The person responsible for benefits decisions within organisations has changed little over the years. A continuing trend has been the rise in status for compensation, benefits and reward professionals, with these areas increasingly being recognised as an HR specialism. This can be seen in the responsibility given to compensation and benefits or reward directors or managers for making benefits decisions.
Although this group remains in fourth place on the list of primary decision-makers, the percentage that say they are responsible for, or influence, benefits decisions has grown. Last year, 32% said they were a key decision maker, with the same percentage influencing choices. This has now risen to 37% and 40%, respectively.
Technological evolution continues to influence benefits communication. Methods such as quick-response codes and social media, including Twitter and Facebook, are now being used to deliver key messages to staff. This year, just under half (48%) of respondents say they use email alerts as a communication tool and 65% put benefits details on their internet or intranet site.
Back in 1998, Employee Benefits strategic reward research found that just a quarter of employers used email to communicate benefits, and only 7% had an intranet site.
Linking benefits to an organisation's brand can be an effective way to engage staff with key business messages and objectives. This can be achieved by offering benefits that tie in with its desired culture, brand identity and business ethos, or by including the organisation's own products or services within the package to encourage staff to gain personal experience of these.
Read more Benefits research 2012
