Feature Story

Beyond Basic Benefits

Utilities are adopting creative benefit strategies to attract and retain quality employees.

By Kassandra Kania

IN TODAY'S JOB MARKET, having a job is a relief. Having a job you love is a blessing. And having a job you love that has an excellent benefits package is cause for celebration.

With health insurance and other costs continually rising, many companies are looking for ways to cut benefits expenses. Some are scaling back on the benefits they offer or shifting part of the financial burden to employees. At the same time, many companies are taking an innovative approach by offering perks that don't have a big price tag but deliver big in meeting employees' personal needs. These benefits boost morale and promote loyalty by encouraging teamwork, valuing families and communities, and helping employees achieve a balance between their personal and professional lives.

An Ounce of Prevention
Utility companies recognize the challenges their staff face working in a 24/7, customer service-driven environment. Often, employees don't have the time or resources to manage their stress effectively. As a result, their health suffers, with diet and exercise being the most common areas of neglect.

"The only way we can control our healthcare costs in the long run is to have healthy people," says Roseanne Ierulli, manager employee benefits, Puget Sound Energy (PSE). Like many other utilities, PSE is trying to increase employees' awareness of their health as well as their level of physical activity.

The company plans to start a formalized wellness program in January 2005 in conjunction with its health maintenance organization (HMO) and the American Cancer Society's Active for Life Program. Active for Life is a 10-week program that encourages employees to be more active on a regular basis by setting individual goals and forming teams for motivation and support. PSE's HMO also has donated pedometers to the company, which will be given to employees as an incentive to sign up for the program.

In the fall, Ierulli started handing out a few pedometers to employees. So far, feedback has been positive. "People are turning it into a game," she says. "I've had people say they're parking farther away from the elevator, or they're parking at the other end of the grocery store." Ierulli is excited to roll out the pilot program at the beginning of the year, which she hopes will coincide with employees' New Year's resolutions to get into shape.

Several other companies also are offering employees pedometers as incentives to increase their activity level. This summer, Nicor Inc. hosted a national fitness day and gave employees a pedometer for walking a mile around the corporate headquarters. NiSource Inc. handed out pedometers at its Step into Spring event. If employees reached their fitness goal, they could keep the pedometer.

Often, employees have greater success sticking to fitness goals or weight loss programs with the support of their coworkers. NiSource has an annual event called Dump Your Plump. Employees form teams and come up with a weight loss goal. These teams then compete against other teams in the organization to see who can reach their goal. "We lose an average of about one ton of weight a year," says Mel Stasinski, director of benefits administration.

Many utility companies also host health fairs to educate employees and motivate them to improve their health. Last year, the American Gas Association (AGA) started sponsoring a complete health fair, offering a variety of tests. "Employees took great advantage of it," says Mary Miller, vice president of human resources and special assistant to the president and CEO.

NiSource's annual health fair is held in the cafeteria at the company's Indiana headquarters. Vendors offer an array of services and testing, including carbon monoxide testing to determine the level of carbon monoxide in smokers' lungs, blood pressure testing and flu shots. "It's very popular," says Stasinski, "and it makes people aware of what they can do to maintain their health."

If there's any doubt whether or not employees value these types of programs, just ask Stasinski. "People have written me letters and said if it wasn't for the program, they might not be alive today."

Matters of the Mind
Just as companies recognize the value of increasing employees' physical abilities, they also are supporting the growth of their mental faculties. Every year, AGA develops a professional goal for each staff member. "We maintain a serious focus on professional development," says AGA's Miller. "Continuing to develop yourself professionally not only benefits the association but also benefits you personally." The program is very individualized, she says. "We look at each person and decide what activity would enhance them professionally."

Employees also are more apt to enjoy their work and remain loyal to their employer if they know that their efforts are appreciated. AGA has an awards program to recognize employee contributions. "If somebody comes up with a great idea or puts forth an extraordinary effort, we try to personalize their reward," says Miller.

Many companies offer financial aid for continuing education or scholarships for employees and their families. New Jersey Resources (NJR) offers its staff a tuition reimbursement program and is looking at starting an interest-free loan program so that employees can borrow money from the company to pay for their tuition up front. "We think this will be popular with employees that want to get a higher education," says Andy Morris, manager employee relations, "and that's something we really encourage."

In addition, NJR supports the education of employees' children. This winter, the utility is starting an SAT preparation program for employees' children. NJR also offers scholarships. "We do a good job of publishing who the winners are and talking about them," says Morris. "Employees feel a sense of pride to see their children get that kind of recognition."

Finding Balance
One of the greatest challenges facing employees today is juggling their personal and professional lives. All of the companies interviewed for this article support employees in their personal lives, and many provide services that go beyond a basic employee assistance program (EAP).

NiSource contracts with ValueOptions, a company that provides EAP, work/life services and resources. Employees can access online information from ValueOptions' "Achieve Solutions" website on a variety of topics, including childcare, parenting, eldercare, depression and legal and financial assistance. ValueOptions provides consultation over the phone, face-to-face or via the Internet. The company also offers research specific to an employee's ZIP code. For example, ValueOptions can assemble packets of educational materials to cover a wide range of life events customized to the employee's needs.

"The packets are extremely well put together and help people transition into major life events," says Catherine Dickerhoff, substance abuse program administrator at NiSource. "The employee also can speak to a counselor, who can help determine if the online resources are the most appropriate solution or if the employee needs more in-depth assistance through the EAP."

