At a recent London event*, I asked our audience the following question:
“When do you expect your company to next review your employee benefits & wellbeing offerings?”
The results of this, apparently rather bland, question were rather surprising. More than half the audience (55%) responded “in the next year”, with a further 24% answering “in the next 2 -3 years”.
Having been involved in similar research in the past, I would have expected a much lower response for immediate review. I therefore assume that the necessity of many of our audience to implement Pensions Auto-Enrolment in the near future is also triggering a wider review of the employee benefits package. This is welcome news, at it suggests that employers are not viewing pensions in isolation from the rest of the available benefits.
I was equally heartened at the response to the next question:
“To achieve higher engagement and lower absenteeism, would your company expect to spend…â€
To which 37% of the audience responded that they would expect to spend more than currently, and another 50% at least the same as their current benefit costs. This would suggest that employer’s are finally accepting that benefit reviews are about something much more important than short-term cost savings. By the same token, it also suggests that business is feeling a little more positive about the economic outlook.
So encouraging indicators from the employee benefits coal-face. If followed through its likely that such initiatives may improve absenteeism and productivity statistics at an employer, and indeed national, level.
Best regards
Steve
* Jelf Annual Health and Wellbeing event 07/10/13
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