Several years ago I heard that the average person devotes less than an hour a year on Financial Planning such as 401k review.   They contrasted this to the same person spends over 4 hours planning their yearly vacation. 

HR Magazine in the November 2009 edition had an article indicating one in three Americans say they have little or no understanding of their Employer-provided retirement savings plans, while three in four say they have less than a complete understanding, according to research from the Hartford Financial Services Group. 

When people were asked what would most help them understand their employer-provided benefits, 36 percent said providing simple materials and 22 percent said having access to one-on one support.  

As the economy improves there is likely to be a larger shift in workers accepting alternative offers.

Cost cutting actions made by US Employers in 2009 have contributed to a decline in the morale and commitment of workers, according to an annual study by Watson Wyatt and WorldatWork.  

The 2009/2010 US Strategic Rewards Survey found that employee engagement levels among all employers dropped 9 percent since 2008.

Engagement is how committed the workforce is to their current organization.  Lower engagement of workers can lead to a loss of productivity, quality, and customer service.    36% of top performers say their employers’ situation worsened over the past year.  Having your top performers not happy could be detrimental to an organizations future human capital retention.

The following is part of the study conducted by 1,300 workers.  These surveys were conducted in May 2009.

Disengagement:

Percentage of Top-Performing employees who say they:

41%  Believe that pay and benefit changes made by their employer in the past year have had a negative effect on work quality and customer service.

29% Are less confident in management’s ability to grow the business.

26% Are less likely to be satisfied with advancement opportunities at their company.

14% Are less likely to want to remain with their companies vs. take a job elsewhere.

Source:  Watson Wyatt and Worldatwork’s 2009/2010 US Strategic Rewards Survey, HR Magazine November 2009.

HR Managers and executives should review these numbers and ask how it may effect their overall position and whether actions taken due to the economy may contribute to dis-engagement of their workforce.   As the economy gathers steam there will be ample opportunities to re-engage their workforce.  

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) has really caused a stir in the Benefits area of Human Resources.  HR Professionals have had to deal with COBRA which offers departing employees the ability to continue their current health insurance for many years.  COBRA was complicated enough.  Many companies sprang up to service COBRA and a whole industry was created to administer your COBRA plan to ensure you were in compliance.

Along comes ARRA and HR and Benefit providers alike are scrambling to ensure they are compliant with the new legislation.   For a involuntary discharge, ARRA will pick up 65% of the COBRA premiums which is a large savings to the Employee.  The Employer will then claim a tax credit for the amount of premium. 

The other feature of the act which has created a stir is that there is a retro active time period which ads to the scramble.   HR now must go back to Sept 1, 2008 and decide if the employees absence was “involuntary”

If you outsource your COBRA functions your provider will assist you in this effort.  If not it is likely your Health provider may have sample letters to adjust to make sure you are in compliance. 

I have a feeling ARRA will be a stimulus package for the COBRA outsourcing providers in the market place.