ROSELAND, N.J., Dec. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A new ADP®
survey shows a wide gap between the goals and reality of how
employees understand their benefit plans. Eighty percent of HR
decision makers believe it's important for employees to fully
understand their benefit options, yet they estimate only about 60%
of their own employees do – a finding with serious implications for
how companies communicate one of the most important parts of their
employees' total compensation.
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"With many employees asked to take on greater responsibility for
managing their own benefits, there is room for improvement by HR
departments to engage employees in the decision-making process,"
said Tim Clifford, President of
Benefits Services at ADP, Inc., a leading provider of human
resources management, payroll and benefits administration services.
"With the power of web-based and mobile technologies and decision
support tools, we have new, innovative and cost-effective ways of
educating employees and helping them make critical choices anytime
and anywhere."
The ADP HR/Benefits Pulse Survey on Employee Benefit Tools was
conducted by the ADP Research Institute, a specialized group within
ADP which provides insights for leaders in both the private and
public sectors around issues of human capital management,
employment trends and workforce strategy. The online survey
engaged 501 HR decision-makers from midsized-to-large companies,
ranging from 50 to over 1,000 employees. Survey respondents were
evenly split with 251 midsized companies (50-999 employees) and 250
large companies (1,000+ employees) participating. Following
are the top findings:
Employee Benefits Communications: Budgets Are Being
Squeezed
- A surprising number of large employers and the majority of
midsized firms do not have an employee communications budget
related to their benefit plans.
- 66 percent of midsized employers have no employee
communications budget
- 36 percent of large employers have no employee communications
budget
It is unlikely this will change in the near future as HR
decision-makers at about half of companies say their budget has
remained the same in the past year and only a minority expect it to
increase in the next one or two years.
- Of companies with a budget, HR decision-makers in about half of
large and midsized companies say their budgets have remained the
same in the last year.
- 53 percent of midsized employers' budgets remained the
same
- 47 percent of large employers' budgets remained the same
- Looking ahead, more than half of HR decision-makers in both
large (57 percent) and midsized companies (63 percent) say they are
likely to maintain their employee communications budget in the next
one or two years and only one in five (21 percent) of both groups
plan to increase their budget.
Decision Support Tools: Tools Increase Employee Understanding
Of Benefits
- The majority of HR respondents surveyed believe that decision
support tools increase employee understanding of benefits and their
overall engagement, yet the majority of large and midsized
companies don't provide them.
- 72 percent of midsized employers don't provide
- 51 percent of large employers don't provide
- Decision support tools, typically software applications
accessed through a company portal, give employees the ability to
compare healthcare plans to determine which plans best meet their
needs.
- Approximately half of large (53 percent) and midsized companies
(50 percent) offer these tools the entire year and about
one-quarter of large companies (23 percent) and one-third (33
percent) of midsized companies only provide them during open
enrollment and qualified events.
- Among the companies that provide decision support tools, the
most common tools reported are a flexible spending account (FSA)
calculator, a plan comparison chart, a medical cost calculator, and
wellness incentive modeling.
- One out of five large companies that do not provide decision
support tools plan to in the next couple of years, but almost half
(49 percent) will not and about a third (31 percent) are unsure.
Very few (only 13 percent) of midsized companies that do not
currently provide decision support tools plan to do so in the next
year or two, 38 percent will not, and almost half (49 percent) are
unsure of what they will do.
Mobile Applications: New Tools Becoming Common in the
Workplace
- Mobile access to benefits information is deemed important by
approximately six out of 10 HR decision-makers, regardless of
company size, yet fewer than half of companies provide mobile
access now (46 percent of large companies and 39 percent of
midsized companies).
- Among the top five mobile application features HR/benefits
decision-makers are most interested in are: healthcare provider
information, benefits alerts, and single sign-on.
- HR/benefits decision-makers estimate that, on average, about
two out of five employees use mobile technology in their regular
workday activities and half of respondents believe that this will
increase over the next two years.
