23 Jun 2022
Employers invest significant sums on benefits such as Workplace Pension, Private Medical Insurance and Group Risk Insurances. It is therefore vital that staff understand and more importantly appreciate the value of these benefits.
GRiD (the industry body for the group risk sector) has carried out some new research1 which shows that 42% of employees don’t know about or understand all their employee benefits. According to Human Resources (HR):
- 25% are aware of them but don’t understand them all
- 11% are aware of some of them, and
- 6% don’t know about or understand any of them
Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for GRiD, said: ‘Employers put in a lot of time, effort and resources to get the right benefits for their staff. For them to be valued, utilised and understood, it’s absolutely vital that companies communicate them.’
Methods used to communicate benefits included apps, written and promotional campaigns. Employees themselves were asked how they like to have their benefits communicated, and the order of popularity largely mirrors what companies are doing. This is all illustrated in the chart below.
43% of employers say they changed how they communicate their benefits in light of the pandemic. 60% increased their activity, 53% placed more emphasis on their support for wellbeing and 45% increased their investment. 8% of employers admit to not communicating any employee benefits at all.
This is some really interesting research which certainly provides some food for thought. Communication is key to getting good value out of any benefit spend. There isn’t a one size fits all approach for employers but communicating regularly and using a mix of methods would be a good starting point.
It is also vital that employees, HR and line managers are aware of all the embedded help that comes with a group risk product and how to use it to best effect. Wingate Benefit Solutions work with employers of all different shapes and sizes to help with the design and implementation of an effective communication strategy. If you would like to discuss how we can help you please do get in touch.
1The research was undertaken by Opinium during January 2022 among 501 HR decision-makers and 1,212 employees at UK businesses.
