Balancing employee benefits feedback with the needs of your business

By Cheryl Clements, head of business development, Tusker

The positive impact employee benefits have on the workforce is undeniable, and when employees are happy, the business benefits enormously. In fact, 75% of employees reported that they’re more likely to stay with an employer if they have a well-structured benefits package; 80% would choose additional benefits over a pay rise; and 69% of talent would more likely choose one job over another if it offered better benefits.

So how do you capitalise on these impressive statistics?

It’s vital to listen to your employees.

The modern workforce expects flexible, meaningful and digitally accessible benefits – and your staff may desire perks you wouldn’t have even thought of. Ignoring employee feedback neglects the diverse needs of workers, leading to disengagement, burnout and high turnover which works against every business goal you have set.

Here’s how to balance employee feedback with business priorities to create a benefits package that works for everyone.

Step one – Align employee benefits with business strategy

Before updating your benefits, it’s important to find core choices that would support the long-term goals of your organisation. Great questions to keep in mind include:

• Do our benefits promote employee wellbeing, mental health and work/life balance?
• Are they aligned with sustainability and CSR goals?
• Can we integrate benefits to create better outcomes for both staff and the organisation?
• What budget is available, and how can we ensure cost-efficiency (e.g. through salary sacrifice)?
• What technology platforms do we have to manage and track benefits efficiently?
• How do our benefits compare to competitors?

A strategic approach ensures your benefits support organisational growth while supporting the wellbeing of employees to help them thrive.

Step two – Understand employee needs

Market data is great when understanding how your package compares externally, and while this is useful, it doesn’t help identify what truly matters – what best fits your staff. With varied lived experiences, and different demographics, your workforce may not fit the mould of the general population, so make sure to base benefits on them, not just through national statistics.

Effective employee consultation methods include:

• Anonymous online surveys for honest feedback.
• Focus groups for in-depth discussions
• One-on-one conversations for nuanced insights, especially for hybrid teams.

With the powerful combination of organisational and employee insight, you’re ready to take the next step in delivering benefits that work for everyone.

Once you know what staff want from their benefits, analyse how to implement them effectively to reduce administrative burden and enhance the employee experience. Important questions to answer for an effective roll out include:

• Which benefits are company-funded versus voluntary?
• What are the implementation costs, including administration and tech support?
• Are there tax incentives that can reduce costs?
• How will the benefits affect retention, engagement and productivity?

Within your analysis, it is important to recognise that while some benefits may not be measurable, they provide intangible returns. For example, providing staff with funds to elevate their home office won’t show up in financial return data, but it does a lot for morale and loyalty which disperses into productivity levels and enhanced efficiency.

Step 4 – Communicate benefits effectively 

Once you know what employees need to thrive at work, it’s just as important to communicate their implementation effectively. In order for benefits to work, they have to have high take-up and for this to happen, employees need to know they exist and why they were chosen. To do this:

• Set expectations, explaining which suggestions were implemented and why some weren’t, making sure any disappointment is addressed and doesn’t turn into resentment.
• Launch with a multi-communication campaign, maximising employee reach no matter their demographic, role or location through email, intranet, webinars, Teams or even post – explaining benefits, enrollment, usage and financial consideration.
• Reinforce regularly to maintain awareness by sharing updates, reminders and colleague success stories that encourage adoption.

Step 5 – Measure, adapt and evolve

Benefits cannot and should not be static. They need to evolve with the times and the changing needs of employees. Since 2019, workplaces have been revolutionised by hybrid set-ups and Artificial Intelligence, which have had major impacts on what employees want, expect and engage with. Make sure your benefits don’t fall behind. It’s important to track: 

• Employee engagement and satisfaction
• Benefit uptake and ROI
• Alignment with changing organisational strategy and workforce expectations.

Continuously reviewing and adapting benefits keeps your organisation competitive and shows your employees that they matter.

Integrating employee feedback with strategic business goals creates a benefits package that improves retention, engagement and organisational success.

For example, Tusker’s car benefit scheme supports sustainability, employee mobility, financial wellbeing and engagement, helping companies become employers of choice.