During Tough Times, Companies Can't Afford to Be Penny Wise, Talent Foolish
New Survey Reveals That Salary & Bonus Plans Are Frequent Casualties of Economic Challenges
| Source: Workscape
MARLBOROUGH, MA--(Marketwire - May 5, 2009) - According to the latest research conducted
by Workscape, Inc., a leading
provider of outsourced benefits
and talent management
solutions, and the Human Capital Institute (HCI), a professional
association and think-tank advancing the science of strategic talent
management, when it comes to tightening the belt, all options are on the
table for most companies.
From cessation or reduction of salary increases to hiring freezes and
layoffs, companies are hitting their employees where it hurts the most --
in the wallet. The research issued by Workscape and HCI shows that of the
300+ respondents, 60% of companies have stopped providing salary increases
altogether or have reduced the amount of the salary increases being given.
In addition, 40% have laid off low performing workers and 37% have stopped
providing bonuses or have reduced bonus amounts.
During their research, HCI and Workscape also found that 48% of companies
were planning for zero merit increases in 2009. While these actions may be
necessary during this turbulent economy, making the wrong decisions on
layoffs and compensation cutbacks can put a company at a serious
competitive disadvantage, according to Workscape.
"Companies need to ensure that top performers and high-potentials aren't
lost during workforce and compensation reduction efforts. Organizations
also need to recognize the value of the employees who remain behind and
ensure that they continue to be motivated and appropriately recognized for
their accomplishments," commented Tony Marzulli, Workscape's Chief
Marketing Officer. "When faced with a reduction or elimination in the
'traditional' means of rewarding and retaining employees, employers need to
get creative."
To this end, the ability to present employees with "total rewards" or
"total compensation" statements -- online or printed statements which
define the total value of an employee's compensation, including all
benefits paid by the employer as well as salary and bonuses -- is becoming
an increasingly popular practice in an effort to aid retention and foster
employee engagement, even in a depressed market. Total rewards statements
-- especially those that give employees the ability to view benefits and
compensation under a single domain online and on-demand -- can be valuable
engagement tools because employees gain a greater appreciation of their
complete compensation package.
Marzulli added, "The economy will rebound eventually and when that happens,
the companies that will not only survive but thrive will be those that
commit to offering the tools and solutions that provide a clearer vision of
how the company and its employees can succeed together in any economy."
Workscape helps organizations to reduce costs and improve employee
engagement by providing comprehensive talent management and outsourced
benefits administration solutions, including a wide range of Web-based,
self-service applications, as well as robust decision support tools,
powerful reporting and analytics, and access to world-class employee
communications and ongoing support services. More information about
Workscape's business-critical HR solutions is available at
www.workscape.com.
About Workscape
Workscape is a leading provider of business-critical HR solutions that
enable hundreds of organizations to manage their two largest workforce
expenditures: employee benefits and performance-driven compensation.
Workscape's offerings share a common technology platform, can be readily
integrated with existing IT investments, serve millions of employees and
are scalable and configurable to meet the distinct requirements of
organizations ranging from 1,000 to over 500,000 employees. One client uses
the company's award-winning multi-lingual compensation solution to
compensate hundreds of thousands of employees across 70 countries.
Workscape's outsourced benefits administration offerings are backed by
U.S.-based 24/7 support for managers and employees on policies and
processes. For more information about Workscape, visit www.workscape.com or
call
888-605-9620.