Workplace benefits uptake: map employee lifecycles to benefits
The employee lifecycle typically encompasses attraction and recruitment, onboarding, development, retention and separation – when the employee leaves the organisation. Mapping benefits to employee lifecycles is key to driving uptake, layering on top of that a strategy to match the right benefits to your workforce demographic. But, aside from high profile Silicon Valley tech giants, […]
Employee benefits uptake: why less choice is more
The benefits industry has long held to the mantra that offering more employee choice is the way to deliver better benefits but there’s not much evidence that this, on its own, is the lead factor is employee satisfaction. So it’s worth digging a little deeper and seeing whether choice is always the best thing to […]
Employee benefit uptake: 4 thoughts to better results
It’s February. The “New year, new me” phase is all but a distant memory and fewer and fewer employees are making full use of the onsite staff gym. The free fruit initiative is beginning to ferment and grow fur. Uptake on the EAP is dwindling by the day despite increasing absence figures. Employee benefits are […]
Beyond employee benefits: How to create a culture that sticks
Company culture is a tricky thing. We all agree on its importance yet nobody knows exactly how to cultivate it or even whether it should be cultivated? Should we just let it emerge and develop? Probably not. Developing a clear and consistent company culture is a crucial – and ongoing – task that every business […]
How to build and maintain an effective wellbeing strategy
You will no doubt be familiar with the saying “build it and they will come”. This can work, but in most cases, unless you’ve luckily hit upon a genius solution to a major need (including a need we didn’t know we had – such as the smartphone), it won’t. The simple reason for this is […]
Seven employee benefits that help build resilience
There’s an interesting relationship between stress and productivity. A little stress at work can actually do us good – helping us focus and prepare the body for action. But it can also lead to mistakes, cause difficulty when making decisions and impact our ability to concentrate. There are also physical side effects of stress – […]
Pensions: Is your best and most costly employee benefit your least appreciated?
The government’s recent review of auto-enrolment found that 12 million workers are not placing enough importance on saving for their pensions. When it comes to engagement analysis, the government’s review was particularly enlightening, offering guidance covering ways in which employers can refocus pension engagement strategies to encourage a higher level of adoption and lower level of drop […]
Why creating a culture of kindness and gratitude is more important than a discounted gym membership
We have all seen health and wellbeing programmes that just tick a box and do the same old thing, such as money off gym membership, EAP programmes and maybe an onsite massage. But there is so much more workplaces could do to have a real benefit for employees. Happy, engaged employees perform better and have […]
Your employees’ money worries are your business
Employers are recognising the link between a healthy workforce and staff productivity. They’re also prioritising the mental health of their employees for the same reasons – it makes good business sense. But beyond health and mental wellness, the financial wellness of employees also has business consequences. According to a recent study, financial stress costs the […]
Why HR can’t rely on best practice anymore – part 1
We’ve seen for years now that what makes HR work in our current and future roles is the ability to be commercial, stay curious and be bold in following these things through. However, how many of us can actually say that we do this? There are some shining pockets of practice, but for the most […]
5 proven ways to increase benefits take-up among employees
Companies make a significant investment into employee benefits. While employers may hope to achieve different outcomes from offering benefits, the truth is, benefit packages contribute to big business goals. From attracting and retaining talent, to motivating and engaging employees and increasing workforce productivity, getting a strong return on investment should be a top priority for […]
Employee benefits: the impact of salary sacrifice changes on cycle-to-work schemes
Last November, in his Autumn Statement, Philip Hammond announced that so-called “salary sacrifice” schemes were to be significantly trimmed back. The chancellor called them “unfair,” because they allowed some employees to end up paying much less tax on benefits in kind – those that are given on top of a salary – than others. For […]
Working twice as hard to get half as far: the truth behind differential payoffs and penalties
There’s so much rich insight coming out of the academic sector that HR professionals need to know. At Academics’ Corner we feature the best HR researchers that tell you what they’ve found and what you need to do differently on the back of the research. Get connected to the academic sector through Academics’ Corner and […]
How to take control of your company culture
While most people join companies for the job and the salary, they stay there because of the culture. Deep down, most of us want to be part of a group that has the same belief systems and passions. Financial rewards are necessary, but they don’t actually make us loyal or happy in the long term. There’s […]
The case for and against… soft benefits
There are plenty of contentious issues in HR and the workplace, and we think it’s important to get a balanced discussion going on some of the bigger questions out there. In this series, we’ll be asking HR experts and practitioners to give us opposing viewpoints on a key issue, and we welcome your input too! If […]
How to make your flexible benefits system a success
What have HR managers been saying about flexible benefits schemes? Mark Dixon takes a look, explains the rise of flex, and provides a checklist of steps to consider and common pitfalls. Flexible benefits have been used in the US for years to recruit and retain the best employees. They’ve advanced to such a stage that they’re […]
The seven deadly sins of compensation: are bonuses a waste of money?
There’s a chill in the air as the ‘comp season’ descends upon us once again. Most organisations are probably now already working on planning budgets, processing market data and kicking off the compensation review season but, in his best-selling book, ‘Bringing Out the Best in People,’ Aubrey Daniels said: “If you think of the bonus […]
What employee benefits are currently being hyped?
In March 2016, Google yet again, topped the Fortune 100 best companies to work for listings. Benefits such as free organic meals, unlimited snacks/refreshments, personal fitness classes, nap pods and enhanced healthcare with virtual doctor consultations makes it the firm everyone wants to work for. But are these perks – viewed by Google as crucial […]
Attracting and retaining: the role of flexible benefits
Recruitment and retention of good, skilled staff is a challenge for most employers, whatever the sector and whatever the economic climate. This has led to the increasing importance of having a reward package that is as attractive to existing staff as it is for new. Flexible benefitsTo respond to these changes, many employers are giving […]
“It’s all about creating a culture of trust, which helps to naturally drive motivation levels.”
People Insight developed and ran a category in the Employee Engagement Awards called the Employee Choice Award, which put judging in the hands of employees. This was conducted via a survey which measured how well employers support, develop, involve and recognise their people. In the case of highly commended Visualsoft, they demonstrated an understanding of […]
