Expert view: Data maturity is critical to effecting employee benefits change and success
The role of a reward professional has never been more pivotal nor challenging, as they try to meet both the growing expectations of employees and growing demands for robustness from internal stakeholders.
With organisations pushing for performance and productivity, and the competition for talent as strong as ever, reward professionals are having to respond to more change than they are likely to have seen at any other point in their careers.
Yet, with the nervousness of economic uncertainty, getting buy-in to effect change is harder than ever.
Making better decisions
And so to the Benefits Design Research 2025. We wanted to help those responsible for benefits and wellbeing get a better understanding of what is required to govern their programmes, make better decisions and get sign-off for change.
This is why we focused on data – the type of data to use; its importance in the decision-making process; the difference in outcomes when data is used well; and how to remove barriers to improve data maturity.
The results, although not surprising, were illuminating.
They show the gulf between those who are using data to their fullest advantage and those who are at the start of their data journey, commonly not getting the outcomes they desire.
As a result, this year’s research acts as a blueprint for those seeking to improve the running of their plans.
So, what have we learned from the responses? First, almost everyone recognises the importance of multiple data sets to inform the performance of their benefits.
That said, there is almost always a significant gap between the recognition of the value of more data and its availability – for most, lack of data is the first major hurdle to success.
Addressing the lack of tools and skills
That lack of ability to use data is often compounded by a lack of tools and skills internal to the reward function.
The industry can, and should, do more to make data maturity a reality for more practitioners, especially as external data is so hard to acquire directly.
And when it comes to the use of data, even for those with data at their fingertips, there is a big gap between what is available and what is reported to senior leadership.
There is clearly a need for upward reporting to show the performance of programmes, to engage senior stakeholders before they are asked to pass judgment on proposals for change.
This all leads to the question of how big is the impact of immature data practices in management benefits programmes?
Well, more than one-third of respondents have seen proposals either fully or partially rejected in the recent past, and upwards of 80% expect future proposals to be rejected without better use of data and clear evidence of impact.
What does this mean for reward professionals?
You need, with the help of your partners, to refocus efforts on the better use of data if you are going to convince your stakeholders of the value of programmes, your efforts, and the action to take to deliver yet more value.
Supplied by REBA Associate Member, Howden Employee Benefits
Howden provides insurance broking, risk management and claims consulting services, globally. We work with clients of all sizes to provide dedicated employee benefits & wellbeing consultancy.
