Are you listening to your employees?

Your employees can tell you exactly what your benefits programme should look like, but are you listening?

Our research found that what today’s employees really want is a range of benefits, accessible in a variety of ways, to help them achieve their personal goals. Organisations need to look at how they design, deliver and communicate their benefits offering to their employees, making it as easy as possible.

Employers must not forget the high expectations of technology from younger generations who have grown up with iPads, Alexa and apps that cater to every need and want. These employees are telling us now they want the same consumer-grade experience they’re used to in their personal lives. It’s time for employers to not only listen, but to act. Seems daunting? Well never fear, the solution may not be as far-fetched as you first think.

Benefits are becoming irrelevant

Current benefits are tailored to a generation that no longer makes up the majority of the workforce. Currently ‘baby boomers’, aged 51-69, make up 29% of the population with Generations X and Y (21-50) making up 69%. Yet, in less than 10 years-time baby boomers will only hold 8% of the workforce population and Generation Z, currently aged 6-20, will make up 31%.

Pensions and PMI are great benefits, but often considered traditional and for many a given. Younger generations may not realise they are benefits especially with auto-enrolment coming into play. A 20-year-old new to the world of work probably can’t yet imagine the point in their life when they’ll need to access their pension and instead may be concerned with more immediate issues, such as their level of student debt or how they’ll afford a house. According to The Guardian, by 2025, only 26% of young adults will own a property – so why not tailor your benefits to help them tackle this challenge, making benefits offerings more relevant for more immediate goals?

Tech and analytics are your eyes and ears

Our latest Global Employee Benefits Watch 2018/19 whitepaper found that technology offers the solution. By harnessing the power of HR tech, including valuable data generated by benefits platforms to inform and optimise each part of the benefits process, employers can review and improve their initiatives and drive real results for their business and their people. And not only will tech also reduce the administration burden on HR teams, it will create the consumer experience that employees are asking for.

Once in place, benefits technology provides invaluable data and analytics, providing insights on employee’s expectations, allowing organisations to deliver truly tailored benefits across a variety of ways which could include a platform available 24/7 online or even an app.

The more we listen, the brighter the future

Many organisations still have a way to go before they are in a position to offer reward and benefits that suit their employees individual needs, but technology is a huge step in the right direction.

The more technology is adapted to suit the organisation, the more an employer can adapt the platform to offer benefits that support all employees, regardless of their age. For example if they have the option, and it’s easy to do Generation Z may choose to invest less in their pension and put more towards saving for a house deposit or paying off their student loan and a baby boomer may want to begin will writing or increase their pension pay in.

All employees are different, with personal and individual needs. So organisations need to reach a point where they can offer employees reward in a way that fits in with their employees’ technology-based, personalised lives. And now the tech is available, it’s really time to sit up and listen.