The People Bulletin

New research has shown that there is a distinct enthusiasm for change in benefit provision, particularly among younger employees, providing an opportunity for companies to better engage staff and save costs during this period of financial austerity.

The ‘What’s Working Survey’ carried out by Mercer interviewed 30,000 employees across 17 countries including 2,400 in the UK. The survey asked a range of questions on work related topics and reflects the overall demographics of the UK workforce in terms of age, gender and job level.

Greater choice

According to the UK data, when it comes to employee motivation and engagement, traditional benefits score relatively poorly compared to intrinsic elements of reward such as having a sensible work-life balance, being treated with respect and the type of work delivered. The data also demonstrates that the desire by employees for greater choice continues to grow dramatically, although concerns remain that employees are not sufficiently able to make informed decisions when choice is available.

Critically, employees are looking for employers to use their bulk purchasing power to provide employees significant discounts on various products and services. Also, the data suggests that for the right benefit, employees are willing to pay the full cost of receiving it. As you would expect, enthusiasm for alternative benefits is most evident amongst 16-34 year olds.

Eddie Hodgart, partner at Mercer said:

“More and more companies are asking their employees what type of benefits they want to receive going forward. This usually involves some degree of additional choice plus the introduction of very simple, low-cost benefits which meet employees’ needs today such as health screening, debt management schemes and personal car leasing.”

“Benefit provision is all about affordability and desirability – if an employee cannot afford the benefit or sees no value in it, then they will not “invest” in it. Nowadays, so many younger employees are entering the workforce with student loan debts and then trying desperately to fund house deposits, buy a car, raise children and cover their childcare and education costs. They don’t care about the future – now is what matters to them. Employers that can offer alternative benefits which meet these lifestyle demands will succeed in areas such as attraction, retention and motivation of staff”.

The full report can be seen here: http://inside-employees-mind.mercer.com/global