We spend a lot of time and money on our benefits packages. According to Boundless, the typical UK company spends between £100 and £200 per month per employee with a medium-sized business providing on average 30 benefits or wellbeing initiatives to support staff. We provide support for mental health via EAPs. We give access to healthcare professionals via cash plans, online GPs or private medical schemes. We enable discounted purchasing through Salary Sacrifice technology, retail discounts or own-brand discounts.  And yet according to Vitality, only 30% of employees know what’s on offer. Why?

In some rare cases, it may suit us not to over-promote our benefits. One example might be private medical where increased usage often pushes up premiums, which inevitably ends up costing us more. If this is the case, we should question why we are providing the benefit, and whether it is still right for us. Is it to look good? Is it to appear competitive? Or is it to support our employees, enable them to work at their best and help our business to thrive?

I believe in most cases it is the latter - so why do so few employees understand what is on offer? The challenge comes in multiple phases.

1. Maximising the on-boarding window - we bombard new employees with a whole load of information at the recruitment and induction stage. Recruitment often piques people's interest but the information we provide usually lacks detail. For example, you provide private medical or a car, but what exactly is the cover or type of car? 
    
2. Maintaining Information flow – when employees start, they are typically overwhelmed with a massive wave of information, either in a single sitting or via a hefty handbook that very few will take the time to read. Beyond this, some companies provide annual Total Reward Statements but the information is often at a cursory level (you get X and it’s worth Y) and does not spell out how to access it. 
    
3. Investing in Managers - we rely on our managers to do a lot: advise, manage, guide, signpost, coach and often be operational themselves. But do we sit down with them enough to train them about everything within a benefits package? Do they know enough about the discounted legal services in our EAP that might benefit a member of staff going through a divorce or moving house? These benefits are only as good as the sign-posting they receive.

4. Enabling Accessibility and the power of Single Sign-On (SSO) - as a business you will negotiate with different providers for the best deals and may end up with 10 different logins to access the benefits. This can be unworkable for the most diligent of employees and impossible for mobile or deskless workers.

5. Communication – even with email, teams, whatsapp, text message and in-app notifications it’s not easy communicating with staff. Often this overload of options is the problem. How do we cut through the noise and land the messages about the benefits we offer? Once a year around pay review is not enough, weekly is probably too much. Communication needs to be relevant, frequent enough and memorable.

Embracing Digital Solutions: HAPI

In this digital age of Amazon and Netflix, we want everything at our fingertips all the time, and our benefits are no different. Gen Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 - will account for 27% of the global workforce by 2025 and attracting and retaining this cohort requires a different approach. They want accessibility and authenticity, and when they’re dealing with their benefits, they expect the same consumer-grade tech they use to consume everything on a daily basis.

A key focus for many HRDs right now is simplifying and modernising processes, while reducing overheads and improving retention. We know that the cost of employee turnover is high, and research shows that benefits can have an impact on employee loyalty.

This is why we developed HAPI - a mobile-enabled app that tackles all the above issues in one solution, putting your entire benefits proposition in the palm of every employee’s hand. Single Sign-On (SSO) allows them to access all their services in one place, whether they’re on the app or accessing the system via a browser. Your employee can literally stand in the queue at B&Q and buy a voucher for the amount they need, while booking an appointment with the online GP, looking up pension information and checking their holiday allowance. It doesn’t get more seamless than that.

With push notifications and other communications options available, HR can engage with employees by sending messages or reminders at key points in the year. They can also align a communications campaign to personal circumstances, making the deal come alive. We believe great benefits platforms offer accessibility, personalisation and meaning.

If we can help you generate a better ROI for your benefits spend, please get in touch with Justine at Justine.Woolf@innecto.com.

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