Competitiveness of Benefits

Topic 1: Chapter 13: “Case Analysis – Competitiveness of Benefits”
Regional Hospital, a 400-bed community hospital, was struggling with recruitment and retention issues. These issues were occurring in spite of area labor statistics that indicated that there was a sufficient supply of skilled healthcare workers to meet their needs.
Regional’s HR director undertook a comprehensive analysis of the recruitment and retention issues with the support of the board and senior management of the hospital. The HR director utilized information from a recent employee satisfaction survey and exit interviews. From those sources she learned the following:
Current employees believed that Regional’s benefit program was not competitive in comparison to other hospitals and companies in the area.
For the employees who voluntarily re-signed from Regional in the last 12 months, benefit issues were critical. They reported receiving employment offers that included: lower healthcare insurance premiums, employer-paid dental insurance, higher accruals on paid time off, and sign-on bonuses.
Regional’s healthcare competitors were aware of Regional’s less-competitive benefits package and would aggressively recruit Regional employees, noting the differences when interviewing Regional employees.
Questions
1. Given the findings from the HR director, what additional benefits plans should be considered by Regional Hospital?
2. What would be the advantages and disadvantages to increasing the competitiveness of the benefits plan at Regional Hospital?