Complete Guide To Choosing An Employee Benefits Platform UK 2024

Are All Employee Benefits Platforms The Same?

The simple answer is no. Depending on the provider, platforms can vary significantly in terms of what benefits they offer and the functionality they provide.

For example, some platforms might only provide your staff with access to discounts. Others might just help to build Total Reward Statements, and some will be all-singing, all dancing, allowing you to add various benefits and customise features specific to your needs.

Understanding the different types available will help you to choose a platform that best aligns with your business and its needs.

Discounts Platforms

Corporate discount schemes are highly popular among UK businesses of all sizes and are one of the most cost effective. By giving employees exclusive access to a range of discounts, they provide a simple way for employers to help their staff make big savings on everyday purchases. A good discount platform will provide offers and savings for a wide range of different categories including:

• Supermarkets
• Entertainment
• Health & Fitness
• Travel
• Tech
• Bars, Restaurants & Food Delivery
• Home & Garden.

By offering tangible savings on everyday expenses, these platforms are an excellent way to boost employee morale and provide financial benefits that are both appreciated and widely used.

Total Reward Statement Platforms

For a more holistic approach, reward statement platforms are invaluable. They aggregate and display the complete value of an employee’s compensation package, including salary, bonuses, pensions, and any other benefits.

By highlighting what benefits employees are entitled to and how much they are worth, these platforms can help to increase engagement. They can also save your admin staff time, as they serve as a useful communication tool. You won’t need to keep informing each individual team member about the benefits that you offer. Instead, it’s all documented in one place.

Wellness & Health Platforms

Focusing on health and wellness, these platforms offer resources and programs that support the physical and mental well-being of employees. From fitness tracking and wellness challenges to mental health support and telemedicine services such as Virtual GPs, these platforms play a crucial role in fostering a healthy workplace. Investing in employee well-being not only contributes to a happier, more productive workforce, but also helps reduce healthcare costs and absenteeism.

Flexible Platforms

Flexible platforms provide more functionality than those we’ve already touched upon. They allow employees to select and manage a variety of benefits tailored to their personal needs. So, rather than you as an employer telling your workforce which perks they get, you allow them to choose what they would like from various benefits you have shortlisted.

A flexible approach helps staff feel more supported by their employer. It shows that your company isn’t providing a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to employee benefits. Instead, you’re communicating an understanding that each team member is different.

Benefits Management Platforms

These platforms provide all of the above and more, which is why they tend to be more expensive. Unlike the others, they offer a one-stop-shop to benefits and their administration. You can add: discounts, total reward, group risk policies, duvet days, car schemes….the list goes on. The customisation available means you can tailor the platform to the specific needs of your business and its staff.

Communication is made easy with employee facing dashboards, staff can even self-manage certain aspects of their benefits from the user friendly interfaces. For example, opting in and out of benefits, adding family members or managing pension contributions.

Benefits Management platforms help with efficiency too. They can reduce the headache of managing endless spreadsheets and benefit providers, and save businesses hours of time when it comes to benefits administration.

Clever technology allows for task driven automation, ensuring nothing gets missed and providers are always kept up to date.

Nick Nelms
Senior Consultant, Employee Benefits

How Do Employee Benefits Platforms Work?

As the above has shown, not all benefits platforms are the same. All offer varying levels of functionality so will work differently. In this section we will focus specifically on how the more comprehensive benefits management platforms work.

Benefits Administration

This particular type of platform aims to empower businesses to effortlessly streamline all benefits admin tasks into one centralised hub, helping them to stay on top of all important administration and save hours of time. They also provide a handy way to share important details about all employee benefits to staff.

This unified approach allows admin staff to efficiently co-ordinate and oversee multiple benefit schemes without the need for various systems or extensive paperwork. By consolidating all benefits information and management tasks into a single platform, admin teams can effortlessly update, monitor, and manage benefits, ensuring a smooth operation. They even offer automation into the UK’s leading benefits providers, so they are always kept up to date too.

