From cycle to work schemes to cashback cards, most businesses offer workplace benefits to support employees with their financial, mental, and physical wellbeing. But since every company is different, there are often varied opinions between employees and HR teams on the internal education of benefits, including accessing and using them.
The Cost of Living (CoL) crisis is affecting overall spending, leading employees to exercise more caution with their money. At the same time, HR teams are facing significantly reduced budgets. To navigate this challenging environment, HR leaders should avoid offering standard benefits packages and instead regularly review and update their offerings in order to stay in line with employee expectations. They should also ensure that their staff are aware of the available benefits and know how to access them.
Employees don’t know they have benefits
Although many workplace benefits and options are available, our recent research shows that 28% of UK employees believe their organisation doesn’t offer any benefits or they are unaware if they do. This not only suggests that critical company budgets are potentially going to waste but also highlights a significant miscommunication between HR leaders and employees when it comes to benefits.
Almost three quarters (74%) of employees said an organisation’s benefits package is important when accepting a job offer. A similar number (71%) said they’d consider their current benefits when thinking about continuing to work for an organisation. It’s clear the majority of employees find workplace benefits to be a necessity, but it seems HR teams are still missing the mark when optimising their benefits scheme.
So, how can HR leaders ensure their offering aligns with the talent they’re trying to attract and retain?
The missing link: communication
Our research indicates that 29% of HR professionals believe that employees struggle to find information about their benefits, which is almost identical to the proportion of employees who are unaware of the benefits available to them. This can result in a squandering of resources, but more importantly, it can lead to the unmet needs of many employees.
While many employees don’t know where to find information about workplace benefits, those that do still are not using them. Why? Our findings suggest that this is because the benefits on offer simply don’t align with their needs. For instance, the research showed retail discounts and cashback as the most popular benefits, with 23% of employees using them, however, only 36% of HR teams are offering them.
So how can HR leaders become more attuned to employees?
With over half (57%) of HR professionals feeling pressured by senior leadership to cut down benefits during harder economic times, HR leaders are finding themselves having to provide proof of ROI. In order to do this, HR teams need to implement consistent review processes of their benefits packages and ensure their employees are regularly informed of them. This not only makes HR teams truly understand how to best meet their employees’ needs but also ensures employees are aware of their benefits. This way usage is higher and businesses see increased positives from the benefits, but there is no actual need for an increase in spend.
Alongside constant review and education, HR teams should also begin to embrace a more flexible approach to benefits, instead of being resistant to making changes to packages when needed. HR leaders need to prioritise understanding what benefits their workforce actually wants. The method to do this is simple: ask them. Not only will this ensure they’re fine-tuning their offerings to meet employee needs, but also cut down unnecessary spending.
When businesses begin to see workplace benefits as an opportunity to provide tailored support to their employees, they will begin to reap the benefits themselves. With three quarters (75%) of employees agreeing they feel more loyal to their employer if their organisation is supporting them, it is imperative that HR teams be more proactive when it comes to benefits.
