Principal® Survey Reveals the Effects of Caregiving on Work and Employee Retention
New research finds employees value a variety of benefit options, especially those who identify as caregivers
Caregiving impacts on employee retention
Family caregivers make up approximately 20% of the
Caregivers across all categories are more likely to be concerned about feeling burnt out at work, their own mental health and well-being, and their caregiving responsibilities. Among those currently caring for a child, adult, or both, benefits such as life insurance and paid family and medical leave are the most valued.
“There are unique opportunities for employers to support those who are caregiving,” said
Employees value benefits in addition to healthcare and retirement
Employees place a high value on benefits beyond health insurance, paid time off, and retirement savings plans. Specifically, employees see life insurance (64%), paid family and medical leave (63%), and disability insurance (52%) as “extremely valuable”. Further, the survey finds that higher job retention is associated with more benefit options.
The survey also finds that 43% of employees reported receiving communication about benefit options from their employers only one time or less per year. Additionally, the research found that the frequency of communication about benefits influences employee understanding. The fewer times an employer reaches out to employees about benefits, the less likely employees are to know what benefits are available to them.
“It’s probably not surprising, but communication is essential to ensuring employees understand the benefits employers are offering,” said Friedrich. “For small-to-midsized businesses with no HR department, it can be challenging to effectively communicate these benefits. Being intentional about the ways you communicate, and how often, is an important step in your benefits program.”
Business owners seeing growth and expansion but identify rising concerns around inflation, the economy
While most businesses (69%) report the financial health of their business is growing, a Well-Being IndexSM post-pandemic high, employees and employers agree the stability of the
Even amid economic concerns, the outlook for hiring and retention has stayed positive. Businesses continue to expand staff (55%), employees are seeing wage increases (70%), and most employees are satisfied with their current employment (87%).
Business owners are optimistic about future growth yet continue to flag interest rates as a barrier. According to the report, 69% of business owners say they are likely to need more capital in the next 12 months and are increasingly looking to funding sources beyond a business checking or savings account. At the same time, most business owners (76%) report high interest rates as being a barrier to capital access, a 13-point increase over this time last year.
See all results and insights from the latest Principal Financial Well-Being IndexSM (PDF).
About the Principal Financial Well-Being IndexSM
The Principal Financial Well-Being IndexSM surveys business owners, decision makers and business leaders aged 21 and over who work at companies with 2-10,000 employees and offer either health insurance or retirement as an employee benefit. The nation-wide survey, commissioned since 2012, examines the financial well-being of American workers and business employers. In 2020, the Well-Being Index was transformed from an annual survey to a regular pulse, offering three waves, revisiting questions and measuring sentiment regarding timely issues in the small and midsized business marketplace. In the first pulse of the Well-Being Index in 2022, the employee audience was added to the survey to compare and contrast key sentiment from employers. The survey was commissioned by Principal® and conducted online by Dynata from
About
¹ As of
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³ Pensions & Investments, 2023
References:
¹ Lerner, D. (2022). Invisible Overtime: What employers need to know about caregivers. https://rosalynncarter.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Invisible-Overtime-White-Paper.pdf
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