Five tips for personalising your employee benefits strategy
Employers are still struggling to find the right candidates, with tough competition for talent in many industries, despite rising business confidence, according to Total Jobs.
So how do you stand out in the competition for candidates?
Offering flexible and personalised benefits could help employers overcome recruitment and retention challenges.
With fairness and inclusivity now major drivers of benefit decisions, our Benefits Design research last year found that 70% of employers plan to introduce or increase benefits choice, flexibility, or personalisation.
Here are five strategies employers can adopt to make their benefits more personalised:
1. Get feedback from your employees
Firstly, employers need to understand the needs and expectations of their employees, so prioritising ongoing dialogue and feedback is essential. Focus groups and surveys are effective ways to do this.
By understanding what employees truly value, employers can take discernible actions to shape a more effective benefits strategy.
Analysing feedback and data are essential components of a robust benefits programme, to ensure it evolves with employees’ changing needs and perceptions.
2. Offer flexible benefits
In our opinion flexible benefits are thriving, and they continue to be the main driver of personalised benefits. Flexible benefits are not a new concept, but they are a growing one.
Employers are typically offering a broader suite of flexible options, enabling them to meet needs of a more diverse employee population, making their benefits more appealing and relevant.
And while lots of new products are entering the market, the most selected flexible benefits often remain the more traditional dental insurance, critical illness insurance and similar benefits. So look at the full spectrum of choice.
But understanding employee needs is key to getting the right mix of benefits. Some employees will focus on health and finances, others will focus on their lifestyle, wellbeing and family. Making sure you have something for everyone is a key consideration for an effective flexible benefits programme.
3. Use a wellbeing allowance
Wellbeing allowances are becoming a significant feature in personalised benefits, and they can be offered in conjunction with flexible benefits or separately.
Having a wellbeing allowance is a brilliant way for employers to get their employees engaged with their physical, mental and financial wellbeing without having to manage endless suppliers and solutions. It works like any other expense, submitted receipts to draw on the funds as and when the employee utilises a service.
Employees often have complete freedom on how to use their fund, from gym memberships to health assessments or any other wellbeing-related benefits.
This approach gives even greater flexibility than flexible benefits. By providing employees with complete flexibility to manage their own wellbeing, employers often see the value and appreciation of the allowance higher than that of other wellbeing approaches.
Wellbeing allowances also simplify the management of diverse health needs. They allow employees to address their physical, mental, and financial wellbeing in a way that suits them, without requiring employers to oversee numerous individual solutions.
4. Give employees decision-making tools
Providing employees with tools to help them understand their personal situations is essential.
The value of choice can be diminished if employees do not know which options are best suited for them – and sadly this can often be the way with flexible benefits, as employees are presented many options, but no support in knowing what’s right for them.
Decision-making tools and resources, like pension or life cover calculators, can guide employees in selecting benefits that align with their individual needs and circumstances.
For example, financial planning tools can help employees assess their situation, model retirement aspirations and set priorities, making it easier for them to make informed decisions about their benefits and the level at which to contribute.
5. Improve communication and education
Effective communication and education are key to personalising benefits. Employers need to tailor communications to ensure that employees understand the benefits available to them.
Using data, employers can develop targeted campaigns that resonate more deeply with employees, enhancing engagement and take-up of benefit.
Take pensions – we are all at different stages in our careers and our retirement planning – segmenting the workforce into relatable personas. this means employees only get the information they need typically yields a higher engagement rate than sending the ‘same old’ material to everyone.
To conclude
Personalising benefits is not a one-time effort; it requires a continuous cycle of measurement, evaluation, action and improvement.
Employers need to regularly review the effectiveness of their benefits programmes as well as gather feedback from workers on what they want.
This ensures benefits remain relevant and valuable to employees, in turn leading to a more engaged and happier workforce.
By implementing these five strategies, employers can create a more personalised benefits proposition that meets the diverse needs of their changing workforce, improving employee satisfaction and retention.
This is beneficial for both the employee and the business.
In partnership with 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.
