Tailoring employee benefits to retain talent

It has been revealed with research initiated by Hawk Incentives, that only half of employees (52%) stated they are happy with the benefits offered by their company, in the same survey, the average HR-professional (77%) said its workforce was happier with the benefits and reward package that they provide, ranking at 7 or above on a ‘happiness scale’ from 1 to 10.

It has become apparent that many companies do offer a plethora of benefits, but this report has revealed that the perks offered to employees are not always relevant to them, as almost half of the employees that undertook this survey (44%) declared that their company does not understand the real needs and wishes of its workforce, in addition to this 62% of employees said their employers’ rewards and incentives programmes are not applicable to them. It is important that HR departments are tailoring their employee benefits and perks to match their staff, for example, 73% of 18-24-year-olds would prefer to have leisure and experience awards. While alternatively when asked the same question to 66-year-olds and older, only 29% were fond of this part of the benefits package.

For HR leaders seeking to recruit and retain staff in such an uncertain time of recruitment, a benefits scheme can be such an essential part to retaining staff, aside from salary rises and pension contributions. An efficient and good benefits package could be a way to attract the best talent, so it is important in this day an age to accommodate for different demographics within a business to ensure that everyone is receiving a similar amount of treatment no matter what age or culture. In the report they explain a way to combat this issue, saying “The key is to ensure that your rewards and incentives are appropriate for your employees, and to understand that their needs and wishes change as they age and progress in their careers and personal lives.”

The impact of specific benefits that are offered is also a part of the survey that was split, with 69% of HR professionals saying that benefits such as a private healthcare scheme would be an imperative piece to employee satisfaction, only 47% of employees agreed that it would be a strong factor in their decision to work for a company.

However one of the few questions that were evenly answered, was that 52% of employees and 57% of HR leaders both agreeing that on the spot rewards such as prepaid shopping cards can have an influential impact. This is in line with the finding that a clear majority (77%) of employees across all ages and levels of seniority said they wanted more benefits that help them cut the cost of their everyday life.

Looking through other stats, this also revealed that 59% of employees differed from the claim that their company often surprised them with new incentives and benefits programmes, with this figure ranging between 15% for entry-level compared with 41% for Director level employees.

The extensive report “Pulling the benefits lever: Closing the gap between HR expectations and employee satisfaction” is based on a survey of 103 HR professionals and 500 employees, which was conducted by independent market research company Sapio Research and commissioned by Hawk Incentives, a leader in corporate benefit and reward solutions.

The full report can be accessed and downloaded here.