Need to know:
- Employers need to ensure a benefits platform is easy for employees to engage with.
- A platform or app that has all benefits provisions in one place is preferable.
- Due diligence into any benefit platform is key.
With so many benefits platforms out there, how can employers find the best one for them? There are a number of top tips organisations can follow, and key questions to ask of potential providers.
1. Look for a platform that is strong on engagement
There is no point in buying a benefits platform that nobody uses, so employers will want to be sure that their platform of choice is strong on engagement. How can they separate those that talk the talk from those that truly walk the walk? Always ask for demos, says Rebekah Haymes, senior director at Willis Towers Watson (WTW). Data is helpful: how often do employees access the platform? How does the platform provider interact with people and keep their interest? How does it promote and personalise the experience for the user?
Employers need to ask their platform provider how it will move with the times, adds Haymes: “[The] employee experience today will be different tomorrow and beyond. Therefore, [employers] need to make sure that the engagement layer of the employee experience story that [they are] telling is able to evolve as [their] business evolves. And that is sometimes the challenge of benefit platforms. How do you keep it live and exciting?”
Tom Nash, HR business partner at Pluxee UK, throws some killer questions into the mix, suggesting employers ask: “What’s the best thing you’ve done with another client to maximise engagement?”
It is a killer question because it shows self-awareness on the employer’s behalf: the question shows they understand that engagement is a key challenge, explains Nash. “It also means they’re going to be quite challenging of us as a partner, because they want to know that we’re going to be invested in this beyond just the sale of products and license fee,” he adds.
2. Seek a one-stop-shop
Employees do not want to have to hunt around and have to go to different websites, says Haymes. “Clearly, an employer is going to want something that can aggregate. That might be delivering benefits on one platform, or it might be a platform that connects the employee to various provider-type platforms.”
A single app experience is preferable, adds Doug Butler, chief executive officer (CEO) of Perkbox Vivup. “There are lots of different providers of different benefits, and [an employer] can pretty quickly move into not just two apps, but into three or four,” he says. “There are constant temptations to put in another that does something slightly different, as opposed to putting in the effort to integrate it into one app, but we are trying to hold the line as best we can to keep it a single app experience.”
3. A platform should support benefits with insights
Employers should also ask what further knowledge base a supplier might have, says Nash. They might be buying a bikes-for-work scheme or a discount platform, but what does the supplier say in terms of trends in the market and how best to use it, as well as how it sits within the broader holistic wellbeing context? “[Is it] sharing the thought processes and thought leadership articles? That will help [an employer] make the most of the benefit, bringing it to life and making it real for people, ” Nash says.
4. Carry out due diligence
Whenever an employer chooses a new external partner, due diligence is key. There are four key aspects to bear in mind. First, they must be clear on cost. “Understanding the cost is a big one,” says Haymes. “Get clarity from providers on what’s included. If changes need to happen to the platform, get clarity on the cost of that upfront as much as possible to avoid surprises later on.”
Second, they should look for a platform they can personalise and customise, one which looks like an extension of the employer’s brand, says Nash.
Also, is the platform accessible? What features does the platform have to make sure it’s accessible for the hard of hearing or sight impaired, for instance? Accessibility for a specific workforce is also important. If many people in an organisation work away from computers in the course of a working day, it’s important that the platform is available 24/7 so that people can access it via mobile and laptops.
And lastly, is it secure? How does a platform keep its data secure and what steps is it taking to ensure it is general data protection regulation (GDPR) compliant? “Security is going to be front and centre for anyone choosing a platform,” says Perkbox Vivup’s Butler.
