Since recruitment organisation Hays updated its new benefits strategy with software provider Benefex in November 2018, they have effectively used data to showcase return on investment.
Based on recognising the needs and demands of its employees through their annual engagement survey, they focused on creating an online flexible benefits platform to align with the wellbeing strategy.
Trisha Brookes, director of people and culture, UK and Ireland at Hays, said: “We wanted to give employees more of a choice in terms of how they could support their health and wellbeing. We had to make sure they were really clear metrics in place that we could measure it and show to the business this is was actually a great return on investment.”
“It was looking at how we could improve our benefits offering, and how we can align that to our wellbeing strategy. We have a four-pillar approach to our well being health, life, financial and work environment. We engaged with a third-party provider to work on what the platform needs to do.”
The key metrics that Hays focused on was benefit usage, annual engagement, retention, awareness of benefits, and to be better positioned as an employer of choice.
Brookes continued: “Significant investment is required for this new platform for all employees, it's a big project and requires lots of time. We wanted to make sure that what we put in place was going to meet expectations.”
“We didn't know how much employees would want to embrace the new service, but actually, they did. And it worked really well and the feedback was great. We hadn't set out to achieve a certain percentage of metrics, it was about primarily doing the right thing that fitted into our well-being strategy.”
Hays recruitment succeeded in receiving 86% engagement with the platform, compared to the industry average of 58%. Additionally, the uptake on benefits was 56% in comparison to the industry average of 34% and a 36% increase on benefits last year.
Hays are into their second year with a flexible benefits platform, but after one they were able to showcase ROI on savings.