As has been reported, companies around the U.S. are stepping up efforts to retain their talent as a tight labor market increases employees’ job opportunities elsewhere.
Last summer, more Americans quit their jobs than at any point since the federal government started tracking that metric in December 2000, and employee turnover remains near historic highs, The Wall Street Journal reports.
For employees, “there is relatively little value associated with tenure at companies,” says Brian Kropp, vice president at Gartner, a research firm. Workers who switch jobs typically see about a 15% boost in compensation, he estimates, compared with the 2% to 3% raise they might get from an internal promotion.
Yet some companies are trying to keep hold of employees with incentives besides wage increases, including clearer paths to promotion, more flexible work arrangements and benefits aimed at improving work-life balance.
For example, at law firm Nixon Peabody LLP, parents returning to work after having or adopting a baby get a six-month period during which they can bill 80% of their normal hours but make 100% of their salary.
The firm rolled out the program in 2017 after experimenting with ways to let lawyers work reduced hours but remain on the partner track, says Andrew I. Glincher, its chief executive and managing partner. Though the program has been a significant financial investment, it’s worth it, he says.
Other companies are boosting family-related benefits. Though the average employee at Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., or MassMutual, has been with the company more than 10 years, the insurer is taking additional steps to attract and retain people as it expands in Boston, a competitive labor market.
Last year, it removed a set dollar amount on its fertility benefits and doubled its parental leave to eight weeks, fully paid, for all new parents—on top of 10 weeks off for new mothers. Its bereavement leave—now 15 instead of three to five days—has also been extended from just deaths in the family to those defined as “loved ones.” Read the full story.
