Employers need to take a hard look at benefits metrics before considering other actions
The decades-old, fundamental mantra of employee benefits strategy still holds fast today: it needs to align to HR strategy to perform successfully (on the assumption that HR colleagues have aligned their strategy, in turn, to business strategy).
REBA’s Benefits Design Research 2026, in partnership with Howden, examines whether the mantra lives in practice: are employers setting clear benefits performance objectives and metrics? And are benefits programmes performing well against these?
In other words, what does good benefits governance look like?
Pace and maturity
The research data shows distinctly different ‘speeds’ among employers, depending on how mature or robust their benefits performance review strategies are. The vanguard leaders have established objectives and metrics. They are ready to move on to prioritising improvement of digital tools and dashboards, as well as considering the advantages of using artificial intelligence to further enhance good benefits governance.
Beyond these vanguard leaders, a far larger number of employers are very aware that their priority needs to be to take a long hard look at their objectives and metrics. And to re-evaluate these before considering any other actions.
Workforces, society, business and technology have changed enormously over the past five years. Unless a benefits team has the bandwidth to keep on top of this pace of change (either in-house, or with the assistance of external vendors), it is tough to keep prioritising the review of metrics and objectives to check performance. Which unfortunately, as this research proves, holds back benefits programmes from achieving desired outcomes.
Set clear goals
The data in this research indicates that it is worth setting clear objectives, establishing clear metrics and reviewing these formally and robustly. The correlation is strong between well governed, strategically reviewed benefits programmes and being more likely to achieve desired outcomes.
Overcoming resource restraints (from people capacity within the benefits team through to spend on all things benefits, from advisers to platforms) is a tougher nut to crack.
Progress is being held back by limited in-house resources as well as system and process constraints. The capacity and infrastructure to use data effectively is still often lacking, except in the most mature benefits schemes. Too many frustrated practitioners are trying to grapple with data coming in from a multitude of vendors in a multitude of formats across multiple platform integrations. Many benefits teams need better systems, more bandwidth and specialist external support to improve benefits performance outcomes and governance.
To find out what good benefits governance looks like download our 4-page briefing which details the key findings or download the full Benefits Design Research 2026.
Supplied by REBA Associate Member, REBA
Supporting the reward and benefits community to pursue best practice and drive excellence in their strategies
