One of the biggest challenges in the benefit determination process is that employees differ considerably in their demand for benefits and even more clearly in the types of benefits they demand. This seems to vary most noticeably with the personal circumstances of the employee. For example, the desire for retirement benefits typically rises with age. Employees with children value childcare assistance more than employees without children. If an employee is covered under a spouse's or parent's major medical insurance plan, the value of that benefit is insignificant. In all these cases, it should be noted that the employees base their decision on theirperceived need, not on the cost of the benefit to the organization.

From your perspective, rank order the importance of the following employee benefits as part of a compensation plan. 1 = the most important benefit; 10 = the least important benefit.

Employee assistance plan

401(k) plan

Health insurance plan

Life insurance

Dental and vision insurance

Short- and long-term disability insurance

Childcare assistance

Tuition reimbursement

Paid vacation

Paid sick leave

In addition to ranking these benefits, your discussion board posting should address the following: What factors were the most important to you in determining your ranking of priorities among the benefits listed (i.e., age, gender, marital status, number of dependents, etc.)? In other words, whydid you rank one benefit higher than another? You should provide this analysis for each of the benefits.