25% Of UK Employees Unsatisfied With Their Employee Benefits

Benefits Employers Can’t Afford To Ignore

So if a quarter of employees are unsatisfied with their benefits, what do they want from their employers? We asked respondents which benefits were most attractive to them and more specifically which ones they want their company to introduce.

Insurance Policies That Protect Employees & Their Loved Ones Most Attractive

Insurance policies which protect employees and their loved ones (19%) were seen as the most attractive benefits. This was followed by:

• Financial support and education (18%)
• Rewards & gifts to be used outside of work e.g. staff retail discount schemes (16%)
• Benefits that help with managing and maintaining health (15%).

Employees Want Flexible Working & Work-From Home Options

To break this down further we then asked employees what benefits they would most like to receive from their employer. The data shows that 43% of respondents said flexible working was the benefit they’d like the most. This was followed by:

• Work from home options (41%)
• Additional employer pension contributions (40%)
• Group Medical Insurance (36%)
• Group Critical Illness Insurance (28%)
• Company Life Insurance (26%).

Flexible working topped the list in terms of the benefit employees would most like to receive. Despite this, only 36% of employees said that they currently get it as an employee benefit, placing it fourth on the list of benefits employees actually receive. It is a similar story with critical illness insurance. 28% of respondents said that they would like it as a benefit, yet only 11% of employees receive it.

It seems that there is some disparity between what employees get and what they want. This in turn is causing dis-satisfaction.

Group risk products were named in the top five paid for benefits employees wanted to see. They offer good protection and financial security to staff.

They can also be highly cost effective, especially when you take into consideration the free additional benefits that many come with.

Nick Nelms
Senior Consultant, Employee Benefits

How To Improve Satisfaction

Employee benefits are great for supporting your team’s physical, mental, and financial health. However in order to be affective they need to align with the needs of your employees.

Our data has shown that poor benefit choice can lead to dissatisfied and even unhappy staff. This in turn can lead to low levels of engagement, motivation and productivity. But it’s not just about offering the right benefits. If no one knows about them, it’s as good as not having any at all.

Communication Is Key

Shockingly 33% of respondents said that they had never (23%) received information about their benefits or they had but only when first joining their company (11%). This highlights that as an employer you might already be offering valuable benefits which meet the needs of your employees, they just don’t know about them.

Employees listed additional workplace pension employer contributions as one the benefits they would like to see most, however in a previous survey we found that 41.5% of employees didn’t even know how much their employer contributed. This shows that some employees just aren’t aware of what’s on offer.

Having a clear plan, such as a total reward strategy, can help to ensure that the employee benefits you offer align with the needs of your business and employees.

It also helps to make sure that what’s on offer is communicated effectively at regular points throughout the year.

Nadeem Farid
Head Of Health & Wellbeing