A Conversation With ... Julie B. Cummings

What is your role as human resources director?
Since I am new to the firm, we’re assessing and establishing what (my) role and responsibilities will be. A large part of it is going to be benefits, partly training at the site locations, employment law compliance and recruiting on a firmwide basis. A lot of it is going to be making sure that we are collectively integrating all of the locations’ best practices into one great firm.

How do a company’s benefits factor into recruiting?
It’s more than just the benefits package, it’s a total company package. … With regard to benefits, it’s making sure that we’re developing a benefits plan design that meets the need of every employee as much as possible. …

As long as you’re listening to what the needs of the employees are and how they’re utilizing the plan, you can make sure you’re tailoring a plan that makes sense from a company cost standpoint, but still offers quality options for the employees.

Based on your 13 years in human resources, what are job hunters looking for in benefits these days?
I think employees are looking for stability, especially in this economic recession. … Not only are they seeing (people) lose their jobs, but those that have their jobs are losing the employer-sponsored health care plans. A lot of employees are saying, “I want to know my employer is going to take care of me and that it’s a priority for them to continue to offer that health care coverage.” I also think employees are also looking for options in their plans (such) as a lower premium and a high deductible … so they can play a more active role in some cost savings in order to budget.

Employees are also looking (to) know that their employer is taking an interest in them … and listening to their needs.

How does BKD enable such a large staff to weigh in on benefits desires?
We utilize multiple forms of media to communicate (our) benefits, whether it be through Webcasts, e-mail, different presentations housed on our intranet. … We’re also using surveys, and I think more employers (see a) need to survey the employees on a periodic basis to check and make sure the plan design is meeting the needs of the company as well as the employee group.

Missouri unemployment rose to 9.6 percent in December. How has higher unemployment affected the job market?
It used to be that companies were really competing for top talent. Right now, the market is saturated with really good, quality talent (with) a definite skill set that employers need.
It’s fortunate for employers from that standpoint, but … the pendulum has shifted the other way with regard to the whole recruiting effort. There might be a happy medium.
I think at one point, we went too far, offering too many special agreements and too many things that weren’t consistent, and now we can go more in line with the skill sets that are required to fill positions.

How can businesses be attractive to employees without spending a lot of money?
I think it starts with integrity and reputation. Hopefully, the business owner has committed to being a respected employer. I think that’s No.1, whether that be through community involvement, whether that be just getting a reputation for taking care of your employees, being fair and equitable. … With regard to benefits, … employers are having to look at costs and where they’re coming from. And a lot of them are coming from chronic health conditions, for example, diabetes and hypertension. We used to just treat these conditions, but now …the focus is shifting from treatment to prevention (with) wellness programs and preventative maintenance (and) health-risk assessments.
By doing that … we can begin reducing those health care costs, and use some of the money … on some other avenues to enrich the lives of the employees and the company.