This week, Data Point Research (DPR), the research organization that I have partnered with for over 20 years, will send out the first invitations to Iowa employers to participate in this years’ Iowa Employer Benefits Study©. I’m looking forward to learning what this year’s findings will reveal to us – especially after taking a one-year sabbatical in 2017.
This study has become a two-decade ‘project’ for DPR and myself. In 1999, the first year of this study, I contacted Andrew Williams, president of DPR, to learn how we could conduct a randomized survey that would provide the necessary methodologies to reflect results of the entire employer community in Iowa. Taking this approach, we felt, was the safest and most efficient method to survey enough Iowa employers WITHOUT having to survey them all. DPR has proven to be a trusted partner to extract the benefits information. And, from this work, Iowa employers have come to depend on our annual results to benchmark their benefits with other similar employers.
Benchmarking our survey results continues to serve as a top tool used by leadership in Iowa organizations. It supports informed decision-making when identifying cost-effective employee benefits. Benchmarking helps:
- Human Resource and finance leaders make benefit choices with confidence, and track progress over time based on using empirical evidence, rather than ‘gut feel’ or opinion.
- Provide clear evidence of opportunities for employers to improve on cost-effective employee benefits, given the size and industry in which employers operate.
- Place employers ahead of the pack on trends that develop in the Iowa marketplace.
The industries we track for employers are varied. Depending on the number of survey responses, the industries may include:
- Overall – All industries combined
- Finance, Insurance and Real Estate
- Government and Public Education
- Healthcare and Social Services
- Manufacturing
- Retail
- Other Services
- For-Profit only
- Not-For-Profit
- Government Only – Bargained
- Non-Public – Bargained
- Public Schools – Bargained
- Trucking
We also distinguish results by employer-size (based on number of employees), because, after all, size does matter a great deal when it comes to breadth and scope of employee benefits.
The Iowa Study has been particularly relevant to Sue Bennett, compensation and benefits manager at Kirkwood Community College. Sue recently commented:
The Iowa Employer Benefits Study© has been extremely valuable over the years in reviewing the competitiveness of our employee benefits package. Other benefits studies provide data on a nationwide basis, but having data specific to Iowa is more useful. The most beneficial aspect of the survey is the ability to extract data based on industry type and size.
I have always believed in the importance of having empirical evidence to share with benefits consultants and their employer clients. Most recently, I received another ‘testimonial’ from John Monaghan, partner at PDCM Insurance, a Waterloo benefits consulting organization. Over the past decade, John has loyally applied our study results with his clients by using our benchmarking data to successfully guide them through the benefits decision-making strategies he employs.
If you are a benefits consultant or Human Resource professional, the Iowa Employer Benefits Study© should be considered one of Iowa’s best natural resources. For over 10 years, my clients have used the data in the study to develop benefit programs without guesswork. So often, benefit decisions that cost millions of dollars are made with a gut feel. This study provides the data to take the guesswork out and make sure every invested dollar counts. It provides the information to build a True benefits strategy.
John finished his comments with this:
My clients have made the adjustments to better attract and retain employees through the data provided by this study.
I am truly humbled by Sue and John’s comments. To me, ‘natural resources’ are items that people can use which come from the natural environment, such as oil, natural gas, other minerals, soil, forests and timber, etc.
When people, who are unfamiliar with my work, ask what I “do for a living,” I will sometimes jokingly tell them that I am both an “archaeologist and inventor.” They will then quizzically look at me and ask, “How so?” My response is simply, “I’m similar to an archaeologist because I dig for items that are not readily available for the public to find, and I’m like an inventor, because once this treasure has been found and exposed, I convert it into something usable for others.”
A natural resource for Iowa? I’m unsure about that, but my gloves are now back on my hands and I have begun the digging process to unearth the next treasures buried below the surface. Stay tuned as to what we may find!
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