- Employees using mobile technology in regular workday activities
today:
- 38 percent of employees in large companies
- 42 percent of employees in midsized firms
- Employers who expect that employee usage of mobile technology
will increase in the workplace over the next two years:
- 52 percent of large companies
- 47 percent of midsized firms
Web-based Portals: Portals Are Ubiquitous in the
Workplace
- Nearly nine out of 10 large companies (86 percent) and seven of
10 midsized companies (71 percent) have a web-based portal which
hosts employee benefits information.
- The vast majority (86 percent) of both large and midsized
employers with a web-based portal think it is important for
employees to have 24/7 access to benefits information, yet only 72
percent of large employers and 66 percent of midsized employers
provide this access.
- Four out of 10 large companies and 38 percent of midsized
businesses that offer web-based portal access to employees have a
single web-based portal that provides access to multiple types of
information versus multiple portals for each primary task (HR, PR,
and benefits). Employees of companies that offer a single portal
have access to a wide variety of information – including benefits,
pay stubs, time and attendance, tax withholding and more.
- Approximately two-thirds of large and midsized companies with a
single web-based portal (66 percent and 60 percent, respectively)
allow employees to modify personal information, most commonly
annual benefits enrollment and address and tax withholding
information.
- By allowing employees to modify their own data, the majority of
HR decision-makers see three benefits: they are able to maintain
more accurate information, fewer calls to the HR/Benefits
department are reported, and most think their portal has reduced
administrative burden.
- Among companies that provide web-based portal access to
benefits information, approximately half (57 percent of large
employers and 44 percent of midsized employers) use a third- party
hosting vendor.
About the ADP HR/Benefits Pulse Surveys: The ADP
HR/Benefits Pulse Surveys are quarterly surveys executed by the ADP
Research Institute on key topics that are top-of-mind among HR and
benefits professionals. Conducted from July 6th through 18th, the Employee Benefits Tool
survey asked 501 HR decision-makers to respond to a 10-minute
online questionnaire. ADP was not identified as the study
sponsor. The study universe was a statistically projectable
random sample of all U.S. enterprises with 50-999 (251 interviews)
and 1,000 or more (250 interviews) total U.S. employees. Federal,
state, and local government and public education were excluded from
the study universe.
The survey respondents were policy change decision-makers or
purchase decision-makers for systems/services in HR and
benefits. Titles/functions included:
- 32 percent HR/Benefits/Compensation (Department Head/Sr.
Director/Director/Sr. Manager/Manager)
- 24 percent Finance/Accounting (Controller, CFO, Department
Head/Sr. Director/Director)
- 10 percent Administration (Department Head/Sr.
Director/Director)
- 8 percent Executive C-Suite (Department Heads/Sr.
Director/Director, Sr. VP/VP)
For more information on the ADP HR/Benefits Pulse Survey on
Employee Benefit Tools, please go to www.adp.com/pulsesurvey1111.
To listen to a pre-recorded complimentary webinar on these
findings, please register at
http://www.hr.com/stories/1319204936640.
About the ADP Research Institute
The ADP Research Institute is a specialized group within
ADP which provides insights for leaders in both the private and
public sectors around issues of human capital management,
employment trends and workforce strategy.
About ADP
Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADP), with about
$10 billion in revenues and
approximately 570,000 clients, is one of the world's largest
providers of business outsourcing solutions. Leveraging over 60
years of experience, ADP offers a wide range of human resource,
payroll services, tax and benefits administration solutions from a
single source. ADP's easy-to-use solutions for employers provide
superior value to companies of all types and sizes. ADP is also a
leading provider of integrated computing solutions to auto, truck,
motorcycle, marine, recreational vehicle, and heavy equipment
dealers throughout the world. For more information about ADP or to
contact a local ADP sales office, reach us at 1.800.225.5237 or
visit the company's Web site at www.ADP.com.
Media Contact:
Bob Nersesian
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
ADP, Inc.
Office: 973-974-7820
robert.nersesian@adp.com
Related Links:
Automatic Data Processing,
Inc.
ADP HR/Benefits Pulse Survey
SOURCE Automatic Data Processing, Inc.