Benefit Enrolment & Management

Good employee benefits platforms allow you to easily configure and manage benefits, including setting up eligibility rules specific to your company. They also allow you to enrol and un-enrol staff automatically based on clever technology, seamlessly integrating them in and out of your benefits system. Automation doesn’t have to stop there either, it can extend to updates in employee status, life events, and compliance checks, ensuring accuracy and a smooth experience for all.

Software integration

A key feature of a comprehensive platform is the ability to integrate with existing HR systems to facilitate seamless data exchange. The integration ensures that any changes made within the HR system, from new employees being added, to salaries being amended, automatically get updated within the benefits platform. This helps when it comes to maintaining data consistency and accuracy.

Total Reward

Comprehensive platforms will help to automate your total reward and ensure employees know their true worth through a total reward statement. This will outline all the benefits and rewards they are entitled to and the value of them. It will often be displayed as a graph with a breakdown of what is provided.

Compliance & Security Management

Employee benefits platforms are built with compliance and security at their core. Ensuring sensitive employee data is protected and that the latest regulations and standards are being met. Credible platform providers will hold accreditations such as ISO27001 and provide 2 factor authentication.

Communicating Employee Benefits

Not only can employers manage everything from a benefits platform, employees can access their very own dashboard. Here they can view their benefit information, make changes, and access relevant documents, reducing the administrative burden on HR staff. This personalised approach ensures that employees are fully aware of and can easily engage with benefits they’re entitled to.

How Do Employee Benefits Platforms Help Your Business?

Who doesn’t want things to be easier? Benefits management platforms make managing perks hassle-free in a number of different ways:

Everything In One Place

Platforms provide a centralised location for managing your employee benefits package. Instead of dealing with multiple systems or paperwork, everything is streamlined into one digital hub. This makes it easier to handle your various benefits efficiently, and your employees can view their full suite of perks in just a few clicks.

Save Hours Of Time

One of the standout benefits for using an employee benefits platform is the significant amount time it can save. They can automate many of the traditional, time-consuming tasks associated with benefits management.

From adding and removing employees from schemes, to making regular updates and adjustments, everything is handled in the platform. This eliminates admins having to manually enter data and process paperwork, drastically cutting down the hours spent managing benefits.

Clear Communication

Communicating your staff benefits is often a challenge. Employee benefits platforms facilitate clear and direct communication between employers and employees. Important information, updates, and changes to benefits can be communicated effectively through the platform, avoiding misunderstandings.

If your HR gurus are spending more time on paperwork than they are on your people and culture strategy, you’re going to need software to do the heavy lifting.

Plus, having all your employee benefits info at your fingertips makes it a breeze to keep tweaking and improving your offerings over time – keeping employee engagement high and your costs low.

Nick Nelms
Senior Consultant, Employee Benefits

Data Management

Managing data related to employee benefits can be overwhelming, especially as the workforce grows. Between multiple spreadsheets and adding new joiners/removing leavers, it can be a headache. Employee benefits platforms help in efficiently managing and organising data. This makes it easier for HR teams to access, update, and analyse information as needed.

Enhance Team Management

With an employee benefits platform, HR can easily stay in touch with staff and build better relationships. Tedious tasks like adding family members to insurance policies are handled by employees, and automatic approval notifications help HR speed up response times, making it even more useful for team management in the era of hybrid and remote teams.

Thinking About Implementing A Benefits Platform?

Our My.Drewberry platform is equipped with features like employee self-service, automated communications, and automated application processing, significantly cutting down the time your team spends on employee benefits admin.

And you don’t just get the clever tech, you also get a team of dedicated Drewberry™ experts; experts that are on-hand to help with your benefits management and keep your company ahead of the curve.

Forget emails and instant messages that get lost in the digital ether. With the right employee benefits platform, updates and communications are automated, keeping employees in the loop and taking the burden off your HR team.

Joseph Toft
Senior Consultant, Employee Benefits

How Do Platforms Help Your Employees?

