A market report, based on a recent survey of 500 technology professionals, reveals some telling statistics about benefits packages. David Bloxham, Managing Director of GCS summarises.
The benefits package has long become an expected part of any permanent job offer, a way of enticing prospective employees and achieving greater staff retention. Almost all employers recognise the importance of offering appealing benefits yet the GCS “What’s Working” report strongly suggested that almost 50 percent of permanent workers are less than satisfied with their existing package. The report, based on GCS’ recent nationwide survey of workers and employers within the technology sector, showed that 96 percent of clients believe the benefits package they offer is a key part of their attraction and retention strategy. It would seem this confidence is misplaced, as a mere nine percent of permanent workers claimed to be “very satisfied” with their benefits. But 48 percent of workers surveyed were less than satisfied and a worrisome 14 percent stated they were “very dissatisfied” with their current benefits package.
This high level of disappointment does not seem likely to change any time soon. Nine percent of workers received extra benefits over the last twelve months and, whilst 62 percent expect an increase in remuneration over the forthcoming year, only seven percent of employees believe they will see any change to their benefits package. Despite clients apparently appreciating how important good benefits are, they seem to feel an increase in basic salary will overcome any unhappiness with the non-salary aspects of their employees’ remuneration. It would appear that these clients may be disappointed. With 67 percent of employees surveyed answered that, when considering a new permanent position, the benefits package is either important or very important to them.
Unquestionably, employees want better benefits but the issue appears not that businesses are providing too few benefits, it is that the benefits provided are unappealing. The most commonly provided benefits, in order, are a contributory pension, personal health insurance and life insurance. From a list of 14 specific benefits, workers ranked these respectively the tenth, 12th and 11th most desirable. The things that appeal most to workers – again, in order – are share incentives, a non-contributory pension and family health insurance. These benefits are respectively offered 12th, 11th and ninth out of 14. Clearly, there is an anomaly in what workers want and what employers are willing to offer. In some cases, this may be down to clients underestimating the importance of certain parts of the package. The survey showed that clients believe that family health insurance, the third most desirable benefit, is the tenth most important to workers. Similarly, the second most desirable benefit, non-contributory pension, is deemed seventh most appealing.
In other cases, employers’ judgement of what is most important to workers is more accurate. They believe share incentives are the second most wanted benefit, and parental benefits are the sixth. However, neither of these benefits are offered in line with their perceived importance. Share incentives are offered second least and parental benefits the least of all. In these two cases, businesses evidently do recognise what their employees desire, but they are not providing them. In fact, of the 13 benefits listed, the only areas in which the clients are correct in their perception of importance and provide the benefits in accordance are in training support and individual performance bonuses, both of which are solidly in the middle of the pack, and a company car or car allowance, an old favourite which workers don’t seem to value greatly any longer; a trend that clients have picked up on and therefore offer less.
Avoiding the benefits that are unimportant is practical thinking that should surely free up funds to give workers more appealing packages, yet this is not happening. Whether it be a desire to save money or a feeling that nobody is going to get too upset with a weak benefits package, the clients who don't deliver in this department may soon find their staff moving on. And 52 percent of permanent workers surveyed stated they intend to look for a new job within the next six months. With 66 percent of all technology workers reporting that benefits play an important part in their choice of workplace, it appears that 35 percent of all permanent employees will soon compare their existing benefits package to that offered by a competitor.
If the worker in question is one of the 48 percent of candidates unhappy with their existing package, their current employer may well find themselves with an unexpected vacancy. The solution is clear; action needs to be taken and investment needs to be made. Employers would be wise to maintain a dialogue with their workforce about which benefits matter most and then satisfy reasonable requests. It would seem that it may be better to invest in providing the most desired benefits in order to keep loyal staff happy rather than investing far more time and money in recruiting to replace those who have moved on to companies who offer superior packages.
