We have partnered with global employment platform, Boundless in a unique project exploring the world of employee benefits in the UK. Over the series of bitesize blog posts, you’ll find out the fundamental information you need in order to develop a successful and impactful employee benefits strategy. In part 1, we looked at statutory benefits and in part 2 we examined tax regulations associated with benefits in kind.
In this final “Benefits explained” article, we detail how to go about building a successful benefits strategy from scratch and explore some of the key factors to consider.
There’s lots to take into account when building an impactful and cost efficient benefits strategy. Getting started can be a daunting process and with the workplace becoming ever more difficult to define - where do you begin? Here are 5 things to think about to help you lay the foundations for a successful strategy:
- Company values: Creating a great company culture - of which employee benefits is a key element - starts with the foundations of the business. The objectives of any perks should relate back to your company mission and values.
- Company roadmap: As unpredictable life is, it’s important to think about the key objectives and upcoming milestones - especially if your business is scaling. Benefits that might work for a team of ten might not be as easy to rollout to an employee base of 100. It’s important to gauge how much time and resources managing your program could potentially consume as the business gets bigger and capacity is stretched. Consider factors like investment, recruitment and international expansion.
- Company demographics: Offering a new employee benefit, especially one that the business has to pay for, can be a risk. Rolling out a perk that doesn’t resonate with employees may result in a loss of time and resources. It also remains that once you offer a benefit, you want to avoid having to take it away later down the line because there will always be someone that will miss it!
- Employee surveys: A great way to understand what people need, is to simply ask! Many companies can assist with in-depth feedback surveys and analytics but a simple Typeform or Google Form, distributed regularly, will help you keep tabs on the evolving needs of your people.
- Communication: It’s important for employees to know as well as understand what benefits are available and how they can use them to most benefit them and their lifestyle. From email and Slack, through the company drive, all the way to one-to-ones with the line manager and wellness champions - use all channels available to communicate your benefits offering. Regular reminders can go a long way.
Taking care of the health and wellbeing of employees is far from a tick-box exercise. As a starting point though, we use the following as a guide to help our customers start to build the foundations of a successful employee benefits strategy. Opting for benefits that fit one or more of these areas will help structure your offering:
- Health and wellness
- Wealth and finance
- Learning and development
- Lifestyle
- Food & drink
- Family & kids
- Transportation
Finally, as your business evolves, it’s important that your employee benefits should too. Building a successful program is an ongoing process of review, renew and refresh. Particularly due to the enduring pandemic, employee needs are changing regularly and increasingly turning to employers for much valued help and support to keep going through this time.
To find out more about how to build an impactful benefits strategy, read the full article on the Boundless website here.