Leverage data insights to forecast benefits requirements - here's how
Employee benefits represent one of the largest investments many organisations make after salaries. Yet research shows half of UK HR leaders think their workplace benefits aren't working, and two-thirds believe the benefits they offer “don't address what people really need" or are "only useful to some of the workforce".
Meanwhile, only 54% of employees are satisfied with the benefits their company provides. The disconnect is telling – it's hard to design benefits packages that deliver value when you don't really understand what employees need.
Data insights help, give employers the insights they need, but its important that we also look beyond the numbers. Forecasting what benefits you'll need means combining solid data analysis with assessment and, crucially, the communication and leadership that turns those insights into something useful and beneficial for employee health and wellbeing.
Start with what you already know
Absence records, healthcare utilisation, benefits uptake rates (including pensions), demographics, employee survey responses – the data is all there. The trick is pulling it together so it tells you something meaningful and gives you a place to start from.
Take a proper look at your workforce demographics. What's the age profile now compared to five years ago? That trend line tells you something about where you're heading. An ageing workforce brings different healthcare needs than a younger one.
Check absence patterns too. Mental ill health is now the leading cause of long-term absence, affecting 41% of organisations, while musculoskeletal issues keep cropping up year after year.
This baseline work is crucial. An organisation can't measure progress without knowing your starting point.
Use benchmarking data
Your organisation doesn't exist in a bubble. Benchmarking helps you work out whether your experience is unique or part of something bigger. Average sickness absence has hit 9.4 days per employee per year across UK organisations – how does your business compare with this.
It is always important to understand how benchmarking has been done and contextualise within your own organisation.
Sector data matters here. A professional services firm faces different challenges to a manufacturing business. Benchmarking shows you whether your emerging issues reflect wider sector pressures or flag something specific you need to tackle.
It also helps with forecasting. If mental health support demand is climbing across your sector, that trend probably isn't going to miss your organisation. Understanding what's happening elsewhere helps you get ahead of what's coming your way.
Connect the dots
A very common headache for organisations is that their data lives in several different places. HR systems have demographics. Healthcare providers have utilisation data. Benefits platforms track engagement. Absence records are somewhere else entirely. Each source shows you part of the picture.
You don't necessarily need shiny new systems to make progress with this. Start with what you've got. Can you manually combine key datasets to see what patterns emerge? Even basic integration beats working from isolated silos where nothing connects.
Spot patterns before they become problems
Good forecasting means catching the early signals rather than waiting until something's already a crisis. A slow climb in mental health-related absence over six months probably isn't going to reverse itself. A sudden jump in physiotherapy claims might tell you there's a musculoskeletal issue brewing that you could solve with some preventative work.
Watch for where issues concentrate too. If stress-related absence clusters in particular departments or age groups, you know where to focus. If younger employees aren't touching your health benefits, maybe the offering doesn't match their needs, or maybe they just don't know about it.
Past patterns give you clues about what's coming, but catching them early means you've got time to do something before they're locked in.
Turn insights into action
Data insights are great for helping to provide guidance on the types of support employees will most benefit from. But if employees don't know what's available or don't believe they can use it without consequences, your uptake stays low with unused benefits. This makes it both ineffective at providing support, but it’s also a waste of investment.
Data shows that only 54% of employees are satisfied with the benefits their company provides, which suggests a big gap between what's offered and what people really need or understand.
Leadership visibility makes a massive difference here. When senior people visibly use benefits and talk about them, it normalises access in a way policy documents never will.
Communication can't be bolted on at the end. If your data says mental health support needs to expand, that expansion only works if people know it exists and feel comfortable using it. If forecasting suggests you'll need eldercare support as your workforce ages, launching it without clear explanation limits how effective it will be.
Keep the conversation going
Benefits forecasting shouldn't be something you dust off once a year when renewals loom. Workforce needs shift continuously, as do external factors such as healthcare costs, legislation and sector-specific pressures.
Regular reviews enable organisations to stay alert to emerging patterns and be ready to adjust when the data justifies it. Start small if you need to – focus on connecting a few key data sources and set up a quarterly review rhythm. Your forecasting capability will build from there.
Data insights are essential for forecasting future benefits requirements, but they're not enough on their own. The organisations getting this right combine solid data analysis with honest assessment, benchmarking, integrated systems, early pattern recognition, strong communication and visible leadership. This combination, time and again, delivers results.
Supplied by REBA Associate Member, HCML
HCML is a health and wellbeing provider, offering integrated and personalised healthcare solutions.
