"If employees don’t appreciate their benefits, then it is going to be difficult for them to achieve what they are designed to do. Preventing ill health, both physical and mental, is a key reason for offering health and well-being benefits."
- Katharine Moxham, GRiD spokesperson
Group protection benefits can and do help prevent suicide in numerous ways, from providing access to mental health support such as counselling to financial support with debt and money worries, reports GRiD. However, employee benefits can only help if they are utilised and appreciated.
According to recent research conducted by GRiD which was undertaken by over 500 HR decision makers in companies of all sizes across the UK, only 53% of companies’ staff appreciate employee benefits ‘very much’.
However, objectively worse than that statistic, GRiD’s research found that only 51% of the employers surveyed even measure staff appreciation of benefits.
GRiD believes this statistic is a consequence of missed opportunities to gauge how much a benefit is really used after discovering that only 16% of employers use Management Information (MI) on utilisation of benefits to measure staff appreciation.
The most popular methods were through informal feedback to managers or HR professionals, or through formal surveys. Both of these methods are used by 41% of employers.
Other popular methods included suggestion boxes and employee benefits forums or working groups, both used by 38% of companies.
Commenting on these statistics, Katharine Moxham, GRiD spokesperson, has said:
“Employer-sponsored life assurance, income protection, and critical illness all include a great deal of support for mental wellbeing. But if these benefits are not being communicated and appreciated, then they are not able to perform to their full potential and their well-being may suffer as a result.
“Suicide is preventable, and the support within employee benefits can help with this. Employers can play their part by joining in with this year’s theme of creating hope through action and boosting understanding and appreciation of the benefits they have in place to support their people. This will, in turn, lead to better mental health outcomes.”
