December 2017
Employees are showing a keenness for what the industry calls “safety net” products with pensions at the top and private medical insurance (PMI) at number two.
In the survey of 1,150 staff and 1,001 employers on the issue of most valued benefits, workplace pensions came top at 58% of employees, and 21% saying that PMI was most valued.
Also in the top five came life insurance, a percentage point behind PMI at 20%. Other benefits that employees see as valuable include dental insurance and gym memberships.
Similarly, employers were asked by group risk insurer Ellipse, the firm that conducted the research, and found that they valued workplace pensions, followed by PMI. In the top five also came life insurance, childcare vouchers and retail discount schemes.
Five percent of employees said they didn’t see much value in employee assistance programmes, even less at 4% took on financial education and advice, and many chose not to take advantage of health cash plans and cycle to work schemes.
Ellipse’s chief marketing officer, Chris Morgan said that these results showed that employees like to have a safety net.
However, in parallel, Aon’s Benefits and Trends Survey also shows that employees are most interested in seeing enhanced propositions for benefits relating to health.
Aon’s Amy Froude said: “[Our survey] shows that 96% of employers see a direct correlation between employee health and performance. This shift in focus can be attributed to escalating healthcare costs, a move away from the State for the health and welfare burden as well as an increased awareness of the impact of underlying poor health behaviours. Combine this with the diverse multigenerational workforce and you can see that employers now, more than ever appear to be moving towards building an effective benefit strategy that fits their unique business.”
She suggested that employers analyse data. “Data will give employers the ability to truly understand their current benefits package from a cost and risk perspective and, like a credit score rating, allows them to see how their benefits package compares to other companies. Once you have this data, have considered how to effectively communicate these benefits to the workforce, you can then start to build the benefits strategy that aligns itself for the needs of both the employer and employee.”
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