The wellbeing benefits story nobody wants to tell

Perks that employees actually use are one of the most powerful retention tools available.

A familiar scenario that plays out in organisations up and down the country every year.

The HR team spends months designing a benefits package. They include a gym benefit - probably a subsidised membership to one specific provider - tick the wellbeing box, and move on.

Employees receive an all-staff email. A handful sign up. Most don't. Nobody's quite sure why. The gym benefit sits there, quietly not working, year after year.

You're not alone. Around 6 in 10 employees say they are not using the benefits available to them. And wellbeing benefits - despite being one of the fastest-growing areas of investment - are often among the worst offenders for low uptake.

The reason isn't that employees don't care about their health. The reason is that the benefits weren't designed around who employees actually are.

The average employee doesn't go to the gym

In our webinar, we introduced the concept of the 'average employee' — the fictional composite that most benefits packages are quietly designed around. Mid-thirties, full-time, office-based, broadly healthy, probably near the head office location.

When it comes to wellbeing benefits, this average employee assumption is particularly damaging. Because what works for one person is completely irrelevant to another.

Take fitness. Jamie, 28, lives in central Manchester and wants access to boutique fitness studios and yoga classes that fit around shift patterns. Kieran, 41, is based in a market town in Somerset — the nearest branded gym is a 35-minute drive away. Aisha, 34, works remotely and needs something flexible enough to use whenever she can carve out the time, not a fixed membership tied to one location.

Same benefits package. Three people who can't use it.

If your gym benefit only works for employees who live near the right postcode, prefer the right type of workout, and can get there at the right time — it isn't really a benefit for most of your workforce. It's a benefit for some of them. And increasingly, employees know the difference.

The wellbeing investment gap

Here's the uncomfortable bit. Most organisations are increasing their wellbeing investment. Our research shows 77% of HR leaders say their business is now investing more into health and wellbeing benefits than before. That's significant budget.

But only 24% of employees feel their wellbeing is taken seriously where they work.

That is not a small gap. That is an almost complete disconnect between what employers think they're providing and what employees are actually experiencing. And it points to the same root cause as low benefits uptake in general: investment without insight.

Just over half (56%) of employees say the quality of their benefits package has a direct impact on their morale at work. Wellbeing support that doesn't feel relevant doesn't just fail to help - it actively signals to employees that their employer doesn't really understand them.

Flexibility is the fix

The shift happening in wellbeing benefits right now is away from one-size-fits-all provision and towards flexible, accessible, genuinely useful support. And nowhere is this clearer than in fitness benefits.

The old model - a corporate membership to one gym chain, usually near head office, take it or leave it - is finally on its way out. And about time.

Because a gym benefit that only works for employees who live near the right location, prefer the right kind of exercise, and can get there at the right time isn't really a benefit for most of your workforce. It's a benefit for some of them. And increasingly, employees know the difference.

Just over half (55%) of employees say they'd be more likely to exercise if their employer offered a discounted gym membership or passes to classes. The demand is there. The question is whether what you're offering is flexible enough to meet it.

Wellbeing as a retention strategy

Employees with high benefit satisfaction are significantly more likely to still be with their employer in two years.

Epassi research found that 63% of employees would now leave their role if another company offered them a better benefits package — rising to 71% of Gen Z employees and 70% of Millennials. And with 62% saying a company's benefits package is the most important consideration when choosing an employer (up from 42% in 2023), the stakes have never been higher.