It’s not just your business that benefits from having a platform, it also benefits your employees and keeps them engaged:

Employee Empowerment

Employees gain more control and understanding of their benefits when there’s a central hub for them. They can access the platform to review their benefits (such as policy documents, information on how to make claims, details about additional benefits etc), understand coverage, and make informed choices. This empowerment enhances the overall experience and boosts your employee engagement.

Employee Self-Service

There’s no need to hassle HR when employees can do it themselves! Certain platforms offer a self-service function, where people can manage their own details, and sign up for schemes, and manage their benefits from directly within the portal.

Total View Of Compensation Package

Platforms such as My.Drewberry give employees an at-a-glance view of their complete rewards package, conveying value that goes beyond just salary. Total Reward gives your team a holistic view of the entire benefits package they receive (such as pensions, health benefits, and all the additional perks) in a coherent and impactful way.

How Much Do Employee Benefits Platforms UK Cost?

You might be surprised how affordable an employee benefits platform could be. And if you consider the time and resources saved by adopting a clever tool, it can be a smart investment for your business.

But what you’ll pay for your employee benefits management system will depend on a few different factors. Things like:

• what type of platform you choose
• how many employees you need on the platform
• how many benefits you need to manage
• whether you need any custom tweaks or extra features
• the provider you choose.

Some platforms offer basic packages that are quite budget friendly. However the more functionality and flexibility that platforms offer the more expensive they become. When choosing a platform, it shouldn’t just be about getting the cheapest deal. You need to think about what you will gain from certain functionality and features.

It’s about making an investment in streamlining your operations and freeing up your team to focus on the bigger picture. By managing benefits effectively you can save time, reduce errors and improve employee satisfaction, which will likely see a positive impact on overall business performance.

Read more in our guide: How Much Do Employee Benefits Platforms Cost?

How To Choose The Best Employee Benefits Platform For Your UK Business

When selecting the best employee benefits management platform for your business, there are some key steps you should follow:

Step 1: Understand Your Business Needs

Think about the size of your team, what your employees really want, and what fits your budget.

• Do you just want to save time and free up resource?
• Are you looking to improve staff engagement?
• What benefits do you want to be included on a platform?
• Will you grow and need the platform to scale up with you?
• Do you need a platform that has global reach due to having a team outside of the UK?

Understanding your objectives before choosing a platform will help you measure success, and choose a benefits solution that not only fits your current situation, but can also flex as your business grows.

Step 2: Explore Platforms

Once you’ve got a handle on your business needs, start looking into the other employee benefits platforms out there in the UK. Check out their reputation, the services they provide, and whether they’re geared towards businesses like yours in size and industry. Dive into customer testimonials and case studies to see how these platforms have worked for others.

Keep an eye on how innovative the platform is and how often they update their services to keep up with the latest industry trends. A solid research dive ensures your choice is well-informed and matches up with your business goals.

Nick Nelms
Senior Consultant, Employee Benefits

Step 3: Compare Features And Cost

Now that you’ve shortlisted potential employee benefits platforms, it’s time to dive into a detailed comparison of what they offer and how much they cost. Make a checklist of the features your business can’t do without and see how each platform stacks up.

Think about things like user-friendliness, options for customisation, and how well they can link up with your existing HR systems. And don’t forget to check if the platform can flex to changes in your benefits plan as your business grows.

Step 4: Ensure It Integrates With Your Existing Software

Check if the platform plays well with your other tools, such as HR software. Can it adapt to changes as your company and employees evolve, growing with your needs? The aim of system integration should be more automation and less administrative work, not piling on more tasks for you to handle.

The best employee benefits platforms integrate seamlessly with your other HR software, allowing you to incorporate it into your existing workflows with minimal fuss. For instance, My.Drewberry can be easily integrated with various HRIS systems, including BambooHR, Google Workspace, Breathe, and HiBob.

Step 5: Ensure You Can Trust Them With Your Data

It’s crucial to keep your company data safe, and using an employee benefits management platform is a smart way to do that. Check your provider does the most to keep your data secure with things such as: making sensitive data unreadable with encryption, using two-factor authentication (2FA) by default, and strict GDPR compliance.

