INCIDENT 10-1 Soap Producers and Distributors Ltd. Soap Producers and Distributors Ltd. faced an employee turnover problem. The company's annual turnover rate was nearly 20 percent among technical and white collar work- ers. Among hourly paid employees, the rate was nearly 30 percent. Wage and salary surveys repeatedly showed that the company's pay levels were 10 to 11 percent above those of comparable jobs in the labour market. The benefits program was not as impressive, but management thought it was competitive. Employees received supplementary health and life insurance, paid vacations and holidays, and a holiday bonus of $1,000. Although some employees complained about the com- pany's benefits, complaints varied widely and no one bene- fit or lack of benefit seemed to be the key issue. To make Soap Producers and Distributors' problems worse, they operated in a tight labour market, which meant jobs sometimes took weeks to fill. To hire specialized workers almost always meant recruiting them from other cities and paying their moving expenses. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. What additions do you think should be made to the company's benefits program? (Hint: What is missing?) 2. What problems in the incident might be solved by a cafeteria approach? Think of specific interest groups. 3. To overcome the company's recruitment problems, what other changes do you suggest? What are the trends in benefits programs