Three-quarters (76%) of financial services employees said they believe they get good value for money from their reward packages, according to new research from Zest.
The employee benefits technology provider surveyed 2,000 UK employees and 872 HR decision makers.
It found that business services and IT were other sectors with high satisfaction in terms of value for money, and ranked joint second. A total of 75% of employees in both industries believed their workplace perks offered good value for money.
Healthcare and education were the worst-performing sectors, with 42% of education employees and 48% healthcare staff saying they thought their reward packages offered good value.
Despite 39% HR leaders in education increasing investment in their benefits package in the past 12 months, 57% of employees believe their benefits package is inadequate. Four in 10 (37%) said due to the benefits on offer not being good enough, they want to leave the sector.
Across all industries, 58% of employees do not use most of the benefits currently available to them and 47% feel as though their benefits are irrelevant to their personal situation.
Although 37% of employers have increased investment in their benefits offering in the last 12 months, just 45% of employees feel as though their employer listens to their needs and responds through the benefits they offer.
One-fifth (19%) of firms are struggling to keep up with competitors that are raising salaries, and 58% of employees would leave their current job if another organisation offered them better perks.
Matt Russell, chief executive officer of Zest, said: “Benefits are an effective approach to reward employees, but too many packages offer poor value for both employer and employee. Financial services firms are doing a better job than other sectors when it comes to understanding employee needs. Getting a benefits package right ensures that employees are fully supported, more empowered and more productive, key to meeting commercial targets and business growth plans.
“Leaders in the education sector must pay greater attention to their rewards packages if they are to retain staff, many of whom are considering changing sectors in order to access the support they sorely need.”
