Only 12% Of Employees Are Truly Happy With Their Benefits: Here’s Why Your Rewards Aren’t Making An Impact

Why Your Benefits May Not Be Making An Impact

The best employee benefits are the ones your team truly value and engage with. If staff don’t understand or value what’s on offer, that investment risks falling flat. From poor communication to misaligned offerings, here’s why your benefits might not be hitting the mark — and how to turn things around.

Lack Of Communication

One of the biggest hurdles to effective benefits utilisation is poor communication. Only 11% of employees said they receive regular updates about their benefits, meaning the valuable perks businesses are paying are being forgotten, leaving employees feeling unrewarded – despite the availability of benefits.

How To Fix It: Prioritise Communication And Education

Having a great benefits package is only half the battle—it’s useless if employees don’t know how to access or make the most of it. To drive real engagement, you need to back your offering with a clear, proactive communication strategy.

Here’s how to bridge the gap:

• Provide clear, step-by-step guidance on how to access each benefit
• Share real-life examples of how benefits can be used in practice
• Ensure HR teams are approachable and visible for support and questions
• Send regular updates via email, chat, or your employee benefits platform
• Host interactive sessions or webinars to bring benefits to life
• Create easy-to-access resources, such as guides and FAQs.

By making communication and education a priority, you empower employees to understand, use, and truly value the benefits on offer — turning a passive package into an active part of their overall reward experience.

Misalignment Between Employer Offerings And Employee Needs

There’s no use investing in benefits if they’re not suitable for your team. Our survey found that employees value flexible working, a four-day workweek, and enhanced pensions, yet employer offerings are falling short.

Without aligning benefits with what employees actually want, you risk wasting your budget on irrelevant offerings (this is where benefits benchmarking is essential).

What Employees Get

We asked employees what benefits they currently receive from their employer. The most common were:

• Remote / Hybrid Working (38%)
• Enhanced Pension Contributions (33%)
• Flexible Working (30%)
• Salary Sacrifice Schemes (22%).

… vs. What They Want

It’s great to see some common ground between what employees are getting and what they truly value—Flexible Working and Enhanced Pension Contributions are clearly hitting the mark.

However, a disconnect remains. Benefits such as Company Health Insurance, Dental Cover and group risk products (Critical Illness Cover, Death In Service, and Income Protection) are in high demand among employees. Yet despite their popularity, relatively few employers appear to be offering them—highlighting a significant opportunity for organisations to better align their benefits package with what today’s workforce is really looking for.

How To Fix It: Tailor Benefits To Employee Needs

Not sure what your employees really want? Start by asking them. Regular surveys are a simple yet powerful way to uncover which benefits matter most.

The data is clear: employers who align their offering with employee priorities—such as flexible working, enhanced pensions, and better healthcare benefits—gain a real competitive edge. And crucially, meeting these expectations doesn’t have to break the bank.

• Enhanced Pension Contributions
  Enhanced pension contributions are consistently in high demand—and the good news for employers is that there’s a cost-neutral way to deliver them. By offering a Salary Sacrifice Workplace Pension, you can increase your employer contributions without adding to your overall benefits spend.
• Group Life Insurance
  Death In Service is a benefit that offers significant emotional and financial value, yet remains one of the most affordable to provide. It’s a small cost for employers, but one that carries real weight with staff, reinforcing a culture of care and security.
• Health Benefits
  Not all companies can afford to offer Private Health Insurance—it’s one of the more expensive benefits to provide. However, a Corporate Health Cash Plan offers a cost-effective alternative. These plans help cover the cost of everyday health expenses, such as dental care, eye tests and glasses, and physiotherapy.

Tailoring your benefits package to reflect what employees actually want isn’t just good practice—it’s a key driver of engagement, loyalty, and long-term business success.

By addressing the disconnect between what employees want and what they receive, employers can boost satisfaction, retain top talent, and reduce turnover.

A comprehensive benefits package demonstrates your commitment to your team’s wellbeing, leading to higher productivity and a more motivated workforce.

Nick Nelms
Senior Consultant, Employee Benefits

Bridge The Benefits Gap

Employee benefits are only as valuable as their visibility and relevance. If businesses fail to communicate, align, and educate employees on their benefits, they risk wasting money on underutilised perks. By bridging the gap between what employees need and what they receive, you can build a happier, healthier, and more engaged workforce.

Is your benefits strategy working? If not, it’s time to rethink how you communicate and deliver employee perks. Call 02074425880 or email help@drewberry.co.uk to review your employee benefits package and ensure it’s making the impact it should.

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