What are the best employee benefits according to employees?
There has been some key research done in recent years around what the best employee benefits are and which benefits staff want the most.
Employee benefits are becoming more and more important all the time, with an increased focus on finances, health and wellbeing from employees as well as expectations around flexibility of their benefits too.
As a result, it’s becoming more and more important to provide the best employee benefits for employees.
This article will help you gain a vital insight into which benefits and perks your employees are likely to best respond to based on some of the key research done around employee benefits in recent years.
9 minutes
Written by The Access Group
Employee benefits are key to recruiting and retaining top talent
Before delving into research around specific benefits, here are 3 key statistics that show how important employee benefits are in employee recruitment and retention.
- 75% of employees reported they’re more likely to stay with their employer because of their benefit program
- 80% of employees would choose additional benefits over a pay raise
- 69% of employees report that they might choose one job over another if it offered better benefits.
It can be difficult to directly attribute the success of your employee benefits to achieving your HR objectives and hitting your KPI’s.
For example, your retention rates have improved, and you’ve nailed recruitment, but how can you prove that your employee benefits made a key difference? This is where statistics like these are crucial in making a case for employee benefits.
So, what are the best employee benefits according to employees?
Financial, health and wellbeing benefits are some of the best benefits to offer employees
A study by Willis Towers Watson found that health and wellbeing was overwhelmingly a top priority when it came to employee benefits.
Their study of 2,000 employees found:
- 62% stated that a contributory pension scheme is one of their top five most valued benefits
- 43% included health insurance as one of their most highly valued employee benefits
- 40% stated the importance of life insurance as a benefit
- 35% referenced critical illness cover
- 32% stated health cash plans were a top priority
Financial wellbeing was clearly important for employees again in this study, particularly long-term financial security, but 4 of the top 5 benefits stated by employees were health and wellbeing related.
Giving employees peace of mind over their health and finances with employee benefits clearly has a lot of value.
When choosing the best employee benefits, it’s worth keeping this in mind.
Employee benefits such as these may not be accessed often like employee discounts might be for example, but ‘peace of mind’ benefits are the backbone of any employee benefits provision and are key to attracting and retaining top talent.
Work-life balance remains a key theme for employees
One of the more comprehensive employee benefits studies conducted in recent years was a study done by Aviva of 2,000 employees and 500 businesses.
In a summary of their findings, they published the 10 employee benefits that employees wanted most based on the research.
There were a few key themes that could be picked out that show similarities with other research in employee benefits.
The importance of work-life balance benefits
The most popular benefit with employees was 22-35 days of paid annual leave, with flexible working hours third and unlimited leave or the option to buy annual leave the eighth most popular benefit.
Again, more options to improve work-life balance appears a key priority for employees when it comes to employee benefits.
Flexible hours, extra day’s annual leave for additional years of service and the Holiday Trading scheme could all be great employee benefits to introduce based on this research.
Health and peace of mind for employees
Critical Illness Cover (fourth), Health and/or Life Insurance (seventh), and Eyecare and Dental (tenth) all feature as some of the most popular employee benefits according to employees.
Reassurance and peace of mind over their health is shown as a key priority in much of the research around employee benefits.
Employee benefits like Eyecare Vouchers and Dental Cover are clearly very popular and look set to increase in popularity and prove their worth as some of the best employee benefits.
This is particularly true in the case of Eyecare Vouchers as we spend more time in front of screens as a result of remote working.
Long-term financial security
The second most popular benefit in Aviva’s study was the company pension scheme.
The need for long-term financial security is a key theme across much of the research around employee benefits.
Again, it’s important to consider not just the benefit itself but why the employee benefit is so sought after.
Meeting the true needs of employees should be a key goal for any employee benefits provision.
The top 10 best benefits for employees in the UK
Based on the research above and our 13+ years of experience as an employee benefits provider to over 2,000 companies internationally, here are 10 employee benefits we believe are best for employees in the UK and could form part of any employee benefits package for virtually any company.
1. Employee Discounts
When employees are asked about the best employee benefits for them, the benefits they suggest help uncover a little about the real reason those benefits are important to them.
So, while discounts may not have been cited by employees as a popular benefit in the research, we’ve found the scheme to be one of the most used benefits by employees over the years.
Employee discounts are much more than a saving here and there, they can help employees reduce the cost of living on important expenses such as the food shop or even motoring.
