New research has revealed that a third (34%) of employers say that their staff are not aware of, nor do they understand, all of the employee benefits they are offered.
GriD, the industry body for the group risk sector asked about all benefits including pensions, healthcare and group risk benefits (employer-sponsored life assurance, income protection and critical illness), with the research revealing that employers know that they need to reach more employees and help them get a better grasp of what benefits are available to them.
In fact, GRiDโs research among employees themselves bears this out: only 44% of employees believe that they have a good understanding of all of the health and wellbeing benefits available to them.
In addition,ย 78% of employers actively encourage staff members to use the benefits they provide, 18% leave it to employees to initiate the take-up of benefits themselves.
GRiD suggests that there is a missed opportunity if employers fail to effectively communicate and encourage the take-up of the benefits they offer staff, as this investment will not be sufficiently understood, appreciated or utilised.
How do employers communicate benefits?
The most popular way to communicate employee benefits as a whole is in a staff welcome pack (35%), followed by โon day one of employmentโ (33%). However, whenย starting a new job there is so much information to take on board, an employee may not always be receptive to messages about their entitlement to benefits. GRiD suggests that sharing information at this point is timely, but employers must not expect much to be retained.
Employersโ preferred ways of communicating employee benefits also include:
- 31% in the staff handbook
- 29% on staff noticeboards
- 29% via email campaigns
- 28% via the companyโs intranet
- 26% via support from advisers/providers to run promotional days (online or in person)
On average, a single employer uses four different channels to communicate its employee benefits programme, but with so many options available both on and offline, GRiD believes most employers could do more. Similarly, the communication of employee benefits should be a matter of routine and not a one-off exercise. Employers should also maximise the resources they have available to them from all of their partners including support fromย providers, advisers and employee liaison groups.
Employers seeking to improve communication in the next 12 months
In good news, many employers are planning to take steps to change the way they communicate their benefits for the better in the next 12 months:
- 39% say they will increase encouragement to use available benefits
- 36% will put more emphasis on support for all areas of health and wellbeing, including mental, financial, physical and social
- 34% will increase the amount of communication
- 31% will increase their investment in this area
Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for GRiD, said:ย โItโs important to remember that an organisationโs workforce is not a static entity: new people are appointed, some leave, people return from absence, and so even those employers who feel they are doing well cannot rest on their laurels. Itโs important to continually improve communication, so that all employees know how to access and utilise employee benefits if they need them, because only then will benefits be truly valued and appreciated.
โWhether a member of staff chooses to engage or not, all employees will feel better disposed and more loyal to an organisation when it is proactive about the support it offers.
โCommunication of employee benefits is key and our research shows that more employers need to make it more of a habit.โ
Photo byย Amy Hirschiย onย Unsplash
