Eighty-one per cent of employers measure employees’ appreciation of the employee benefits that they receive, according to new research*. Of those, two-thirds (66%) of employers believe that their staff ‘very much’ appreciate the benefits they are offered – more than triple the level of appreciation that employees themselves say they feel (at 21%).

These findings highlight three key learnings for employers: 

• The first is that employee benefits are now considered a standard part of the remuneration package and, to be appreciated, employers need to ensure they are actively highlighting where support goes that extra mile.
• Appreciation not only relies on awareness but also understanding, so employers need to constantly assess whether staff have a comprehensive grasp of everything they offer.
• Employers need to ensure that benefits can be accessed in a straightforward and efficient manner, as this can be another stumbling block in terms of staff appreciation. 

If, having taken these steps, employers still find that staff appreciation is lacking, it may be time to rethink whether the benefits offered are the most appropriate.

All of these scenarios will be playing out to a greater or lesser extent in different organisations. However, as employee benefits represent a significant investment for all employers, it is a huge missed opportunity if they are not being valued by staff, particularly regarding the value they can add in terms of recruitment and retention. 

Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for GRiD, said: “We know that communication and appreciation are inextricably linked, as employees tend to value benefits more highly when they have a good understanding of what is available..” 

The most popular ways to measure staff appreciation of employee benefits are:

• Informal feedback to managers, HR, employee benefits or wellbeing champions (46%)
• Feedback/suggestion box – either physical or email – for employee benefits-related feedback (46%)
• Formal staff survey (45%)
• Employee benefits forum/working group/employee liaison group (40%)
• Online activities that measure clickthrough rates on certain topics, e.g. on company intranet (39%)

It’s good to see so much measurement in place but this must go hand-in-hand with communication. Many benefits, particularly group risk (employer-sponsored life assurance, income protection and critical illness) change and are updated regularly. This is so that the benefits meet current needs to support mental health, rehabilitation, prevention etc. so it is important that this is made clear to employees.

Katharine Moxham concluded: “We saw how quickly employee benefits providers pivoted to offer support for Covid during the pandemic and, while this was an extreme situation, providers are constantly evolving their products to reflect employee and employer needs. 

“Ensuring employees appreciate the employee benefits they are offered goes hand in hand with sentiment towards their employer as a whole. Organisations who clearly demonstrate that they care about their staff by offering appropriate employee benefits are more likely to earn the loyalty of their people.”

Conducted by GRiD