REBA Innovation Day: What innovations in technology would employers like to see?

Benefits technology providers must provide platforms and solutions that more closely resemble the consumer experience if employers are to really engage their employees in their benefits solutions, according to a panel discussion at the REBA Innovation Day 2016.

Watch the panel session 'What do employers want from truly innovative reward technology' in full.

“It’s the ability of the platforms to treat the employees as customers,” said Paul Bissell, head of rewards and policy at Three and part of the panel debate at the event. “They are so used to a digital world outside of work that’s slick, easy and informed,” he said.

Damien Teisseire, global rewards director at Experian, said that he was after agility that allowed companies to react to change “where people have the choice in the same way as customers will have a choice,” he said.

By providing a better user experience will also help to boost engagement, said Sam Kirk, reward director at TalkTalk. “The employee has to be at the centre of the technology you are using. Your employees need to sell your business and one of the best ways is to get them to really engage with benefits,” she said. “The market of consumers is changing and people expect to have everything at their fingertips. Benefits technology is evolving but I’m not sure it’s there yet – it still feels a bit clunky,” she said.

But persuading others in business to invest in a consumer type experience can be a challenge, according to Bissell. “It frustrates me how much time you spend in business trying to convince people to spend budget in terms of improving these types of systems where if you had substituted customer for employee you wouldn’t be having that debate, you would be constantly innovating,” he said.

This video was recorded at the REBA Innovation Day 2016.