I’ve been working as a Reward consultant for some years now, and before that I was in an in-house Reward role in a reasonable sized organisation.  One of the issues we struggled with then was budget, and how to spend it wisely in order to get the best benefits for our staff.

I discovered early on that some benefits were going to be costly, no matter what.   If it’s an insurance or other product that needs actuarial input, that costs money.  So let’s be clear.  Financial benefits such as insurance are great, but to see any value you need to ensure that your staff know how much it costs you to provide the benefit.  So make sure you tell them what they’re getting.

Then, there are the voluntary benefits, such as discount schemes and freebies.  Here staff have choice over their spending, and the employer simply provides a list of organisations who have agreed to provide discounts.  These have long been seen as a chance for staff to get maximum value from their earnings, but they often claim that they can get better options or bigger discounts elsewhere.  That’s naturally going to be the case at some point.  What you’re doing here is trying to give them more options.  Again, be clear and tell them that.

And now, I have noticed a new trend.  The providers who offered complex employee benefit platforms, with supported on-line websites and access to multiple benefit options, used to be really expensive.  Well out of the price range of many smaller, or less financially well off, organisations.  This meant that lots of companies were missing out because they couldn’t afford the provider’s annual fee, even if they recognised the value in having such a platform.  What is happening now though, is that technology has moved on and the platforms for driving these things are less resource-intensive to develop. This means that there are now some really good, cost-effective benefit platforms that can be used by smaller organisations to offer their staff the same sort of benefits as the larger companies do. Apps on mobile phones and laptop working make all of this so much more accessible these days.

I’ve viewed one recently that allows you to put all your benefits online, manage benefit choices and changes, and track take-up.  All of this in a well-presented interface that can be personalised to your organisation.  Even better, the cost wouldn’t have broken the bank.  So, get out there and get looking again folks, the chance is here!

And what’s the benefit? Well of course, an engaged workforce that is more committed and works harder for you.