Suspect packages
Staff simply don’t understand flexible benefits, says new studyFlexible benefits have been a part of the HR landscape for many years. However, cost and complexity have dissuaded many organisations from making it part of their employee deal.
Now it seems there’s another problem with it – staff just don’t understand what the heck is going on.
A recent study by Davidson Asset Management has looked into issues with employee benefits, and found that a whopping 87% of employees believe it’s the employer’s responsibility to explain how they can get the most from their employee benefits package.
The study was conducted in three parts. First, there was a qualitative study in the form of telephone interviews with six business leaders. Second, there was an online quantitative survey completed by 439 employees. Third, there was a focus group held at Hult International Business School.
The findings were discussed at a breakfast seminar held at London’s Café Royal this month.
One suggestion that arose from the study – with which nearly 75% of respondents agreed – was that employees should be given an additional pot of money to purchase their own benefits from providers they know and trust.
But at the seminar, panellist Steve Rockey (Head of People at Big Easy and HRville columnist) doubted the efficacy of the idea.
‘You can’t just give more cash in pocket and expect it to be spent on benefits,’ he said. ‘Although most employers could certainly widen the choice of benefits on offer.”
Now vs. Future
When asked to design their own employee benefits package, an overwhelming majority of respondents (86%) put pensions at the top of the pile.
But more than two fifths (41%) were more concerned with buying a house than saving for the future.
Also speaking at the seminar, Zuleika Fennell, the COO of Corbin and King, admitted this came as little surprise. ‘The rise in living costs is rapidly changing what our employees want and need from their benefits packages,’ she said.
This view was echoed during the focus group at Hult International Business School. One participant said: ‘We need homes, and we need food to eat. People today are much more worried about buying a home or doing the weekly shop than they are about pensions.’
‘Financial wellbeing’
So, 87% per cent believe it is the employer’s responsibility to explain how they can get the most from their employee benefits package.
This puts pressure on employers to deliver financial education – to increase engagement with benefits and, arguably, to fulfil their duty of care as an employer.
The Hult students were also in agreement that financial education is important, and they say, a key consideration in deciding where to work.
As the seminar panelist Stacey Lawrence (Head of HR, The Dorchester) put it, ‘As HR professionals we talk a lot about wellbeing. That mustn’t just focus on health, but financial wellbeing too.”
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