Michael Cope, a reward and performance manager, said: “Benchmarking what benefits are offered, to which people and at what cost, will always be a vital piece of research and analysis. However, merely ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ is not the answer…”
Laurence Power, technical consultant at Generali Employee Benefits, said: “Benchmarking merely compares benefits to the market, thus avoiding the possibility of overspend, but keeping in line with the market. The point is that benefits packages may need to change as workforce demographics change. I think people are possibly missing the point of benchmarking. Benchmarking is merely comparing your offering with that of competitors. What is done with that information is a completely different thing.”
Adam Nuckley, reward consultant at Innecto Reward Consulting, said: “I think benefits benchmarking is most useful in checking the level of provision you should offer for the benefits you have selected. Benefits benchmarking will only tell you what everyone else is already doing, and that doesn’t help [employers] focus on employees’ needs or help to differentiate and become an employer of choice.
“It is more important to talk to your employees and find out what they value and are interested in receiving. A limited number of valued benefits is much better received than a wide portfolio of benefits they will never use.”