Need to know:
- In some markets, such as the UK, voluntary benefits are ubiquitous, while in others they are only just emerging as a resource for attracting and retaining talent.
- Health and wellbeing is a key area of focus across the globe, and voluntary schemes can be used to supplement local state provisions and standardise a global approach.
- Many employees look for choice and flexibility in their reward programmes; voluntary benefits provide this and create easy local tailoring without taking away from global strategy.
Voluntary benefits have long been a mainstay within reward packages in the UK, but with globalisation on the rise, how can employers translate local provision into worldwide strategy, and what lessons are there to be learned from practice in other countries?
Mark Ramsook, senior director, health and benefits, Great Britain and Western Europe at Willis Towers Watson, says: “Much like the discounts and perks programmes that are open to consumers, there are inevitably more corporate-focused ones in different markets. Particularly if we look at the US, there is a strong, established culture around voluntary benefits there. Also in Australia, and Italy, there is very strong growth in this area.”
Of course, there are necessary differences in the structure of schemes and the rewards available in different countries, notes Paul Andrews, global benefits director at Benefex: “We see a huge amount of difference from location to location. In the UK, the range and the options are much wider than elsewhere in the world; the UK, and some places in Europe and the US, are very generous.”
Standardising supports
Healthcare and wellbeing is a key area in which employers across the world seek to support their workforces, but which necessitates a different approach in each locality.
Andrews explains that as with any strategy, the starting point is to determine an objective, such as providing all employees with ready access to healthcare; a global employer can then map the provisions needed across different countries to meet this baseline.
“[It might] be through the state provision, through a mixture of state and private, or it could be entirely private,” he says. “Take the US for example, where it is predominantly private and the state provision is very limited; the strategy there may be to provide comprehensive medical access through insurance, or through access to medical facilities.”
Providing flexibility
The wide range of discounts, offers and deals that a voluntary benefits programme can include lends itself to a flexible approach that can be adapted according to employees’ needs and preferences, as well as local norms and state provisions.
Janet Heaton, principal, global benefits at Aon says: “If we think about the way that the workforce behaves, it’s actually quite similar across the world; people are looking for choice and flexibility, and where possible, employers are trying to support that."
Health and wellbeing support can be incorporated into a voluntary benefits package, for example, allowing an employee to choose which elements would support their wants and needs, and which would best supplement their local provisions.
“One thing we are seeing from employers is they are looking to add enhanced programmes, particularly around tackling stress and mental health, and that ability to signpost employees to retailers, providers, products and services,” says Ramsook.
These signposts, whether to mental health support services, or to health and wellbeing products such as fitness trackers and local gym memberships, can be curated with relative ease on a local level, to fit with the provisions available in each country.
This can also allow organisations to tweak the presentation of voluntary benefits centred around topics such as mental health, to fit with local cultures and sensitivities, and allow for differing attitudes to ensure that they are as effective as possible within each context.
Global reward objectives
In addition to providing retail discounts and health and wellbeing offers, voluntary benefits can play into an employer’s overall reward strategy and talent management approach. This has come into the fore in certain competitive markets, according to Heaton.
“If you go somewhere like Krakow in Poland, it’s really booming in terms of recruitment and there’s a lot of competition for talent," she says. "These benefits can really be valued by employees and used as a way to differentiate the employer in the employee’s eyes and act as a bit of a retention tool.”
The use of voluntary benefits to recruit and retain talent relies heavily on the communication and positioning of a scheme, particularly in locations where they might not be as widely used and understood, unlike in the UK. For example, notes Ramsook, employers should highlight the financial effects of discount programmes, and ensure employees are aware if these are available to family and friends as well.
Overall, he adds, these benefits should be promoted with a clear link to the employer's global benefits strategy, regardless of the differences from one country to the next.
“There's an element around the brand identity and loyalty piece," says Ramsook. "Employers have that ability to brand something so that it looks consistent and is aligned with broader benefits programmes, [especially as it is] often something [employees] can use outside of work, and is available for their friends and families to take advantage of.”
Therefore, an organisation with a global benefits strategy can tailor its approach in different countries by incorporating whichever relevant voluntary benefits are available there, creating an approach that is both localised and globally aligned.
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