Four out of 10 employers are not proactive when it comes to promoting employee benefits, with take-up left for employees to initiate according to new research from Group Risk Development (Grid).
The trade body found there was often a gap between intfromating employees about benefits, and actively promoting them to staff, which can lead to lower take-up
In the same research, Grid found that 71 per cent of employers said they were likely to struggle with recruitment this year – with 95 per cent of these firms saying this would negatively impact their business.
Problems anticipated include reduced productivity (32 per cent), disruption to business continuity (30 per cent), a negative impact on other staff from increased workload, (27 per cent) and a lack of expertise in the business (26 per cent).
Grid spokesperson Katharine Moxham says: “Proactive communications on health and wellbeing support must be prioritised by employers to help retain their current employees and reduce the challenge of finding and hiring new staff.”
Grid’s research also asked employers about how they communicate employee benefits. The most widely cited ways were via a welcome pack (30 per cent), in the staff handbook (28 per cent) and on the first day of employment (24 per cent) — which mean many employees may not look at these options again after joining.
In contrast just 22 per cent of employees promote benefits via email campaigns, 21 per cent use staff noticeboards and 20 per cent share information via a company intranet.
Only 19 per cent of employers make use of support from benefit advisors, providers and suppliers, such as running employee benefit days. A further 18 per cent have employee benefits or wellbeing champions, and 17 per cent promote via benefits platforms and/or apps.
Grid says it is important to promoted employee benefits messages regularly across multiple channels increases. It says this is e considered best practice, as employees will interact with various communication platforms and formats, depending on their preferences or role.
It adds it is not enough to simply include details of any support within a staff handbook that’s given to employees on day one of joining as information can often be missed when at this time.
Moxham says the support on offer needs to be regularly promoted to encourage take-up. “Proactive, clear, and early communication around employee benefits isn’t just a nice-to-have – it’s essential for retention, recruitment, and workplace wellbeing. When staff feel genuinely supported, they are more likely to stay with their employer, so while offering a comprehensive employee benefits package is important, equally important is how those benefits are communicated.”