Step 6: Try It Out

Before making your final call, take the platform for a test drive. Check out how easy it is to use, navigate, and get support when needed. See if it smoothly links up with your existing systems and caters to your specific business needs.

Treat the trial like a live run, involving key people in the evaluation. This step gives you a practical feel for how the platform fits into your organisation’s workflows and improves the overall benefits management experience.

Step 7: Ask Questions

If you’re still baffled by benefits software after all these steps, here’s a crib sheet of questions to ask a potential provider:

• What benefits can be added?
• Does it work on mobile as well as desktop?
• Does it allow single sign-on?
• Can employees self-serve and make changes?
• Does it allow secure, seamless and robust data flows that are GDPR compliant?
• Does it provide valuable content and communications?
• Can it provide data-backed insights into employee engagement?
• Does it allow for employee categorisation so benefits can be segmented by role / level?
• Can it offer rewards and recognition functionality?

With features like self-service for employees, automated workflows, and benefits intelligence, My.Drewberry can help you retain top talent and boost employee morale.

Our fully automated system effortlessly syncs with your HRIS tools to handle enrolment, reporting, and all those in-between tasks.

Richard Noble
Senior Consultant, Employee Benefits

Best Employee Benefits Platforms

There are a variety of different providers out there, all offering something different. With this in mind it’s important to do your research and look at how they compare. You want to make sure that the platform you implement meets the needs of your specific business now and in the future.

Employee Benefits Platform Providers
Comprehensive Benefits Management Platforms
	One of the largest all-in-one employee engagement platforms on the market. Reward Gateway offers a range of discounts for over 900 retailers. It is a flexible platform which allows employers to pick and choose which engagement tools are right for them. As a part of the platform, Reward Gateway also offer adviser support for non-regulated benefits
	My.Drewberry is a comprehensive platform, offering streamlined benefits administration for regulated and non-regulated benefits. The platform can be tailored to your businesses specific needs, so whether you’re looking to just offer discounts, provide a recognition channel or add all your benefits into one easy to use interface, My.Drewberry offers a great solution. Employees get their own unique portal displaying all the benefits they are eligible for and benefits admin have a centralised dashboard from where they can mange and update all benefits. HRIS integration ensures seamless data transfer and clever technology allows for task driven benefit automation. No need for endless emails to multiple providers, everything can be done from within the platform at a touch of a button.
	Zest is a benefits platform designed to streamline and simplify benefits administration for employers. With Zest, HR personnel can efficiently manage workplace pensions, group risk, health benefits, salary sacrifice schemes, and more.
Flexible Benefits Platforms
	The Thanks Ben platform is focused around allowing employees to tailor their benefits package to their unique needs. Employers provide their staff with a pre-paid debit card, which they can then use to purchase the benefits they want through the Thanks Ben Platform. This platform is suitable for businesses looking to offer a completely personalised benefits experience for staff.
Discounts Employee Benefits Platforms
	Perkbox is primarily a discounts platform, which gives employees access to a wide range of discounts and deals worldwide. It does offer other functionality such as peer-to-peer recognition and employee rewards.

Make Employee Benefits A Breeze With My.Drewberry

With 24% of UK workers being dissatisfied with their benefits, there’s never been a better time to ramp up your employee benefits management.

With features like self-service for employees, automated workflows, and benefits intelligence, My.Drewberry can help you retain top talent and boost employee morale. Our fully automated system effortlessly syncs with your HRIS to handle enrollment, reporting, and all those in-between tasks.

Whether you’re adding, updating, or removing staff members, you’ll only need to change it once, and My.Drewberry will handle the rest. No more pain in the admin. See how it works.

Why Speak to Us?

We started Drewberry™ because we were tired of being treated like a number.

We all deserve a first class service when it comes to things as important as protecting our health and our finances. Below are just a few reasons why it makes sense to talk to us.

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