How to communicate your employee benefits package

In a 2016 survey by Employee Benefits magazine, the top reason cited by companies for offering employee benefits was to improve staff retention.

And yet 64% of employers who have invested in a large range of employee benefits, are failing to communicate these to staff¹, which means they aren’t getting a return on their (not insignificant) investment.

The impact of not communicating your employee benefit package

Research by Cass Business School² estimates that failing to tell staff about the benefits on offer is costing UK companies £2.7bn every year through increased staff turnover and sickness absence.

It showed that staff in workplaces that offer benefits, but who are not aware of their availability, are less likely to:

share the values of, and feel loyal to, their organisation
be proud to tell people who they work for
have a different (better) attitude than those working in companies that do not offer these benefits

In essence, offering benefits but not making your workforce aware of them is no better than not offering these benefits at all.

The research found that the worst culprits for not communicating employee benefits are:

non-union workplaces
SMEs with fewer than 50 employees
UK and EU-owned workplaces

The business value of communicating benefits

Employee benefits can only be seen as a perk by staff if they know about them and understand their value. Sharing details about the employee benefits you offer can:

increase the perceived value of your employee benefits at little or no extra cost
improve employee satisfaction levels (engagement, morale and loyalty)
provide an invaluable tool for staff retention
create a building block for your internal communications strategy

And contrary to popular belief, if your employees are aware of benefits – such as private health insurance or Income Protection – they are not likely to take more time off sick. Cass’ research shows that communicating about a wide range of employee benefits actually builds employee engagement and a more loyal workforce that takes less time off sick.