Getting started with a benefits platform: A practical guide for HR leaders

A benefits platform is only as good as its engagement and it’s an issue that organisations often fail to appreciate.

In today’s competitive talent market, organisations increasingly recognise the strategic value of employee benefits.

Offering benefits isn’t enough on its own; employees need to understand, access and engage with them. Yet research shows this is often where organisations fall short.

A recent survey found that 80% of professionals in the UK fail to fully utilise workplace benefits, with 35% expressing dissatisfaction with their current plans. This is because they don’t know what’s available or how to use them.

This engagement gap underscores a fundamental truth: a benefits platform is only as good as its ease of adoption and ongoing engagement. For HR and reward professionals, choosing and implementing the right platform is not a technical exercise, it’s a strategic imperative.

The scale of the challenge

Half of UK employers already use an online benefits platform, and another 21% are planning to implement one within the next three years. Yet uptake is not synonymous with engagement.

Many organisations still struggle to communicate benefits clearly, fewer than four in ten HR decision-makers believe their employees fully understand their benefits packages.

Simultaneously, HR teams face pressure on multiple fronts: engagement is becoming harder to achieve, with around 37% of employers reporting increased difficulty driving employee engagement.

Meanwhile, a significant minority of HR professionals feel under-equipped to balance people function needs, hampered by legacy systems, competing priorities and saturated communications channels.

These trends point to a simple truth: platform choice and rollout execution matter more than ever. A seamless, intuitive benefits experience can help organisations maximise utilisation, drive engagement and support broader wellbeing and retention strategies.

Define your objectives before you evaluate solutions

The strongest implementations begin not with software selection but with strategic clarity. Before shortlisting vendors:

Clarify your benefit objectives: Are you aiming to enhance financial wellbeing, support mental health, strengthen work–life flexibility, or all of the above?
Understand employee priorities: Use surveys or focus groups to identify what your workforce values most and where there may be gaps.
Agree success metrics: Whether uptake, satisfaction scores, reduction in support tickets, or engagement with specific benefit categories, clarity on metrics will help you assess platforms objectively.

Framing your requirements around outcomes and not features prevents decision-by-checklist and ensures the platform you choose aligns with your strategy.

Prioritise user experience and engagement

A key reason benefits platforms fail to deliver ROI is low utilisation, often driven by poor navigation, unclear communication and fragmented access. When employees don’t understand the value available to them, the best intentions fall flat.

Research shows that digital benefits platforms can improve visibility and access, but only when they provide clear, centralised information and 24/7 availability. A modern platform should make it easy for employees to find, compare and use benefits without friction, regardless of work location or schedule.

This also means prioritising platforms with built-in engagement mechanisms, from targeted notifications to personalised dashboards that highlight relevant offers. Enabling employees to engage with benefits as part of their daily workflow dramatically increases utilisation and satisfaction.

Think holistically: integration and support are key

Technical ease of rollout is another critical factor. In the broader HR technology landscape, many organisations struggle with integration and adoption challenges: more than half of companies report issues integrating new HR technologies with existing systems, and nearly half cite difficulty customising solutions to their needs.

For benefits platforms, this can translate into administrative complexity, data silos, and user frustration. Choosing a provider that supports smooth integration with payroll, HRIS and communication tools reduces administrative burden and lowers barriers to employee adoption.

Moreover, HR leaders consistently tell us they want strategic support alongside technology, not just dashboards and self-service portals. A platform provider that offers onboarding guidance, insights into utilisation trends, and ongoing consultation can help ensure the platform continues to deliver value long after the initial launch.

In the context of these industry challenges, benefits solutions that combine ease of use, broad-based employee value, and dedicated support are increasingly compelling.

The alignment between strategic intent and platform capability is what separates technology deployments that simply “tick a box” from those that transform the employee experience.

Measure, learn and iterate

Finally, implementation should not be treated as a one-off project. The most effective benefits platforms provide real-time insights into uptake and engagement, enabling HR teams to identify trends, refine communications, and adapt offerings over time.

By focusing on outcomes rather than features, and by choosing a platform that balances usability with strategic impact, organisations can not only overcome the common pitfalls of benefits rollout but also drive meaningful improvements in employee satisfaction, retention and wellbeing.

To learn more about BHN Extras and how to enhance your benefits strategy for 2026, request a demo.