Employers have been advised to promote the total value of the reward package to employees instead of focusing on the cash elements of the reward offering in order to maximise the positive impact that perks have on the workforce.
Tony Morgan, head of sales and client management, UK outsourcing at employee benefits consultancy Mercer said that if employers totted up the value of every single benefit offered to individual employees it could exceed the value of cash reward by between 10% and 25%.
Addressing delegates attending Employee Benefits, held at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London between September 30 and October 1 Morgan said: “All of a sudden that starts to look very good when you start to throw all of those amounts back into it. An employee’s £30,000 pay cheque starts to become £38,000 or £39,000.”
In his conference session Increase the effectiveness of financial benefits through better communication and financial education, Morgan also said employers should not attempt to cut costs by trying to negotiate new deals with benefits providers ahead of restructuring their benefits offering. According to Morgan employers should incorporate reward into the recruitment process and “performance rated conversations” with staff.
Morgan also said that employers who regard “cash as king” may fail to exploit tax and national insurance savings offered on certain perks and not allow themselves to take advantage of cost saving deals by procuring benefits in bulk.
