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TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Aug. 28, 2014) - BMO Bank of Montreal today released its fourth annual Labour Day Survey that revealed the most common types of programs businesses use to retain employees.

The survey, conducted by Pollara, showed the percentage of businesses that offer particular strategies, including:

• Flexible work hours: 76 per cent
• Education, training and development: 66 per cent
• Increased health and dental benefits: 36 per cent
• Increase in paid vacation time: 29 per cent
• Tuition assistance: 27 per cent
• Telecommuting: 25 per cent

"Canadian business owners share a collective belief and understanding about the importance of hiring, training and maintaining a talented workforce," said Steve Murphy, Head, Canadian Commercial Banking, BMO Bank of Montreal. "Employees are the most prized and valuable asset an organization possesses. It's important for business owners to offer strong employee retention programs that can help drive the company's overall success."

Differences Across Company Size

The report also found that, beyond flex hours, large organizations are much more likely to offer various retention promoting strategies. For example:

• Nearly all large businesses (96 per cent) offer their employees opportunities for education and special training, compared to 64 per cent of small businesses
• Large businesses are twice as likely as small businesses to offer tele-commuting to their employees (50 per cent vs. 25 per cent, respectively)

Retention-Promoting Strategy	Large Businesses		Small Businesses
Flex time	78	%	76	%
Opportunities for education	96	%	64	%
Increased health and dental benefits	83	%	34	%
Telecommuting	50	%	24	%
Tuition Assistance	49	%	26	%

Regional Differences

• Companies in British Columbia were most likely (82 per cent) to offer flex hours to their employees
• Quebec business owners were the most likely to offer education and training opportunities for their staff (76 per cent), followed by those in Alberta (71 per cent)

Retention Promoting Strategy	Overall		ATL		QC		ON		Prairies		AB		B.C.
Flex hours	76	%	75	%	78	%	76	%	54	%	77	%	82	%
Opportunities for education & training	66	%	66	%	76	%	58	%	52	%	71	%	68	%
Increased paid vacation	29	%	34	%	28	%	23	%	44	%	28	%	35	%
Tele-commuting	25	%	16	%	12	%	31	%	20	%	34	%	30	%
Health and dental benefits	36	%	53	%	30	%	33	%	44	%	40	%	38	%
Tuition Assistance	27	%	42	%	13	%	29	%	13	%	31	%	38	%

Results cited above come from a Pollara telephone survey with 502 Canadian business owners, conducted between March 7 and March 24, 2014. The margin of error for this survey is +/- 4.4 per cent, 19 times out of 20. Results have been weighted by region and business size, according to the most recent Census figures, to reflect Canadian businesses.

About BMO Financial Group

Established in 1817 as Bank of Montreal, BMO Financial Group is a highly diversified financial services organization based in North America. The bank offers a broad range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers. BMO Financial Group had total assets exceeding $586 billion and approximately 47,000 employees at July 31, 2014.