
Government
Other
n = 317
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015

22. 22
Key FinDemographics: Organization Staff Size
n = 304
26%
39%
19%
12%
4%
1 to 99 employees
100 to 499 employees
500 to 2,499 employees
2,500 to 24,999 employees
25,000 or more employees
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015

23. 23
Key FinDemographics: Other
n = 319
U.S.-based operations only 75%
Multinational operations 25%
Does your organization have U.S.-
based operations (business units) only,
or does it operate multinationally?
n = 320
n = 207
n = 208
Single-unit organization: An organization in
which the location and the organization are
one and the same.
38%
Multi-unit organization: An organization that
has more than one location.
62%
Is your organization a single-unit organization or
a multi-unit 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.
58%
Each work location determines HR policies
and practices.
3%
A combination of both the work location and
the multi-unit headquarters determines HR
policies and practices.
39%
Corporate (companywide) 79%
Business unit/division 12%
Facility/location 9%
What is the HR department/function for
which you responded throughout this
survey?
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015

24. 24
SHRM Survey Findings:
Survey Methodology
• Response rate = 10%
• 380 HR professionals from a randomly selected sample of SHRM’s membership participated in this
survey
• Margin of error +/- 5%
• Survey fielded April-May 2014
Survey Methodology
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015

25. 25
For more survey/poll findings, visit shrm.org/surveys
For more information about SHRM’s Customized Research Services, visit
shrm.org/customizedresearch
Follow us on Twitter @SHRM_Research
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015
About SHRM Research
Project lead:
Karen Wessels, researcher, SHRM Research
Project contributors:
Evren Esen, director, SHRM-SCP, Survey Programs, SHRM Research
Alexander Alonso, Ph.D., SHRM-SCP, vice president, SHRM Research
Jennifer Schramm, manager, SHRM-SCP, Workforce Trends and Forecasting, SHRM Research

26. 26
Founded in 1948, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the
world’s largest HR membership organization devoted to human resource management.
Representing more than 275,000 members in over 160 countries, the Society is the
leading provider of resources to serve the needs of HR professionals and advance the
professional practice of human resource management. SHRM has more than 575
affiliated chapters within the United States and subsidiary offices in China, India and
United Arab Emirates. Visit us at shrm.org.
2014 Strategic Benefits Survey—Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees ©SHRM 2015
About SHRM