Around 42 per cent of employees don’t know about or understand all their employee benefits, according to research from Grid.
According to the research 25 per cent are aware of them but don’t understand them all, 11 per cent are aware of some of them, and 6 per cent don’t know about or understand any of them
Apps, written communications, and promotional campaigns were all used to communicate benefits, with email being the most popular, with 37 per cent of employers using it, staff handbook was utilised by 29 per cent, noticeboard by 27 per cent, company intranet, by 24 per cent and before day one of employment/offer letter used by 22 per cent of employers. Almost 8 per cent of firms say that they do not communicate any employee benefits at all.
Employees were polled on how they prefer their benefits to be communicated, and the order of preference closely mirrored what firms are doing. Email is preferred by 38 per cent of employees, staff welcome packs are preferred by 25 per cent, company intranet is preferred by 22 per cent of employees, staff handbook is preferred by 17percent of employees before day one of employment/offer letter is preferred by 16 per cent of employees, and noticeboard is preferred by 15 per cent of employees.
In light of the pandemic, over 43 per cent of companies say they’ve changed how they promote their benefits. Almost 60 per cent increased their activity, 53 per cent raised their investment, and 45 per cent increased their support for wellbeing.
Grid spokesperson Katharine Moxham says: “Employers put in a lot of time, effort and resources to get the right benefits for their staff. For them to be valued, utilised and understood, it’s absolutely vital that companies communicate with them.
“It’s great to see a wide range of communication methods being utilised. Different methods will resonate with different staff, so the best way to get the message across is to use a mix, including digital, written and in-person.
“During the pandemic, people looked to their employers for support for health and wellbeing. This was an opportunity for employers to tell their staff about all the benefits they offered, from healthcare and group risk to all the embedded services such as access to virtual GPs and counselling – all the support that people needed and were struggling to get, but could access via their employee benefits.
“This increase in activity to communicate employee benefits will pay dividends and we’d encourage employers to continue with this.”