Let’s take a look at the specific rankings:

• Health care: 95 percent

• Retirement: 71 percent

• Leave: 50 percent

• Flexible working arrangements: 29 percent

• Professional/career development: 17 percent

• Wellness/preventative health: 11 percent

• Financial counseling: 6 percent

• Family friendly: 3 percent

Related: New York Times: ACA plans less generous than employer plans

Respondents were also asked to rank benefits by which ones they thought would be important three to five years out. Most were ranks about the same as the current rankings. Only two categories stood out: People believe flexible working arrangements will be more important, and they think leave benefits will be considerably less desirable.

Flexibility benefits are attractive to plan designers and employers because, as the survey noted, they can be massaged at little or no extra expense to the company. About half the companies represented in the survey offer flexible arrangements, and more intend to do so.

While wellness programs continue to meet employee participation resistance, the survey revealed why employers continue to push them: About half the respondents said that wellness programs are saving their companies big bucks. Two areas where these programs are working well: reduced absenteeism and increased productivity.

Many HR departments are already acting on this kind of information to help recruit and retain top talent. One-fifth of respondents said they have changed their benefits package options to make them more attractive to top performers. The survey found that HR believes different tactics and inducements will be needed to attract and keep younger workers — those pesky millennials — and that many are already planning to revise their packages to do so.

The wide-ranging survey explored myriad issues with respondents, including such matters as how companies communicate benefits information to the troops (most use enrollment materials and emails), whether benefits plan enrichments were targeting current employees or potential ones (more were geared toward retention than recruiting), and what the respondents thought the primary strategic goal of the benefits package was (controlling health care costs was the top priority).

But the big takeaway was clear: HR believes employees and job candidates want a benefits package rich in health care and retirement benefits options.

"Organizations are most likely to alter the benefits employees value most highly to meet the needs of a changing workforce," said Karen Wessels, researcher for workforce planning at SHRM. "Health care, retirement and leave benefits are all highly valued by employees, so enhancements to them could go a long way in helping to improve an employer's value proposition."