As higher ed grapples with a tight labor market, it’s no surprise that campus employees want what most other professionals want: competitive salaries and benefits, job security and a healthy work-life balance.
But how higher ed employees prioritize these job features depends on their roles, ages and whether they’re at risk for turnover in the coming years, says a new survey from the TIAA Institute, a think tank, and CUPA-HR, the human resources professional organization.
The report notes that 16% of full-time employees—comprising faculty, staff and administration—are at risk for turnover. That means they don’t want to or think they won’t be working for their current employer within the next two years. At risk are 10% of faculty members, 18% of administrators and 19% of other staff and professionals.
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“An organization can’t provide every employee with everything they want,” Melissa Fuesting, associate director of research with CUPA-HR, said in a statement. “However, to be competitive in hiring and retention, it can think in terms of providing every employee with things they value.”
When it comes to benefits, those surveyed valued a retirement savings plan (58%), health insurance (56%) and paid time off (47%) the most, but faculty members also prioritized education benefits and health and wellness programs.
The report took a close look at “turnover-risk” employees, who ranked stress, burnout, resource shortages and lack of recognition as key problems at much higher rates than did employees not considered likely to leave their jobs. Between 60% to 70% of turnover-risk cited those issues compared to about half of their colleagues.
“Colleges and universities clearly can benefit by conveying all the ways in which they strive to address the varying needs of their employees, across various roles and life stages,” concluded Paul J. Yakoboski, TIAA Institute senior economist. “We hope our report helps institutions better emphasize their tangible and intangible rewards and benefits as workplaces—and reinforce their efforts to retain their most valued employees.”
