Employee Benefits Live 2025: Asda aims to meet the needs of its multi-generational workforce by balancing value and cost-effectiveness within its benefits package.
In a session titled ‘One workforce, many needs: Making benefits inclusive and cost-effective’, Jane Earnshaw, senior director – reward and pensions at Asda, discussed how the supermarket’s approach to structuring its voluntary benefits offering is based on employee feedback, which it receives through forums, monitoring take up by tacking usage levels, and communication, for which it uses a mixture of digital and physical channels.
Asda offers a range of employee benefits, including an employee assistance programme (EAP), private medical insurance, wellbeing support, and financial wellbeing and mortgage support. Its salary sacrifice schemes cover pensions, bikes-for-work and electric vehicles, with the latter having been introduced this year. Earnshaw explained these are flexible ways to meet its workforce’s diverse needs.
“Not everything will be relevant to every member of staff,” Earnshaw said. “Employees will have different needs depending on their age, role and earnings, such as flexible working for younger staff and retirement planning for older workers. No one wants to exclude anyone by accident.”
Having solid relationships with providers and educating them on its workforce demographics and needs is an approach that Asda strongly focuses on.
“Collaborative relationships with suppliers can help to support with benefits take up,” Earnshaw stated.
While it can be a challenge to ensure the right message goes to the right people, the supermarket aims to reach as many employees as it can and encourages interaction within its forums and groups. Employees will let the reward strategy, pensions, and recognition, benefits and wellbeing teams know if they feel something is not working.
“Stay true to what you believe is best for your workforce. It’s important to always get employee feedback, walk in their shoes and ask what they want. It also helps to understand needs and financial situations, which can come from conversations and survey feedback,” Earnshaw said.
