Fringe benefits are essential to winning the war to attract and keep talent, according to a recent Society for Human Resource Management survey.

“As the war for talent wages on, employers will need not only to ensure that they are strategically utilizing benefits to secure talent, but that employees understand the value of their benefits package,” says Evren Esen, director of workforce analytics.

“Health care, retirement and leave benefits are all highly valued by employees, so bolstering these benefits could go a long way in recruiting new employees and retaining existing ones,” he adds.

However, grappling with the rising cost of health care adds complexity to the strategy,” Esen stresses. “Employers are going to have to continue to articulate their choices.”

No less than 95% of HR professionals surveyed rated health care as one of the three most important benefits. Other top benefits include retirement savings and planning (71%) and leave (50%).

Nearly one in five of the HR professionals (19%) said their organizations had altered their benefits program to aid in the retention of employees at all levels of the company over the past 12 months.

HR professionals at high tech companies were more likely to indicate their organizations altered their benefits program to aid in retention than those in other industries (25% vs. 17%).

At least 30% indicated that controlling health care costs was their organization’s main strategic focus for its employee benefits package. Also, 27% revealed their focus was ensuring employees understood the value of their benefits package.

In addition, 74% of HR professionals from companies with wellness initiatives indicated they were “somewhat” or “very effective” in improving employee engagement. Large numbers also said their wellness programs decreased health care costs; 42% significantly cut unplanned absences and resulted in an increase in productivity.