Employee Benefits, Global
There are major opportunities to do more with benefits technology
26-09-2024
Benefex’s Big Benefits Report reveals that the overriding trend in benefits over the last couple of years is the shift towards greater flexibility. To meet the myriad demands of their workforces, employers are looking at ways to introduce greater flexibility, broaden the scope of their benefits offerings and give employees greater access to the benefits which are most valuable to them.
Alongside this, many organisations are placing emphasis on the delivery of a more consistent employee experience across markets and regions. Multinational companies recognise the need to align benefits provision to wider organisational values and purpose at a global level, while also understanding and catering to local requirements.
Benefits tech implementation
While employers are making progress when it comes to use of data and analytics within benefits provision, progress with implementing benefits technology has been slower. Only 8% of organisations have a single global platform for benefits provision, while 6% have multiple platforms across different regions. This means that only 14% of employers are deploying an employee benefits platform of some kind, compared to 19% in 2023.
Even among larger organisations with more than 1,000 employees and those with an international workforce, only 8% have a single benefits platform in place.
Remarkably, the research shows that as many as 85% of organisations with global workforces don’t have any kind of benefits platform in place at all. Many of these employers are still using spreadsheets to manage their benefits provision across multiple markets, which will inevitably mean their benefits and HR teams are facing a monumental administrative task. It also makes it almost impossible for these organisations to achieve any level of consistency across their global benefits provision.
Significantly, however, more than three quarters (78%) of organisations are now considering implementing an employee benefits platform. This suggests that there will be an increase in adoption over the next 12 to 24 months.
Only 49% of employees rate the technology that their employer provides for them to access benefits and perks as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’. This is down from 55% in 2023 and 75% in 2022.
Once again, employees report increasing levels of dissatisfaction with the quality of the technology that their employers are providing to select and manage benefits. As people become more sophisticated in their use of applications and digital services outside of work, employees are asking why they aren’t getting the same types of digital experiences in the workplace as they do in other areas of their lives.
This downward trend in employee ratings for benefits-related technology should ring alarm bells for employers, given the extent to which digital experience is now a key driver for engagement. If employees feel that the technology they need to use to access benefits is sub-standard, they’re far less likely to use it.
Conversely, when employees are able to enjoy a seamless, intuitive and personalised experience when managing their benefits, it leads to far higher levels of engagement and more frequent interactions.
Alter Domus implemented benefits tech to support global growth
David Nugent, Group Director of Performance & Reward, Alter Domus
“We looked at the growth journey that we were on and determined that we wanted to improve our employee experience exponentially, and we needed a really good platform to do that through on the benefits side of things. When I think back to our business case around investing in this area, it was very, very strong – on the hard, dollar side of things as well as on the soft experiential side. And I would say it’s paid back so far in spades – 100%, whether it’s through compliance and data security, whether it’s through the employee experience – it’s all returned to the business.”
Why Begbies Traynor Group introduced a benefits platform
Ruth Heald, Head of Talent Acquisition, Begbies Traynor Group
“The need for a benefits platform was really clear. One of our main goals is to offer colleagues greater flexibility so they can pick and choose the benefits that best suit their needs. Colleagues will now have the option to flex their benefits which hasn’t previously been available. We also wanted to introduce a greater range of benefits, such as health screening and holiday purchase, and a few new options from Marketplace, like healthcare cash plans, gym membership and retail vouchers.
We wanted to provide colleagues with a central place to find out about and manage their benefits, helping raise awareness, engagement and uptake. Ultimately, we wanted to position ourselves as an employer of choice and set up a benefit offering that we, and all our colleagues, are proud of. We want colleagues talking about this to their friends, families and peers. It’s a tight labour market and benefits are a point of difference that will help us attract the very best people.”
Communications should be at the forefront of your tech strategy
Communication around benefits is vital to driving engagement – and employees have firm views around how employers should communicate with them in relation to benefits and perks. Tech has an important role to play here too. Email is the preferred channel of communication, followed by a dedicated online benefits portal. Only around a third of employees point to face-to-face conversations with their line manager or HR manager as a preferred way to be updated and informed about employee benefits.
Communications functionality was essential for Freshfields
Jo Mercer, Global Benefits Senior Manager, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
“OneHub was an easy business decision as we were replacing existing technology with a global solution. We’ve benefited from process efficiencies, economies of scale, a centralised administration team, and a greater colleague experience through the use of a global platform.
The Communications Manager tool was one of the biggest “why Benefex” moments during the RFP. Previously it was difficult to target communications; we’d either have to create employee comms and distribution lists outside of the benefits system, rely on our Marketing team for resource, or get the platform provider to build and send on our behalf, which can be rather costly given the frequency of benefit communications.”
Get your copy of The Big Benefits Report
To uncover even more benefits trends and see how some of the best companies in the world are adapting their strategies, you can get your copy of The Big Benefits Report here.
26-09-2024
