50% of employees don’t fully understand their benefits | Drewberry Employee Benefits And Workplace Satisfaction Survey 2024

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02/07/2024

You’ve spent time and money curating a solid benefits package for your employees. But for some reason, your people just aren’t engaging with them. Why? It could be that they aren’t aware – or don’t understand – their benefits.

Latest stats from the 2024 Drewberry™ Employee Benefits And Workplace Satisfaction Survey show that 50% of UK workers don’t fully understand their company benefits. So, what can you do to get your team pumped about their perks? Let’s find out.

The Data: 50% Of Employees Don’t Fully Understand Their Benefits

When we asked employees whether they understand their benefits package, 45% said they only “somewhat” understood them.

44% said they ‘fully understand”
5% said they “don’t understand”
5% said “not sure”.

While it could be worse, that’s still half of the workforce without a comprehensive understanding of the rewards you offer. And it all comes down to communication.

Nearly 1 in 5 Never Get Told About Their Benefits

The fact that only 23% of employees receive regular communication about their benefits could go someway to explaining their lack of understanding.

44% said their employer “sometimes” tell them about benefits
23% said they regularly receive communication from their employer
17% said they only hear about benefits when joining
17% said they’ve never received communication about their benefits.

Pretty damning. Lack of communication leads to lack of engagement, which ultimately leads to a waste of those benefits you’ve paid good money for.

This could be why 24% of employees said they were dissatisfied with their current benefits package. If they don’t know about them, can they really appreciate their value? It’s worth reviewing your internal communications strategy, especially as 71% of employees would leave their current job for better pay and benefits.

Why Communication Matters

It’s super important to make sure your employees understand the benefits they get from working for you. Even if you offer great perks, that investment falls flat if your employees don’t know about them, or how to use them.

Just telling your employees about their benefits once isn’t going to cut it either. The marketing “Rule of Seven” suggests that people need to hear a message seven times before they’ll take action. So, if you’re not giving your employees a regular “poke” (a la 2007 Facebook), then it’s likely they aren’t paying attention.

How To Help Employees Understand Their Perks

It’s simple: it’s all about communication. Having a communication strategy for your employee benefits is a crucial aspect for boosting understanding and engagement.

You need clarity on what you want to achieve, what messages you want to convey, and how you’ll deliver them. Here’s how to do it:

Set Your Budget 💰

Different channels have different costs. For instance, emails are relatively low-cost, while producing videos or posters may require more resources. Your budget will dictate the types of communication channels you can utilise.

Define Your Message 💬

It’s important to avoid confusion, especially with benefits that may be easily misunderstood, such as Health Insurance versus Health Cash Plans. Ensuring clarity ensures that everyone understands the benefits available and their respective roles. Make it personal by using employees’ names and segment by demographic to enhance engagement.

Decide Your Timing ⏱

One-time announcements won’t cut it; regular updates across various channels are necessary to maintain engagement levels. Identify key moments to promote your benefits effectively, such as:

During recruitment
Clearly highlight your benefits in job listings, interviews, offer letters, and inductions to attract candidates
Throughout the year
Maintain consistent communication with staff through various channels such as 1-2-1 meetings, regular emails, milestone events (like parenthood or home ownership), company-wide briefings, and during annual pay reviews
When benefits change
Immediately inform employees of any changes to benefits to avoid confusion or disappointment. Update future communications to ensure clarity and accuracy.

Choose Your Channels 📺

There are various ways to communicate with your staff, each with different advantages:

Email
Send targeted messages directly to employees’ inboxes, allowing for tailored communication
Employee benefits platform
Use dedicated platforms like My.Drewberry for holistic, benefit administration and engagement (31% of employees prefer hearing about benefits such as pensions this way)
Social media
Leverage employee-facing social media accounts to reach a wider audience, capitalising on active user engagement
Total Reward Statements
Personalised documents that highlight all employee compensation and benefits, promoting transparency and value. Here’s how to create yours.

By carefully planning your communication strategy with these considerations in mind, you can ensure that your employees are well-informed and engaged with the benefits your company offers.

Create Benefits To Shout About With Drewberry

Setting up and maintaining a competitive employee benefits package requires a decent bit of admin, which quickly becomes time consuming. We do the heavy lifting for you, giving you more time to focus on what matters.

We live and breathe employee benefits, doing this day in-day out for businesses just like yours. Looking at the big picture, we get to know your unique workforce and benchmark your offering against competitors.

We have access to the most competitive rates on the market for core benefits, such as Group Life Insurance, Group Health Insurance, and Group Critical Illness Cover. Give us a call on 02074425880 or email help@drewberry.co.uk.

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.

We are award winning 🏆 independent insurance advisers who work with all the leading UK insurers
You’ll speak to a dedicated expert from start to finish
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