June 11, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - KnowledgePlanet
and Buck Consultants, Inc. are joining hands to together
deliver training and human resources consulting to global
clients, the companies announced.
Through the use of KnowledgePlanet’s integrated software
modules, companies are able to closely align their training
initiatives to specific business objectives.
KnowledgePlanet products help develop, manage and deliver
training to the right people in response to defined
business needs.
For many clients, this includes programs designed to
accelerate training of the sales force on new products,
link individual performance to organizational goals, or
track participation by employees in mandated continuing
education programs.
Buck Consultants is a subsidiary of Mellon Financial
Corporation. KnowledgePlanet provides HR consulting from
its Reston, Virginia headquarters and offices around the US
and in Europe and Africa.
The results were, as expected, diverse. However, the
clear “winner” was health plans, cited by nearly
22%
of our respondents. Company matches and/or 401(k) programs
managed a second place finish, with nearly
20%
. Roughly
7%
noted pre-tax dependent care accounts, while a comparable
number said that flex-time/flex work arrangements made the
most impact. Vacation policies, casual dress and pension
plans garnered
5%
each, while the remaining votes were spread between tuition
reimbursements, financial planning assistance, retiree
medical, paid parking, domestic partner benefits, stock
purchase plans and free Internet access. One inspired
reader simply responded : “my job!”.
“The most popular benefit we
offer is Medical, Dental and Prescription Benefits. The
employee premium is $1.00-yes, I know $1.00…I feel like
Terry Bradshaw, ‘see what a buck can buy’. Not only is the
employee contribution almost nill-but it is an excellent
PPO Plan! A close second is our 401(k), we match up to 6%
of the employees deferrals, $0.50 cash and $0.50 company
stock.
And also I have to mention
the last one, although it is considered part of the
Compensation Plan-it really is an excellent benefit. Two
words-STOCK OPTIONS! We proudly offer options to all
positions in the company, on a very fair scale. It is a
great perk!”
—-
“We have over 91%
participation rate in our 401(k) plan (have over 200
employees). We have a safe harbor plan, but even prior to
this we were able to effectively express that there is
“free” money available to our employees, as long as they
participate. We have monthly meetings with all of our
employees and we constantly stress the 401(k) plan in these
meetings.”
—-
“Being a computer software
developer the best benefit we offer is working at home.
That way the programmers can stay in their pajamas, play
Doom, and program when the mood strikes, which may be
during normal business hours, or in some cases, may be at
midnight.”:
—-
“Our most popular benefit?
that we’re hiring in an economy that’s laying off (average
base salary is $55,000)…we don’t lay off very often and
that generally manifests as retrenching and people can’t
seem to get fired. We hire them and then we keep them
around for ever and can’t get rid of them because
of……the pension plan”
—-
And this week’s
Editor’s Choice
:
“We offer the usual expected
benefits (i.e. Vacations, Medical/dental plans, life/LTD,
etc.) but our most popular benefit would have to be
“Christmas Turkeys”. Our company founder and CEO started
this practice 20 years ago and it has become an annual
tradition. Some years we have made great sport of giving
out turkeys by holding a “turkey shoot” (an electronic
shooting game), basketball shoots (make three baskets),
etc. Everyone wins anyway, but it’s the idea of getting
employees to have a little fun. Other years we have had the
executives dress up as Santa’s Elves and hand out the
turkeys.
Christmas Parties have come
and gone, as well as company picnics that have fallen
victim to budget cuts, but not Christmas Turkeys. We tried
to cut out turkeys one year as a budget reduction, but the
squabbling (from employees not the turkeys) was so bad that
management backed off. It has now become a barometer of the
company’s stability. When the company passes out turkeys at
Christmas, it means that we’re doing ok and it’s time to go
out and buy more stock. Seriously.”