Battling High Health Care Costs is Priority #1

WASHINGTON, DC Oct. 6 – Putting a lid on escalating health care costs is the top priority of human resources managers throughout the tri-state area, according to a recent survey, followed by attracting and retaining good employees.

(PRWEB) October 8, 2003

CONTACT:

Eva A. Jenkins

VIP Innovations, LLC

1717 K Street, NW

Suite #600

(202) 973-0179

evaj@vipinnovations.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Battling High Health Care Costs is Priority #1

For Area Companies, Says New Study

WASHINGTON, DC (PRWEB) Oct. 6 2003-- Putting a lid on escalating health care costs is the top priority of human resources managers throughout the tri-state area, according to a recent survey, followed by attracting and retaining good employees. In a August 2003 study conducted by training and consulting firm VIP Innovations and Lumen Research Associates, 51% of HR managers said that controlling health care costs was their company’s most critical challenge. Attracting new employees rated second on the list of people-related issues at 47%.

“It’s no surprise that rising health insurance premiums are placing a drag on an already sluggish economy,” says VIP Innovations founder Eva A. Jenkins. “However, HR managers’ concerns about finding top talent indicate that both the employed and unemployed still have ‘wiggle room’ with employers. In certain industries, at least, people don’t have to take what they can get.”

Leading the list of company-wide priorities for HR managers was “reducing costs” at 65%, followed by undertaking reorganizations (15%) and issues such as improved recruiting, churn (or turnover) management and developing new corporate policies.

Within HR departments themselves, respondents said that “strengthening customer relationships was most critical (36%). This was followed closely by “addressing new business needs” at 30% and “building capabilities within the existing HR staff” (28%).

The survey also found that budgeting for HR departments has remained largely unchanged since 2002, with 56% of those polled saying their budgets are roughly the same as last year’s. One in four HR managers (25%) reported that their companies allocated smaller budgets to HR than in 2002, while 20% reported larger budgets.

The VIP Innovations/Lumen Research survey was designed to assess the priorities of human resources managers in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Only those companies with 50 to 1,000 employees were targeted.

VIP Innovations, LLC serves new and existing businesses with products and services that include: workshops on 30 different topics; high-performance training programs focused on leadership, sales and team building; management consulting; and employee assessments that evaluate personnel in various career stages.

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For more information on VIP Innovations, call (202) 973-0179 or e-mail: evaj@vipinnovations.com.