PHWP: Good Company

I came across an article recently on organizations that are recognized by Principal Financial Group. These organizations are recognized for the types of benefits they offer to their employees. The article emphasized that the “best companies” are not seeking to cut benefits during the current recession. To this I say: Let’s hear more of that!

All too often, it seems benefits are something that organizations only put in place as a way to competitively attract employees. That makes great sense for them during times of economic prosperity. However, they then yank the benefits away when the financial going gets tough. The argument is that it is better to cut benefits than to downsize.

But…if more organizations actually paid attention to the cost and benefit of employee perks, perhaps they would not put themselves in the position of having to take benefits away. Strategic thinking, when it comes to offering benefits, is just as important as strategic thinking when it comes to corporate performance.

Without a strategy, these companies put themselves into the unenviable position of having to say “sorry” when they take their benefits back—almost as if they are correcting a mistake they made. Yet, most of us don’t miss what we never had. It would seem more practical to make the business case for a benefit before it is offered rather than to make the business case for taking the benefit away when the company needs to save money.