WorldatWork surveyed more than 2,700 organizations; members are employed in the HR, compensation, and benefits departments of mostly large North American companies.
| Programs Used to Attract and Retain Employees in the U.S. | ||||||||||
|
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 | ||||||
|
Sign-on/hiring bonus | 61% | 64% | 69% | 70% | 70% | |||||
|
Employee referral bonus | 63% | 63% | 65% | 66% | 69% | |||||
|
Market adjustments/ | 55% | 60% | 64% | 65% | 65% | |||||
|
Flexible work schedules | — | — | — | 62% | 63% | |||||
| -Flextime | — | — | — | — | 51% | |||||
|
-Compressed work week | — | — | — | — | 27% | |||||
|
-Telecommuting/ | — | — | — | 30% | 42% | |||||
|
-Job sharing | — | — | 12% | 14% | 13% | |||||
|
Spot bonus (individual) | 43% | 43% | 45% | 46% | 45% | |||||
|
Retention/stay bonus | 27% | 30% | 35% | 38% | 38% | |||||
|
Part-time employment with benefits | — | — | 28% | 32% | 37% | |||||
|
Paying above market | 25% | 28% | 30% | 29% | 31% | |||||
|
Stock option program | 27% | 25% | 24% | 23% | 22% | |||||
|
Stock grant programs | 7% | 10% | 16% | 21% | 20% | |||||
|
Project milestone/ | 16% | 17% | 18% | 21% | 18% | |||||
|
Special cash bonus/ | 17% | 19% | 20% | 20% | 19% | |||||
|
Separate salary structures | 13% | 12% | 13% | 15% | 15% | |||||
|
Exempt overtime pay or time off | 14% | 15% | 13% | 14% | 14% | |||||
|
Larger merit increase budgets | 7% | 9% | 10% | 11% | 9% | |||||
|
Phased retirement | — | — | 4% | 6% | 6% | |||||
|
Paid sabbaticals | 3% | 3% | 2% | 3% | 3% | |||||