Unusual Perks

There's a huge number of very talented and very driven employees out there for any company to hire.

How different companies are going after the pool of talent never gets boring.

Goldman Sachs, usually a very conservative place to work like much of Wall Street, is offering health benefits to cover sex change operations. Several media publications picked up the story over the past week.

From a CNN article...

Goldman added health-insurance coverage of sex reassignment surgery as part of a push last year to attract top talent and recruit and retain a more diverse workforce, the company said.

The surgery alone could cost an individual anywhere from $5,000 to $150,000 if they paid out of pocket, depending on their particular situation, said Pauline Park, chair of the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy, a group that campaigns for transgender rights. That figure doesn't include hormone and other drug treatments.

Goldman Sachs' plan covers the actual surgery, as well as transgender-related prescription drugs, such as testosterone injections, said spokeswoman Gia Moron. It does not cover electrolysis and other cosmetic treatments, she said.

The surgery is free under the company's HMO and PPO plans as long as patients are screened and diagnosed with transsexualism and see an in-network doctor. Drugs are subject to regular prescription copays that are typically $5 to $30 a month.

If this is surprising to you... or perhaps it's the first time you're hearing about this talent attraction strategy, let me tell you it's NOT something new.

Actually, Goldman is not the even only financial firm offering these benefits... And if you want to look further into history, you'll find that liberal-leaning university campuses across the continent were the first to introduce these benefits some years ago. Often public employee unions for social study faculties propose such schemes in collective bargaining and then they are adopted in the workplace soon after as part of a negotiated contract.

Bargaining teams frequently make concessions on sex change benefits, because realistically there are very few operations of this kind every year, even in larger companies. It doesn't cost much. However, it is very symbolic for how far a company will go to respect and meet individual needs.

When public employee unions become the innovators in talent attraction and retention strategies, you have to start wondering who's sleeping at the wheel...