Dominion offers a similar service through LifeCare (see "True to Life"). Employees can log onto LifeCare's website and access information on family issues, pet care, education, travel, home improvement, etc. "This cuts down on the legwork and saves employees time," says Deborah Olson, human resources consultant. Or they can call a toll-free number and speak with someone who specializes in their area of interest, whether it's trying to find childcare or resolving a legal problem. With these types of support services, employees get the help they need quickly, and they are able to be more productive while they're at the office.

Flex Time
No matter what type of assistance employers provide, work/life scheduling conflicts arise, and long commutes can make it more difficult for employees to spend quality time with their families.

In a 2003 study of 975 major U.S. employers, Hewitt Associates found that 74 percent offer alternative work arrangements to at least some employees. The most popular benefit was flex time, offered by 60 percent of companies, while 30 percent of companies surveyed offered telecommuting.

Some utility companies feel that the nature of their business is not conducive to telecommuting. Nevertheless, several of them are offering it on a limited basis, and others are looking at flexible scheduling as an alternative. "We offer flexible scheduling and home reporting, but you have to balance that against the needs of the customer," says Morris. The company has worked with its union to help create opportunities for employees to balance work/life issues.

For employees who travel extensively on business, NiSource provides laptops and PDAs to work remotely. Additionally, depending on department needs and managers' approval, some employees are able to telecommute for part of the week. "This improves our ability to promote from within and attract and retain high-performing employees," says Kris Falzone, vice president of corporate communications.

Piedmont Natural Gas is in the process of implementing a new policy regarding alternate work schedules that will create many opportunities for employees to work on a nontraditional schedule. "This new program recognizes that there are many ways to get the job done, other than the traditional 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday schedule," says Richard Linville, vice president of human resources.

AGA also offers flex time. When the association moved from Virginia to Washington, D.C., five years ago, flexible scheduling helped employees adjust to the drastic change in their commute. Employees also travel extensively on behalf of the association's members. "Flexibility helps balance out their personal lives," says Miller. The association provides remote access to its computer network and supplies most of its employees with Blackberries. "It's common to see e-mails and work products being shared at 6 in the morning and 10 at night," she says.

To help maintain a flexible approach to scheduling, AGA sets defined performance objectives, Miller explains. "We receive input from the industry annually, and we translate that into performance objectives for the association. People have clarity about what's expected of them. We look at their performance as opposed to face time."

Giving Back to the Community
As hectic as employees' schedules are, many are willing to spend some of their precious free time giving back to the communities that their companies serve. Volunteer work allows utility companies to show that they care about their communities, and it allows employees and their families to participate in activities that make them feel good about themselves.

NiSource helps maximize employees' volunteer time with cash donations through its Dollars for Doers program. "This is a way to encourage employees to volunteer in the communities we serve," says Falzone. "The program has been well received by both our employees and our communities." For every hour—up to 25 hours per year—an employee contributes to a qualified, not-for-profit organization, the company's charitable foundation donates $20.

"We make sure that our volunteer activities tie into the values of our organization," says Becky Bacidore, assistant vice president of human resources for Nicor. "One of our values is to support the 600-plus communities in which we work."

The company's most popular event is its annual volunteer day. "We work with local communities to come up with different volunteer activities," says Bacidore, "from sorting food at food banks to planting flowers at a senior citizen's home to cleaning up an area river." The company awards each employee who participates a $100 "Volunteers in Partnership" grant to donate to the charity of his or her choice. "It's a reward from the company, plus it creates a lot of enthusiasm in the organization."

Nicor is also a sponsor of the Brookfield Zoo near Chicago, which uses a lot of natural gas. To encourage its employees to visit the zoo, each year Nicor picks up half of the cost for employees who purchase family memberships to the zoo. And to celebrate its 50th anniversary, the company held an all-day event for employees and their families at the zoo.

"It was phenomenal," says Bacidore. "Everyone received a T-shirt that was designed especially for the event, which made a real impact on employees and everyone visiting the zoo that day. It helped employees appreciate just how big their company really is." Along with the special T-shirts, Nicor posted signs around the zoo featuring energy tips and created a special natural gas message that was played all day aboard the zoo's natural gas-powered motor safari, which bears the Nicor logo.

Wants and Needs
As simple as it sounds, if you want to find out what type of benefits employees truly appreciate, you have to ask them. Most of the companies mentioned in this article conduct employee surveys to get feedback on what works and what doesn't.

Morris advises companies to stay in touch with their employees. The company conducts overall surveys every year and specific surveys every few months. Managers are urged to meet with employees and learn their concerns. "Our employees are not shy about sharing their views with us," says Morris.

Communicating new benefits to employees is important, too, says Linville. "Face-to-face meetings work best. Communication via various modes—meetings, memos, benefits handbooks—is usually necessary to ensure employees recognize the value of the benefits." The company recently revamped its benefit plan communications program.

"We have reworked our printed employee benefits handbook and made it available online as part of an employee benefits self-service module on the company's intranet," Linville adds. "This module features links to the websites of all of our plan vendors and also has links to many printable forms and documents." Linville believes that enhanced, multimedia communications such as these are a key component in helping employees understand and better appreciate the value of their benefits package.

And creating benefit packages that are of value to employees is what these companies are all about. Engaging employees in outside activities, providing tools to better their health and their personal lives, and rewarding them for a job well done are just some of the ways employers can show that they really care about their employees. "If employees aren't engaged and their morale isn't at a good level," says Morris, "you'll have a difficult time implementing whatever benefits plans you have."

KASSANDRA KANIA is a freelance writer based in southern California.