Translating employee benefits to really mean something for employees

Give your staff a much clearer view of their benefits

It’s not enough to list the perks and packages alongside pay if you want to motivate, enthuse and retain your people.

Why? Unless you’re a human resources professional or employee benefits consultant, these tangible, concrete gains aren’t brought to life in a way that makes everyone else really appreciate them.

And if you’re starting out in HR, are their advantages communicated even well enough for you to grasp their significance?

Take, for example, this attempt we found at defining what they are:

Employee benefits are non-cash provisions within the reward package, although they can have a financial cost for employers, for example paid holidays, pensions, or company cars.

They may be offered for business reasons, for example motivating employees to achieve organisational objectives, and/or ‘moral’ reasons based on a desire to care for employees’ wellbeing (and, in so doing, potentially enhance employee commitment). The prevailing financial, legal, and social background also plays a role in the development and shaping of benefit policies and practices.

Still reading?

Far be it from me to raise an eyebrow but if you used this language to appeal to the wider workforce, they’d be none-the-wiser.

Technically speaking, it’s spot on but that’s always been the challenge hasn’t it?

Clarifying the complicated is a big part of the advisory expertise we offer. We regularly survey the market to make sure we anticipate what our clients need.

Our latest research, carried out last year, found pensions had reclaimed its perennial top spot in the benefits HR teams consider to be the most valuable to their people. Previously, flexible working, perhaps not surprisingly, had been voted most important during the pandemic.

That’s just one result from the survey which gives you a pretty clear picture of the part employee benefits play in the working life of the UK. 

On the face of it, rattling off the extras like private medical insurance and life cover might seem like job done. After all, one of the many positive aspects of the tech transformation we are going through is to make it simple for everyone to read up on or check out something online instantly.

But think how much better it is when you’ve been able to frame their value more effectively. Deploying persuasive writing, imaginative graphic design and digital know-how informed by market knowledge can animate your employee benefits much more dynamically, in the shape of an online platform or microsite.

A platform and some guidance based on our long experience gives you boundless opportunity. That first sentence could be turned to something far more readable and persuasive, like: we give you extras beyond your salary. That means paying for your holiday time, paying into your pension and paying for your life insurance, as well as offering great deals on medical and dental care, not to mention a car or a bicycle. And you can find it all here.

The often dry, legalese-type text we’ve quoted has its place, but the way to promote the great employee benefits range your team has painstakingly assembled is yours to decide.

A good starting point is talking to us about how a platform can really give your staff a much clearer view of everything you offer them and how much more scope it gives both them and your team.