2. Bike to Work Scheme
Health and wellbeing came up a lot in the research we’ve covered here, and there aren’t many more popular health and wellbeing employee benefits than the Bike to Work Scheme.
In fact, the Bike to Work Scheme has been one of the best employee benefits for employees in recent years, and still proves to be one the most popular with the employers we work with as an employee benefits provider.
3. Holiday Trading
The Holiday Trading scheme allows staff much more flexibility with their annual leave, allowing them to buy and sell annual leave from and to their employer.
With the research showing such a strong focus on work-life balance from employees, providing this flexibility could really help you stand out as an employer of choice.
What’s more, the company also benefits from National Insurance (NI) savings when employees use the scheme too, which could help offset some of the cost of your employee benefits platform.
4. Life Cover
On the same theme as providing greater peace of mind in the context of global health over the last few years, Life Cover is a great benefit for any employer to provide.
As with Critical Illness Cover, the employer can also offer very competitive rates on the scheme through an employee benefits provider.
5. Critical Illness Cover
Since the pandemic, many people have become more conscious about covering themselves and their family in the event of illness or injury, and greater peace of mind in this instance has become much more valuable with employees.
Employers can provide Critical Illness Cover to employees at much more competitive rates than employees might find on the high street.
So, while the benefit provides great peace of mind for the employee, it can also help them cut down a regular monthly expense in the process.
What’s more, is that this can be made flexible too so the employee can choose their level of cover and how much their monthly contribution should be.
6. Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
The EAP is one of the best employee benefits according to employers, by virtue of the fact that it is one of the most widely offered employee benefits out there, with 90% of employers providing it in some form according to research by Employee Benefits.
It’s more versatile than people think, too. The scheme provides support for a broad range of mental wellbeing challenges and is available 24/7 for employees while remaining 100% confidential.
7. Eyecare Vouchers
The World Health Organisation estimate that around 2.2 billion people have vision impairment or blindness across the world, while 1 billion cases could have been prevented.
This makes Eyecare Vouchers one of the best employee benefits for employees in terms of how widely it is likely to be used and also in terms of its potential impact.
For some, the right eyecare can also be costly. Providing Eyecare Vouchers could help your employees maintain the right eyecare in spite of cost of living pressures.
8. Dental Cover
Dental Cover is an employee benefit that came up in much of the research around the best employee benefits for employees.
As mentioned above, dental care has become more expensive for many in the UK and NHS waiting times for new dental patients have only increased.
Providing Dental Cover helps reduce the cost of dental care for employees, where many employees may have considered this a cost to cut due to the cost of living crisis.
9. Technology Scheme
The Technology Scheme, which helps employees spread the cost of brand new technology over 12 or 18 months with no interest or credit checks, has become one of the most popular employee benefits with employees in recent years.
The scheme can help employees and their families when it comes to remote work or even studying.
However, perhaps it’s most important use case in recent times, the scheme has provided a lifeline for many employees.
For example, when the washing machine breaks down or the fridge suddenly gives up, the Technology Scheme can help employees get a replacement and spread the cost with no interest to help them manage their finances in particularly tricky times.
10. Gym Scheme
On the theme of health and wellbeing which was picked up in the research, the Gym Scheme remains a popular employee benefit with employees.
When the cost of living crisis hit, many were left to see how they could reduce their monthly outgoings.
Providing a scheme like the Gym Scheme, which helps employees find cheaper gym memberships, helps staff avoid the need to cancel their membership and deprioritise their health and wellbeing in favour of boosting their short term finances.
How to use these findings to build the best benefits to offer employees
While each study may have different methods, differing demographics and participants from different businesses, the research does help provide an overall picture of what the best employee benefits are according to employees.
Our advice is to pick out the key themes rather than the individual benefits.
Consider the employee benefits that each of these studies have found to be most popular, however, also consider how each benefit helps meet specific needs of employees.
What are those specific needs? And how could other, newer employee benefits employees may not have heard of be introduced to meet those needs too?
Identifying the needs of your own employees through surveys and combining primary research with secondary research such as the findings mentioned in this article is key to building a picture of what the best employee benefits provision could look like for your business.
Doing so will help attract and retain a talented team of employees that will help you achieve your HR objectives and hit your KPI’s.
