"Communication of employee benefits is key, and our research shows that more employers need to make it more of a habit."
- Katharine Moxham, Spokesperson for GRiD
Of those surveyed (500), over a third (34%) of employers believe their staff are not aware of, or don’t understand, all the employee benefits they’re offering. This applies to pensions, healthcare, and group risk benefits – employer-sponsored Life Assurance, Income Protection (IP), and Critical Illness (CI).
Group Risk Development (GRiD) believes this demonstrates that employers are cognisant that they need to reach more employees and help them better understand what benefits are available to them.
Speaking with staff (1,210), only 44% think they have a good understanding of health & wellbeing benefits. 78% of employers actively encourage staff to use the benefits they provide, whilst 18% leave it to employees to initiate the take-up of benefits.
The most common means of communication was a staff welcome pack (35%), followed by ‘on day one of employment’ (33%), staff handbook (31%), staff noticeboards (29%), via email campaigns (29%), via the company’s intranet (28%), and via support from advisers/providers to run online & in-person promotional days (26%).
GRiD believes that communication of employee benefits should be a matter of routine and not a one-off exercise. Employers should also maximise the resources they have available to them from added-value partners, including support from providers, advisers, and employee liaison groups.
Over the next twelve months, 39% of employers said they will increase encouragement to use available benefits, followed by placing more emphasis on support for all areas of health & wellbeing (36%), increasing the amount of communication (34%), and improving their investment in this area (31%).
“It’s important to remember that an organisation’s workforce is not a static entity: new people are appointed, some leave, people return from absence, and so even those employers who feel they’re doing well cannot rest on their laurels,” explained Katharine Moxham, Spokesperson for GRiD.
She said: “It’s important to continually improve communication so that all employees know how to access and utilise employee benefits if they need them, because only then will benefits be truly valued and appreciated.
“Whether a member of staff chooses to engage or not, all employees will feel better disposed and more loyal to an organisation when it’s proactive about the support it offers. Communication of employee benefits is key, and our research shows that more employers need to make it more of a habit,” Katharine concluded.
