Employee benefits at AT&T?

Relationship of Employee Benefits to Retention

• Is there a rigorous study of the relationship between different employee benefits and employee retention? I've seen lots of "soft science" claiming that relationship, but no careful analysis covering a wide range of benefits including medical insurance, sick leave, vacation, personal days, retirement, etc. Thanks for pointing me to what you can find.

• Answer:

  Hello lnoton30, Thank you for your question. There are some studies conducted regarding different forms of benefits and how they affect employee retention. Here they are! ---------- Family Leave Policies-- "Family Responsive Policies and Employee Retention Following Childbirth" Jennifer L. Glass, Lisa Riley Social Forces, Vol. 76, No. 4 (Jun., 1998), pp. 1401-1435 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0037-7732(199806)76%3A4%3C1401%3AFRPAER%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0 "Results showed that several employer policies significantly decreased job attrition after controlling for the effects of wages, partner's income, and number of existing children-the most important being the length of leave available for childbirth and the ability to avoid mandatory overtime upon return." ------- Unionization: "Unionization, Compensation, and Voice Effects on Quits and Retention" John E. Delery, Nina Gupta, Jason D. Shaw, G. Douglas Jenkins, Jr. & Margot L. Ganster Industrial Relations Volume 39 Page 625 - October 2000 http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/0019-8676.00186/abs/ "Unionization was associated with lower quit rates, higher tenure, a better compensation package, and stronger voice mechanisms. The relationship of unionization to quit rates and tenure becomes nonsignificant after accounting for compensation (pay and benefits), and voice mechanisms do not add explanatory variance." ------- Ability to voice concerns-- "Employee Voice and Employee Retention" Daniel G. Spencer Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Sep., 1986), pp. 488-502 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0001-4273(198609)29%3A3%3C488%3AEVAER%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0 "This study investigates the relationship between the extent to which employees have opportunities to voice dissatisfaction and voluntary turnover in 111 short-term, general care hospitals. Results show that, whether or not a union is present, high numbers of mechanisms for employee voice are associated with high retention rates. Implications for theory and research as well as management practice are discussed." ------ Flexibility in work schedule-- " Family-Responsive Variables and Retention-Relevant Outcomes Among Employed Parents" Journal: Human Relations http://www.springerlink.com/content/n686151638801443/ "Results of regression analysis revealed that satisfaction with work schedule flexibility and supervisor work family support were related to both retention-relevant outcomes. Contrary to our prediction, gender did not moderate the influence of any of the family-responsive variables on the retention-relevant outcomes." --------- Social atmosphere and culture "Employee Investment and Commitment: The Ties That Bind" Barbara S. Romzek Public Administration Review, Vol. 50, No. 3 (May - Jun., 1990), pp. 374-382 http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0033-3352(199005%2F06)50%3A3%3C374%3AEIACTT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-T "This study investigates the relationship between the extent to which employees have opportunities to voice dissatisfaction and voluntary turnover in 111 short-term, general care hospitals. Results show that, whether or not a union is present, high numbers of mechanisms for employee voice are associated with high retention rates. Implications for theory and research as well as management practice are discussed." ---------- Family Responsiveness "The Family Responsive Workplace" Journal article by Sarah Beth Estes, Jennifer L. Glass; Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 23, 1997 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&se=gglsc&d=5000502794&er=deny ---------- Lactaton Programs-- "Duration of breast milk expression among working mothers enrolled in an employer-sponsored lactation" J Ortiz, K McGilligan, P Kelly - Pediatr Nurs, 2004 - breastfeedingworks.org http://www.breastfeedingworks.org/duration-breastmilk-expression.pdf ---------- Family friendly workplace-- Title: The ?family friendly? workplace: Origins, meaning and application at Australian workplaces Author(s): Glenda Strachan, John Burgess Journal: International Journal of Manpower ----------- Promotions "Are female managers quitters? The relationships of gender, promotions, and family leaves of absence to Voluntary Turnover" KS Lyness, MK Judiesch - Journal of Applied Psychology, 2001 - apa.org http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/apl8661167.pdf http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do?contentType=Article&hdAction=lnkhtml&contentId=848205 ---------- Case study on general work-family programs "The Business Case for Work-Family Programs" Journal article by Arlene A. Johnson; Journal of Accountancy, Vol. 180, 1995 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&se=gglsc&d=5001649694&er=deny --------- Maternity leaves-- "Work and Pregnancy: Individual and Organizational Factors Influencing Organizational Commitment, Timing of Maternity Leave, and Return to Work" Journal: Sex Roles Karen S. Lyness, Cynthia A. Thompson, Anne Marie Francesco and Michael K. Judiesch http://www.springerlink.com/content/kr7820103484x687/ "Women whoseorganizations offered guaranteed jobs after childbirthplanned to work later into their pregnancies and toreturn to work sooner after childbirth. Women whoperceived supportive work-family cultures were morecommitted to their organizations and planned to returnmore quickly after childbirth than women who perceived less supportive cultures." -------- 401k plans "How Much Choice is Too Much? Contributions to 401 (k) Retirement Plans" SS Iyengar, W Jiang, G Huberman - Pension Design and Structure: New Lessons from Behavioral ?, 2004 - rider.wharton.upenn.edu http://rider.wharton.upenn.edu/~prc/PRC/WP/WP2003-10.pdf --------- Phased retirement "The Impact of a New Phased Retirement Option on Faculty Retirement Decisions" Linda S. Ghent Eastern Illinois University Steven G. Allen North Carolina State University Robert L. Clark North Carolina State University http://roa.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/23/6/671 ------- Benefits in General W Even, D MacPherson - Benefits for the Workplace of Tomorrow" 2001 prc.wharton.upenn.edu http://prc.wharton.upenn.edu/prc/PRC/WP/Even4-4-01.pdf Search terms: (on Google Scholar) employees benefits retention employee retention sick leave employee retention medical leave employee retention personal leave employee retention retirement If you need any additonal clarification, let me know and I'll be glad to assist you. --keystroke-ga