Research reveals that one-third of large organisations (with over 250 employees) do not measure any staff appreciation of employee benefits.
New research by GRiD, the industry body for the group risk sector, has revealed that over a third of large organisations do not measure the staff appreciation of employee benefits.
This lack of effective communication between HR and staff is not new as HRreview previously reported that almost half of employers believe that their workers do not understand all the benefits on offer to them.
Furthermore, this lack of collecting data linked to staff appreciation of employee benefits extends beyond large organisations. Similarly, over half of all small and medium enterprises (54 per cent) and up to 68 per cent of micro businesses (that have under 10 employees) do not measure staff appreciation either.
For those HR teams that did report collecting data on the popularity of specific employee benefits, 34 per cent of all businesses – and specifically, 41 per cent of large organisations – did so using a formal survey.
Conversely, the next most popular method for gauging how popular benefits were was through using informal feedback which 31 per cent of HR staff utilised. A suggestions box was also used by three out of ten HR staff to collect this information. However, 27 per cent simply formulated an idea of staff appreciation based on how much a benefit was utilised.
Interestingly, despite many employers failing to measure staff appreciation of benefits, four out of five employers have stated their belief that employees are “very much” or “somewhat” appreciative of the benefits package they currently receive.
However, GRiD have warned HR against solely relying on measuring utilisation rates as the industry body highlights that employees cannot fully use benefits that they are not aware of. Due to this, the body suggests that an effective communication strategy with employees regarding their benefits is highly important as this will ultimately determine the success of the benefits package.
Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for GRiD, said:
It is important to ensure that benefits keep abreast of employees’ changing circumstances. For instance, benefits that offer financial protection for dependants can become more popular as employees move through life, so it’s important to monitor regularly which benefits might be most appropriate.
The only way of really knowing what employees think about their benefits is to ask. This increases engagement and is likely to increase appreciation and utilisation.
Employers who really want to use their benefits package to foster a positive work culture in which staff feel cared for, engaged, motivated and productive, will make sure they obtain quantitative and qualitative feedback from employees at all levels, and particularly as new generations enter the workforce. This applies in all cases whether the benefits in question are employer–sponsored life assurance, income protection, critical illness, wider health and wellbeing benefits or something totally out of the ordinary. In fact, the benefits that are the most highly valued during difficult times, such as the current pandemic, can often be the more traditional ones – but unless employers ask they won’t find out.
*This research was undertaken by Opinium on behalf of GriD who surveyed 500 HR decision makers in January 2020.
Monica Sharma is an English Literature graduate from the University of Warwick. As Editor for HRreview, her particular interests in HR include issues concerning diversity, employment law and wellbeing in the workplace. Alongside this, she has written for student publications in both England and Canada. Monica has also presented her academic work concerning the relationship between legal systems, sexual harassment and racism at a university conference at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
My experience is that employees really appreciate good sick pay cover and a solid pension fund contribution. Both of these cost proper money and are under attack from employers for that reason.
All the rest is just fluff and nonsense – and yet these are the very things that I am being pressurised by my HR manager to investigate as potential offerings. “As long as it doesn’t have a direct cost” she says.
We’re not all gym bunnies or falling over ourselves to get a cheap ticket to the 02, thank you.