Do Employees care about benefits?

Everyone wants their employees to feel satisfied with their job; to feel motivated, passionate and excited for a long future with their business. But it’s not always possible, and after time or with the stresses of the workplace, disengagement and dissatisfaction can set in within your work force. The simple way to combat this is through offering employee benefits. But they are not always utilised to their fullest potential, and can be disregarded when life is busy and employees don’t always have time to understand what is given by their employer. Since the pandemic, and with it the cost of living crisis, 64%  of UK employers have been actively promoting their benefits offering, to help support their employees during difficult and financially stressful times.

But what are the best employee benefits? It’s different for every business, as no one employee’s needs are the same. For some, an EAP (employee assistance programme) will be a life line for those struggling with financial, mental health or personal life concerns. For others, the ability to own their own car with a salary sacrifice scheme peaks their interest. So it’s really important to get an idea of what your team actually needs in terms of benefits. Perhaps the top employee benefit sought after by companies today is shopping discounts. With everyone currently feeling the pinch, being able to save money on everyday expenses is an attractive offer for the majority of the UK workforce. Lifestyle savings on supermarket shopping, cinema trips and days out means that all employees no matter their circumstance or background can find a way to save money.

Providing generic and service level offers will not help your team, or encourage them to take advantage of the offers available to them. Conduct surveys, be open to suggestions and make time to listen to the ideas of your team. With all of their ideas which are specific to their own needs, you can provide a tailor made and unique set of benefits, which will satisfy and be the most essential for your team.

But you can’t just talk the talk, you have to walk the walk.In a survey conducted by GRiD, 42% of employees don’t know or understand all their employee benefits, and 25% of those know that the benefits are available to them, but don’t understand them at all. The key to success with your employee benefits is to make sure management and the team who is promoting the benefits know their way around the systems, and actually use them, too. It is all too easy to offer benefits to ‘tick the box’, but this will only cause your employees to lose motivation and increase turnover within your work place as it becomes an unhappy environment.
Being able to promote something that your larger team actively uses and is happy with is half the battle. With My Staff Shop as your benefits provider, you won’t be alone in the dark when it comes to creating your bespoke benefits packages. From the setup process  to engagement check ins, You will be able to see what is working, and what needs more promotion within your team. There is so much that a business can do for their employees, and with a majority of employees saying they would work harder for their employer that cares about their wellbeing, engaging with employee benefits is crucial for the future of businesses. 

To find the best employee benefits for your workplace, contact our team for a demo.