Retirement and health insurance rank tops among reasons employees stay with their employers, a probably not surprising finding that once again underscores the value of those programs to federal employees, who have both while many private sector employees have only one or neither, as well as a major reason why turnover among federal employees is relatively low when compared with other sectors.
The TowersWatson consulting firm’s study examined the difference between what attracts employees initially and what keeps them loyal to an employer, finding that while retirement is a recruiting attraction to 29 percent, it is a retention attraction to 45 percent. Similarly, while health care is an attraction to 33 percent in recruiting, it’s a retention attraction to 47 percent.
That’s actually down slightly from the peak of 2011, when both forms of benefits scored even higher among both prospective and current employees.
Within retirement benefits, defined benefit programs such as the CSRS and FERS basic benefit—an increasingly rare type of benefit outside the government—scored especially highly.
Said the report, “Effective retirement plans are clearly related to employees’ emotional connection to their employer. In fact, 60 percent of employees who plan to work for their company until they retire also identify their retirement program as a very important reason for staying.”
“In this uncertain environment, employees want more financial security in return for their greater efforts —a trend that solidified during the financial crisis in 2008/2009 and has remained strong ever since. And more secure rewards appeal to employees of all ages, although the appeal is strongest for midcareer and older workers,” it said.
