"2002/03 Strategic Rewards® Charting the Course Forward: Maximizing the Value of Reward Programs"
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Watson Wyatt Worldwide, October 2002.
In this current economic slump, many companies have been forced to cut costs, many of them related to HR expenses, in order to stay afloat. This Watson Wyatt survey report shows the job- and rewards-cutting trends of companies since 2000 and outlooks for 2003.
The cost-cutting method used varies depending on the company's financial performance. Poor-performing companies are more likely to use a range of measures, in particular staff reduction, elimination or reduction of bonuses, and lowered salary-increase budgets.
When implementing the same cost-cutting decisions, high-performing companies are more likely to consider their actions successful in reducing costs. Fifty-eight percent of high-performing companies said their staff reductions were very effective, compared to 40 percent of low-performing companies. Only 14 percent of low-performing companies thought reducing salary-increase budgets was effective, compared to 36 percent of high-performing companies.
The report provides recommendations for how companies can retain competitiveness without sacrificing human capital investments. Also covered are the factors that affect employee satisfaction levels and ways to attract and retain highly skilled employees.
