EXCLUSIVE: More than half (58%) of UK employer respondents are not confident that their employee benefits package helps to recruit and retain talent, according to research by Chase de Vere and Lightbulb.
The research, which analysed 2,500 UK business records and surveyed 300 employers, also found that around a third (34%) of respondents cite cost as the main consideration behind the range of benefits they offer to staff.
The research also found:
- 36% of respondents are not confident that their benefits package offers value for money.
- 25% of respondents cite historical reasons as to why they offer a particular range of benefits to staff, and 22% name popularity with employees.
- 49% of respondents use staff satisfaction surveys to analyse the effectiveness of their benefits package.
- 31% of respondents do not measure the effectiveness of their benefits scheme at all.
- 61% of respondents do not plan on improving their employee benefits package in 2016. Of these, 36% have no plans to do so because they are happy with their benefits offering, and 18% do not plan to do so because of prohibitive costs or lack of budget.
Sean McSweeney, corporate advice manager at independent financial and corporate adviser firm Chase De Vere, said: “It is deeply alarming that many employers aren’t confident they are getting value for the money they’re spending on employee benefits, yet are doing nothing to address it.
“If employers don’t review their benefits packages, they won’t know if they’re getting value for money, they won’t know if they can improve benefits for their employees and they won’t know if they can actually save money, perhaps by updating historical benefits or putting more focus on benefits their employees actually want and reducing spend on those they don’t.”
