Using Benefits to Support Organizational Strategies: Are Pension Plans and Safer Driving Related in the U.S. Trucking Industry?

• In Event: SESSION 3B: Performance and Planning

Abstract

We suggest that firms can help support their strategies by offering benefits that will attract the type of employees who are most likely to perform in ways consistent with the firms’ strategies. We illustrate this with the case of supplemental retirement benefits offered in the long-haul trucking industry, and suggest that firms that offer supplemental retirement benefits attract and retain employees that are more likely to engage in safer behaviors. Our results show that firms offering pension plans engage in significantly safer driving practices, as measured by the proxy of driver insurance costs, as hypothesized. These findings are consistent with the notion that firms can determine the types of employees that are attracted to various different benefits and provide benefits that attract employees most likely to engage in behaviors that are supportive of the firms’ strategies.

Authors

• Christian Sobngwi Kuiate, University of Houston-Houston

• Thomas R Noland, University of Houston-Houston

• Arthur J Francia, University of Houston-Houston

• Steve Werner, University of Houston-Houston