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Get Your Report Now!The survey was conducted among 1,400 chief financial officers. The survey asked respondents to identify the employee-retention strategies they will use as the economy improves. The most frequently cited strategies were:
- Promote top performers (50 Percent),
- Pay raises (48 percent)
- Increasing investment in professional development (41 percent)
- Enhancing benefits (32 percent)
- Reinstating or increasing bonuses (26 percent)
Significantly, 24 percent of respondents say they will take no steps to retain workers as the economy improves.
“Indispensable workers who helped businesses stay afloat during tough times will have new career options as conditions improve," said Max Messmer, chairman of the firm. "Employers need to make retention of top performers a high priority or risk losing these key players and, possibly, their competitive advantage. Let your top performers know they have a clear career path within the organization and re-evaluate compensation levels to make sure they're in line with what other firms in your industry are paying for similar positions."
Other surveys have found that many employers remain cautious about lifting pay freezes. A survey by WorldatWork, for example, found that while 54 percent of employers that froze salaries in 2009 planned on returning to normal pay practices in 2010, more than one third said they were in no position to unfreeze salaries in 2010. A survey conducted by BLR in June and July of 2009 found that more than 40 percent of employers said they planned on giving no merit increase at all in 2010.