6 questions to ask before launching an employee benefits scheme

Building an employee benefits scheme is a major undertaking. Get it right, and you’ll have a happy, healthy workforce dedicated to driving your business forward. Get it wrong, and they become deflated, unmotivated and looking for the exit door!

In this blog post, we detail six key questions you need to ask to ensure the process is a success.

Need help finding the perfect blend of workplace perks and health insurance for your staff? Contact our friendly award-winning team on 01273 222805 or drop us an email at [email protected].

Q1: What benefits do your staff need and want?

There’s nothing worse than wasting money on benefits that your staff might not even want or need in the first place. So, start by asking them! It might seem obvious but you’d be surprised by how many start-ups and small businesses neglect to ask.

Each staff member will have different priorities and understanding them will be key to delivering the most popular benefits scheme.

The easiest way is to provide each staff member with a definitive list of options and allow them to rank in order of importance. This might include benefits such as:

• Health and protection insurance: health insurance, life insurance, income protection, dental care, eye care and more.
• Rewards schemes: staff discount schemes; covering food, drink and groceries
• Lifestyle: flexi and remote working arrangements, and extra holiday entitlement
• Health and fitness: gym discounts, fitness apps
• Travel: cycle-to-work schemes and/or travel cost reimbursement
• Mental health support services: these can be found in standalone apps or included within health insurance or cash plans.
• Free lunch
• Added value pension schemes: above minimum state requirements
• Personal development and career progression: free courses and training

Not only is this a useful process for companies new to employee benefits, it can also be applied to organisations with benefits already in place. Getting regular feedback on your current benefit offerings could highlight areas which need attention.

Q2: How will you cover the three pillars of wellbeing?

There are three key areas to cover when it comes to wellbeing, each impacting the other:

1. Physical wellbeing
2. Mental wellbeing
3. Financial wellbeing

If you cover these core areas in your benefits plan, then you’re likely to have a happier and healthier team on your hands.

Physical wellbeing can be addressed by: health insurance schemes, health cash plans (a policy which provides everyday health support), dental plans, gym memberships (discounted or free) and more

Mental wellbeing can be supported with: flexible working arrangements, workplace wellbeing apps, Employee Assistance Programmes (offering counselling support and other wellbeing services) and a generally supportive work environment.

Financial wellbeing can be supported through: Income Protection plans, Life Insurance schemes, generous pension schemes, free lunch provision and much more.

Consider these three key areas when forming your employee benefits plan.

Q3: Will you provide a choice of benefits or a set list?

Employee benefits platforms can be designed in a way that allows employees to opt-in only to the benefits they actually want.

Providing at least some level of flexibility to your staff means they will feel more in control of their own health and wellbeing, and can select the things they individually need. For example, your pre-set list could look something like:

• Health Cash Plan
• Group Health Insurance
• Discount Schemes
• Gym Memberships
• Employee Assistance Programme

From here, staff can select which benefits would work best for them.

Online platforms make the process easier for the following reasons:

• Benefits are easy to access for staff, wherever they are and at any time.
• Their value can be tracked: you can see how often specific benefits and wellbeing tools are being used
• Staff can sign up to the benefits they want, have access to guidance, make claims, use wellbeing tools all in one place
• They can be synched up with other HR platforms and give managers an easy means of managing employee benefits
• They usually come up with communications and feedback tools

Q4: How will you educate and inform employees about their benefits?

Companies often forget to properly introduce their employees to the benefits they’ve invested in. If employees don’t know about the benefits on offer and how to access them, then what was the point in buying them in the first place?

In the first instance, it’s important to tell them all about the new benefits on offer and how they can access them. This can be done via:

• Group presentations
• One-to-one meeting
• Group messaging, via WhatsApp, email or any other appropriate channel
• Posters
• Special employee benefits platforms

With the latter, you can easily make benefits available to staff. This saves the time and hassle of staff members having to go through HR or senior management to activate a policy. Instead, they can do it at the click of a button.

Q5: What are your competitors offering?

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a real battle for talent going on right now. Your benefits package could be a decisive factor in attracting and retaining the best people. For this reason, it’s crucial to know what your competitors are offering.

Sifting through job sites can help you see what similar companies in your location are currently offering. Can you match them? Can you offer a superior benefits scheme? If you’re unable to keep up with your competitors offering, it will be a real struggle to hold onto the best employees or attract the brightest talent into your business.

Get snooping now!

Q6: Do your staff have a clear understanding of how they can progress with their career?

The ability to progress one’s career is often overlooked. After all, most people like to see opportunities to expand their skillset and capabilities, move up the career ladder and ultimately increase their earnings as they do so. Does your company offer such a career path? And if it does, is that path made clear to employees?

It’s easy for staff to become stagnant if they are not learning or progressing. This can lead to boredom, disengagement and low productivity – and no doubt, a greater chance of them leaving the company.

Consider offering the below:

• Training opportunities
• Opportunities to achieve qualifications
• Shadowing opportunities
• Special classes
• Career-specific reading materials
• Networking events to attend

On separate note, it’s also important that staff understand how their work is impacting on the business.

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Avoid the minefield with Hooray

Developing the perfect blend of perks and health insurance policies, is no easy task. But we can help make it much easier.

As an employee benefits broker, we can talk you through all the options available and some of the practical considerations related to delivering benefits. Our award-winning service comes at no extra charge, so you’ve got nothing to lose from contacting our team and quizzing us about health insurance and protection schemes, and collecting quotes tailored to your business.

Contact us at [email protected] or call 01273 222805 for FREE one-to-one advice and support.