The Human Resource Practices in Hawaii Survey is conducted every three years in rotation with the Retirement Plan (to be conducted in 2023) and the Benefit Plans in Hawaii (to be conducted in 2024) surveys. 

This survey report provides insights on various practices shared by participating organizations. The remainder of the full report begins with this highlights section which summarizes survey results for areas of most interest as expressed by employers. The full report provides detailed outcomes of practices within the following areas:

• Employment
• Work Policies
• Wages & Salaries
• Benefits
• Other Policies
• Human Resource Department (functional areas of responsibilities, staffing ratio, tenure and more)

Within the full report, data outcomes are shared based on overall responses, employment size and various industries.

The following highlights use the average across all three job types, P (production, maintenance, and service), O (office, clerical and technical) and S (supervisory, managerial, and professional), unless noted otherwise.

Employment Practices

On average across all three job types, the top three recruitment methods used are the same as in 2019, with employee referrals moving to the top spot, as compared to the second spot in the last survey. The top three recruitment methods used in 2022 are:

• Employee referrals
• Social media (Craigslist, GlassDoor, Indeed, LinkedIn, etc.)
• Company website

Of the recruitment methods used, the most successful are:

• Social media (Craigslist, GlassDoor, Indeed, LinkedIn, etc.)
• Employee referrals
• Company website

Companies were asked to share the types of applicant testing methods used. Most, 80.5%, conduct background checks, while 48.7% conduct pre-employment drug testing. The chart below are the results shared by the participating organizations in alphabetical order.

Of the companies that conduct substance abuse/drug screening for marijuana, most, 85.2%, do so during the pre-employment stages, while 75.9% conduct screening for marijuana for reasonable suspicion. The chart below are the results shared by the participating organizations in order of highest to lowest response received.

Referral awards are used more often than signing bonus as a recruitment tool, which aligns with the 2021 National Business Trends Survey where referral awards were noted as one of the top three strategies for employee recruitment. On average, across all three job types, 24.3% of organizations offer a referral award amount ranging from $100 to $250 if hired.

Sign-on bonuses are also used as a recruitment tool, where all participating organizations (100%) provide a flat dollar amount for all job types P (production, maintenance, and service); O (office, clerical and technical) and S (supervisory, managerial, and professional).

Reference checks are a key part of the hiring process and participants were requested to share the types of references normally checked and executed. For the job types of O (office, clerical and technical) and S (supervisory, managerial, and professional), the top four types of references checked are identical (see table below). However, the P (production, maintenance, and service) job type includes driving records.

The performance evaluations/appraisal form can be a valuable tool benefiting both the employee and the employer. It serves as a communication tool where feedback and expectations can be discussed and documented. On average across the multiple job types, 86.3%, have a formal performance evaluation/appraisal program in place. The top three timeframes across all job types (listed in order of most responses received) are:

• Annually on a calendar basis
• Annually on the employee’s anniversary date
• Semi-annually on a calendar basis

Work Policies:

The offering of alternative work arrangements is a hot topic for employers today, as they are challenged to find ways to accommodate work arrangement flexibility. In 2019, 64.2% of organizations did not offer alternative work schedule arrangements, as compared to 35.0% this year. Due to COVID-19 and the mandates requiring employers to develop new work arrangements during the pandemic, it appears many employers are continuing to offer alternative work schedule arrangements as reported in the chart below.

Work hour tracking by time clock/timecards continues to be the most widely used method with 53.1% of the P (production, maintenance, and service) job type and 40.3% of the O (office, clerical and technical) job type using this method. With the evolution of smart technology and the need to manage the tracking of employee attendance and leaves accurately and efficiently (in real time), organizations also use automated systems such as computer or other electronic devices (web access, scanners, etc.). The data outcome shared by participating companies are noted below from highest to lowest responses received and data from participants that selected not applicable are not noted in the chart below.

Wages and Salaries:

Participants were asked to share the type of pay structures that exists in their organization. On average 71.8% had some form of wage/salary range structure (formal or informal), 28.2% noted that they had no formal rate structure and 8.2% have single rates for most jobs (across all job types).

On average across all job types, 86.0% of the organizations conduct regular salary reviews for their employees. The top three timeframes (listed in order of most responses received) are:

• Annually on a calendar basis
• Annually based on fiscal year
• Annually on the employee’s anniversary date

Across all job types, wage and salary adjustments (excluding promotions) are typically executed for the below reasons.  The top three reasons are listed in order of most responses received:

• Merit adjustments based on individual performance
• Combination of across the board and merit adjustments
• Across the board general increase (other than cost-of-living adjustment).

Participating organizations reported having some type of non-traditional pay practices to enhance pay programs across all job types. The top five selections (listed in the order of most responses received) are:

• Lump sum bonus (does not roll into base) – given in addition to a base wage or salary increase
• Individual incentives
• One-time bonus based on achievement of specified goals
• Lump sum bonus (does not roll into base) – given instead of base wage or salary increase
• Pay increases based on achievement of goals

Benefits

Organizations understand the value of parking and reported the availability of parking benefits by either providing a parking facility and/or cost-share for commercial parking fees. For organizations that provide parking benefits, sixty-seven percent cover 100% of the parking cost and thirty-three percent cover a portion of the parking cost or provide parking where the employee pays the full cost (on average across all job types).

Service awards continue to be an important way in which organizations choose to recognize and celebrate service milestones.  Organizations recognize employees with a variety of service awards. In 2019, merchandise was the type of award most provided, this year, cash awards and gift certificates are the two most popular types of awards. The top five type of awards provided are listed below in order of most responses received:

• Cash awards
• Gift certificates
• Merchandise
• Lei
• Company logo item

Typical benchmark years, for service recognition awards are five, ten, fifteen, twenty and twenty-five years. The survey outcome indicates the most common milestone years of service awarded are five years of service, followed by twenty years of service.

The availability of skilled labor in the market remains a challenge therefore, employers continue to provide education assistance and training programs where employees may be reimbursed for expenses. The top five job-related study programs which employees are reimbursed for (listed in order of the most responses received) are:

• Professional certification
• University undergraduate
• University graduate
• Community college
• Trade school/business college

Employers continue to take a proactive approach to overall employee wellness, through the offering of various options.  The top 5 wellness programs that are sponsored by organizations (listed in order of most responses received) are:

• Employee assistance program
• Covid vaccinations
• Flu shots
• Charity walking events
• Health club membership

Human Resource Staffing

The Human Resource staff to employee ratio compares the number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Human Resource staff to 100 FTE employees in an organization. In 2022, on average 1.4 Human Resource staff supported 100 FTE employees, representing a decrease of .1% over the 2019 survey report outcomes.

Years of Service

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) September 2022 Economic News Release (conducted every two years), the national median tenure for January 2022, was 4.1 years, unchanged from the median in January 2020.

The overall median years of service for participating organizations calculated at 8 years (nearly two times longer than the national median).

HEC conducts a variety of compensation and benefits surveys to provide data useful in developing and administering compensation and benefit plans, and personnel policies. Custom snapshot and comparison reports from our compensation surveys are available, along with customized, proprietary surveys conducted on your behalf. Our Survey & Compensation experts can also work with members on employee engagement surveys to identify gaps between being an employer of choice and being merely an employer. For more information, please contact Dawn Mitchell, Survey & Compensation Services Manager (dmitchell@hecouncil.org), or Susan Amuro, Survey & Research Analyst (samuro@hecouncil.org).