What makes a brilliant employee benefits scheme?
66% of staff say they are more likely to stay with an employer who offers good benefits. So, offering the right mix of perks is vital if you want to keep your best people and attract the brightest talent!
This might prompt you to wonder:
“What do my employees want?”
“How do I measure the success of my employee benefits scheme?”
“Can I save money at the same time as giving my staff the support they deserve?”
In this blog post we dive into these issues and outline the key elements that make up a brilliant employee benefits scheme. Get it right and you might just become employer of choice in today’s competitive job market!
Get FREE one-to-one advice on all things employee benefits by contacting our award-winning brokers on 01273 222805 or via the bottom right chatbox.
Strike the perfect balance of perks
Creating a successful employee benefits plan is all about striking a balance between perks which address different areas of wellbeing and support.
Some benefits are designed to help people when things go wrong (Critical Illness Cover or Income Protection, for instance), while others are designed to provide everyday health support (Health Cash Plans and wellbeing apps, for example). Other benefits may focus on rewarding staff (such as employee discount schemes).
The point is this: different employees will want different types of benefit. Typically, a younger employee will be attracted by rewards while older staff may want more health protections. Either way, the closer you can get towards providing support for all the key areas of health and wellbeing, the happier (and healthier) your staff will be.
Here are the key areas to address:
Proactive support
They always say prevention is better than cure. And that’s exactly what some benefits are designed to do: stop employees becoming unwell in the first place. Developing healthy habits and practicing self-care can help employees avoid future health problems. Here are a few benefits which help with that:
Group Health Cash Plans: a type of insurance designed to provide everyday health and wellbeing support. Offers everything from physiotherapy, to counselling, dental and optical care. Learn more about this often-overlooked insurance policy here.
Group Health Insurance: though it mainly focuses on providing support when things go wrong, the access it provides to GP appointments and consultations, plus the potential to add an EAP (see below), means it also offers proactive support. No wonder it consistently ranks amongst the most in-demand benefits! Find out more about this popular health benefit.
Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs): Often packaged together with Group Health Insurance schemes, an EAP provides on-tap access to different tools for emotional and mental health support. Counselling sessions, debt support, CBT and family support helplines are among the services provided. Learn more about EAPs here.
Wellbeing apps and platforms: There’s been an explosion in the number of tools which give everyday support for physical and mental health. They can be purchased as standalone apps or included in an employee benefits platform. Read more guidance about benefits platforms here.
Financial & reactive support
It helps to have something in place when things do go wrong for employees. As well as direct health support, financial support is also essential. Here are your options:
Group Health Insurance: While the NHS continues to offer a wonderful service for free, health insurance is increasingly in demand as it helps individuals get quicker access to healthcare. Surgeries, cancer treatments, and innovative therapies are amongst the services offered.
Group Critical Illness: On hand to provide financial support to employees should they be diagnosed with a critical illness. Learn how Group Critical works here.
Group Life Insurance: Provides financial support to loved ones in the event of an employee’s death. Find out more about Group Life Insurance.
Group Income Protection: Provides financial support to employees above and beyond statutory sick pay, plus provides services designed to speed up the recovery process. Learn more about this popular financial (and health) benefit.
Key Person Insurance: This one differs in that it provides financial protection to the business itself in the event of losing key team member due to illness or death. Find out more about how Key Man Insurance works.
It’s worth noting that providing financial support has become an increasingly vital area to target. 65% of employees now stress the importance of financial wellbeing to help combat the rising cost of living, housing, travel and childcare.
Extra reading: 11 ways to combat the cost-of-living crisis.
Rewards and lifestyle
Employee benefits are not just to do with health and wellbeing. Providing discount schemes, for example, can be a great way of rewarding employees while flexible working arrangements can really help employees juggle family commitments.
You can be endlessly creative in the kind of rewards you offer employees. Free lunches, company away days, social events – they all help to create a happy working environment where staff feel appreciated for their work.
Tailor benefits to your workforce
As mentioned above, your employee benefits plan must be tailored to the specific needs of your workforce. Although it is worth looking at what your competitors are up to, your employees are unique to your business – so they must be your main port of call!
Find out what your staff want by:
- Arranging group meetings or one-to-ones
- Creating employee surveys for staff to voice their opinions
- Open up email communication for suggestions and concerns
- Analyse frequency of absences, staff retention rates etc
- Observe competitor offerings for further inspiration
Achieve value for money
Setting a budget and working within it is essential for any successful employee benefits plans. After all, if it’s unaffordable, it will be doomed to flounder. Thankfully, you can still create an effective benefits scheme, even if you have a small budget to play with.
Start off by reflecting on three main areas:
- What can your company afford?
- What do you want to achieve through your benefits? (Improved retention rates, for example.)
- Which benefits do your staff want the most?
You can save a lot of money through speaking to an employee benefits and healthcare broker like Hooray. We offer our services for FREE and are experts in finding creative ways to lower your costs AND ensure you get what you want, without any nasty drawbacks later on down the line.
For advice and support from the award-winning team at Hooray, call on 01273 222805 or email [email protected].
Keep things as simple as possible
Investing in an online benefits platforms simplifies how benefits are managed and accessed. For bosses, it’s easier to make benefits available and to see what value it’s offering to employees and, by extension, the business. Are wellbeing tools being used? Are absence rates going down?
Meanwhile, staff get to sign up to benefits they want, read guidance, make claims, and keep track of their health. Giving staff the option to either opt in or out of employee benefits can also be done through a voluntary arrangement. So, the employee pays for the benefits themselves through the company, saving on tax and often a ‘bulk buy’ discount effect can help lower the price too.
For management and staff alike, a simple-to-use benefits platform can make the whole process much simpler.
Again, Hooray can help advise on benefits platforms – how they work, how much they cost and much more besides.
Reach your business goals
Designing your scheme around company goals is going to make your employee benefits plan the most successful it can be for the business and its staff.
What issues do you need to address?:
- Absence levels?
- Employee retention rates?
- Recruitment spending?
- Comparisons with industry rivals?
- Productivity levels?
- Stress levels in the workplace?
Setting clear objectives from the start will help you measure success in the future. You can only know whether you employee scheme is a success if you know what success looks like!
Getting extra help from Hooray
When setting up an employee benefits scheme, it boils down to getting the basics right. That means establishing business goals, understanding your employees’ needs, setting up a simple system for managing and accessing perks, and getting the best possible advice from people in the know.
That’s where Hooray Health & Protections comes in!
Getting started can be tricky and it’s easy to get bogged down in the particulars of different employee benefits products.
As an award-winning broker, we take the time to listen to your specific needs and answer any and every question you might have. We’ll bring you the best quotes and deals available on the UK market to ensure you achieve the best value for employee and business alike.
Contact us at [email protected] or call 01273 222805 for FREE no-obligation advice and support.