As an HR professional, I have had numerous discussions with employers about ways to attract and retain talent. One method that employers can take up is by offering employees flexible and voluntary benefit schemes:
Flexible benefits
These schemes allow employees to vary their pay and benefits package to suit their individual requirements. For the majority of these schemes, employees are able to either retain their existing salary whilst varying the mix of benefits they receive, or they can adjust their salary by taking fewer or more benefits. These schemes are paid for by the employer
Voluntary benefits
These allow employees access, through their employer, to buy products and services, often at discounted rates. The employee pays for the cost of these benefits rather than the employer. Examples include 5% off at certain supermarkets, or participating in government schemes such as cycle to work.
Key considerations for employers using flexible or voluntary benefits
There is a lot for an employer to consider if they decide to adopt these schemes. Organisations can use both voluntary and flexible benefits schemes. Creating an efficient and effective scheme that is taken up by employees is essential to its success. Part of the reason UK companies have been slow to take up on these schemes is the initial cost of introducing and administering them.
- Benefits platform provider – select a provider that offers your organisation the right choice and flexibility of benefits, and one that enables you to obtain feedback and measure its success.
- Technology – the usability of the technology is vital to the uptake and its success.
- Set objectives and research the benefits available - engage with your employees to see what they want and the types of benefits they would use. Unlike the US where healthcare is a must for benefits that are offered, in the UK it is more of a nice have. In the UK workers are often more interested in benefits based around flexible working and improving their work life balance e.g. buying and selling holiday.
- Implement a communication strategy – this needs to be throughout the process from its inception, roll out to regular updates of the benefits that are available. One of the biggest failings of benefits packages is that employees don’t understand or they are simply unaware of what is available to them. Communication is an organisation’s opportunity to champion the benefits available and increases uptake, which will also help to manage and reduce the overall costs of these schemes. Branding the benefits packages is also an invaluable way to engage with employees and making it recognisable as a company benefit.
- Evaluating and readjusting the benefits – when an organisation goes through the time and financial investment of introducing a benefits scheme, then the last thing they should do is leave it to run by itself. Feedback from users and reviewing the uptake of individual benefits is essential.
The personalisation and flexibility of benefits schemes can address the diverse needs of your workforce, driving engagement and productivity. Offering flexible and voluntary benefits can have huge benefits to an organisation's growth and retention. However, they need to be implemented carefully with a clear strategy and objectives to drive uptake. Otherwise organisations can find themselves investing not only financially but also in terms of time and resources for little return.