Cable's Carrots: CTHRA Benchmarks Employee Benefits

By Pamela Williams, CAE, Executive Director of the Cable and Telecommunications Human Resources Association (CTHRA)

About CTHRA The Cable and Telecommunications Human Resources Association (CTHRA) is the premier human capital resource for the industry and a growing nonprofit organization with more than 1,900 members spanning 100 companies. CTHRA provides industry-specific benchmarks, information and resources, as well as networking and educational opportunities. Its groundbreaking initiatives include compensation, employee benefits, and human capital metrics surveys, an Annual HR Symposium, roundtables and webinars. For more information,visit www.cthra.com. CTHRA's 2011 Benefits Survey Earlier this year, 19 industry employers provided data to Willis, the firm retained by CTHRA to conduct the survey and analyze the data. The confidential data was separated into two categories: multiple system operators (MSOs) and programmers (cable and broadcast networks). Each respondent received a detailed report including the median, average, high, and low for each metric, as well as the participating company's data for comparison purposes. Survey Participants Bright House Networks Cablevision Systems Corporation Charter Communications Inc. Comcast Cable Communications Inc. Insight Communications Company Time Warner Cable Inc. A&E Television Networks CBS Corporation Crown Media Holdings-Hallmark Channels C-SPAN Discovery Communications Inc. Home Box Office Inc. HBO Latin America Production Services NBC Universal, Rainbow Scripps Networks Starz Entertainment The Weather Channel Turner Broadcasting System Inc.

While other industries have dramatically cut employee benefits during the recession, employers in our industry continue to provide a robust offering. Why? The reason comes down to the high value placed on human capital.

Margaret Lazo, EVP of HR for NBC Universal Entertainment, shared this insight, "In an environment where our businesses are growing and media is evolving into new platforms, finding and hiring the best and brightest, high potential talent is a critical undertaking if our businesses are going to achieve their goals. The follow-up to successfully recruiting top talent is investing in your company's human capital to retain a workforce that is prepared to thrive in an ever-changing competitive environment."

Talent is what drives our industry, and employers don't want to lose their greatest asset to a competitor or another industry because their benefits package doesn't measure up. Lisa Kaye, president of greenlightjobs.com, explained, "The workforce views benefits as an important component of their overall compensation. If an employer lacks a benefit that is offered by others, that deficiency can dramatically hinder their recruiting and retention efforts."

CTHRA's 2011 Employee Benefits Survey found that this competitive dynamic is alive and well in the cable and telecommunications industry. In fact, it's resulted in a robust core offering of six must-have benefits: health insurance, dental insurance, life insurance, accidental death and disability (AD&D), long-term disability (LTD), and a retirement savings plan. All 19 industry employers polled by CTHRA offer these components, and many provide additional perks to further differentiate themselves.

Among the most popular benefits, employees place the highest priority on healthcare. The most prevalent forms offered by CTHRA's survey respondents are Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) and Point of Service (POS) plans, but a few companies offer Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) or Exclusive Provider Organizations (EPOs). Regardless of the type of health insurance, CTHRA's survey found that industry employers shoulder more of the cost than employers in general. On average industry employers cover 80 percent of employees' healthcare costs, which equates to approximately $10,000 per eligible employee.
In contrast, across other industries, an article published by CNNMoney in May 2011 cited, "…employees' share is inching closer to 50 percent."

Next to health benefits, retirement plans rank highest on most employees' must-have lists. Consequently, 100 percent of CTHRA's survey respondents provide at least one retirement plan. Eighteen of 19 CTHRA survey respondents offer a Defined Contribution (DC) retirement plan (such as a 401k) where the payout is determined by the amount contributed into the plan. CTHRA's survey determined that the waiting period for eligibility ranged from immediate participation to 90 days, and that on average MSOs matched $3,600 per employee contribution and programmers matched $4,145 per employee.

A Defined Benefits (DB) plan is a more traditional pension plan where payouts are determined by personalized factors such as length of employment. According to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, there are about 38,000 insured DB plans today in the U.S. compared to a high of about 114,000 in 1985. However, the majority (65 percent) of CTHRA's survey respondents continue to offer a DB plan.

In a nutshell, cable and telecommunications employers are leveraging attractive benefits programs to recruit and retain the creative and high tech talent that fuels their success. They are managing costs to ensure the biggest bang for the dollar. The end result is that our industry's employees come out on top.

Interested in learning more? CTHRA will host an Employee Benefits Webinar on August 9 at noon Central Time during which the data from its survey results will be discussed in detail. For more information and online registration, please visit
http://www.cthra.com/educational_events.php