Almost one in five (17%) respondents do not offer any form of employee benefits to staff, according to research by insurer Unum.

Its research, which surveyed more than 500 senior staff across a range of organisation sizes, found that more than a third (33%) believe they offer an adequate employee benefits package.

Nearly all (96%) of respondents said employees are one of their most important assets but that they could do more to protect and retain staff.

Peter O’Donnell (pictured), chief executive officer of Unum, said: “While organisations understand the importance of employees to their business, there is clearly a mismatch between what they value and what they spend.

Employee benefits are an important differentiator when it comes to recruiting and retaining staff.”