And the survey says…

HR Magazine, Nov, 1996 by Kathy Compton

Since the program's inception, three extensive reports using collected data on pertinent workplace topics have been produced:

* The 1996 SHRM Innovative Benefits Survey focuses on various types of employer-sponsored benefits including leave policies, health insurance, housing assistance and financial aid programs.

* The 1996 SHRM Workplace Violence Survey examines aspects of workplace violence such as frequency, type, participant characteristics, motivations for violence and prevention techniques.

* The 1996 SHRM Job Security and Layoffs Survey, produced with funding from the SHRM Foundation, addresses a range of issues related to downsizing. Topics include past and future layoff trends, factors contributing to layoffs, the effect layoffs have on the workplace, steps organizations are taking to help employees who have been laid off, and employees' feelings regarding job security.

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In coming months, the Issues Management Program will conduct surveys of SHRM members on such timely topics as tax reform, work and family issues, religion in the workplace, recruitment and retention practices, and technology. Survey results are published in HR News, and full copies of survey reports - complete with additional topical information such as articles, Issues Briefs, and SHRM White Papers - can be purchased by contacting Andrew Ludlow at (703) 548-3440, ext. 3611. Prices for surveys range from $20 to $50 for SHRM members, and $30 to $70 for nonmembers.

Readers with suggestions for future survey topics may contact the Society's Survey/Research Analyst, Allison Kindelan, via e-mail (kindelan@shrm.org). To leave comments and questions for the Issues Management staff, visit the Issues Management section of SHRM's Home Page on the World Wide Web (http://www.shrm.org/docs/issues.htm).

Kathy Compton is director of public affairs of the Society for Human Resource Management.