Yes Salary Matters, But Employees Also Want Benefits Packages

In these days of high taxation and NI income isn’t everything, sometimes the benefits package with a job like 24/7 healthcare consultations, overseas travel insurance, subsidised food, gym membership, or a boost to their pension, is more welcome than a short term pay rise. Here’s soem research from Zest;

New research from employee benefits technology provider, Zest, finds that 97% of financial services firms surveyed say company perks are now one of the first things they’re asked about by new candidates.

With energy, water, council tax, broadband, mobile and TV prices rising in ‘Awful April’ this year, many are looking to their employer for additional support – two thirds (64%) of financial services employees want more financial support in their benefits package.

Despite this, three in ten (31%) do not feel as though their employer listens to their needs and responds through the benefits they offer. Six in 10 (62%) employees admit they don’t use most of the benefits currently available to them and 36% feel as though their benefits are irrelevant to them.

Findings come from the launch of Zest’s latest report – Are financial services firms losing talent through poor reward packages? – and highlight a clear disconnect between what employees working in financial services want, and what their employers are offering.

Nearly all (99%) employers agree that they’d see better engagement with their benefits packages if they were more personalised.

Given four in ten (37%) financial services firms say they are struggling to keep up with competitors who are raising salaries – and over half (54%) of employees say that they’d leave their current job if another company offered them better perks – employee benefits provide a cost-effective opportunity to attract and retain talent in a way that differs from salary.

Matt Russell, CEO of Zest, says: “April has proved to be a financially challenging month for both businesses and workers alike. Providing the right support through a great benefits package can ease this load, offering improved value for money for businesses and helping employees to manage the increase in household bills and ongoing high cost of living.

“However, if both parties are to reap these rewards, financial services firms must work to create more personalised, targeted benefits packages that their employees will truly value. With over half of workers in the sector claiming they’d jump ship for better perks, getting this right has never been more critical.”

Zest is an employee benefits technology company with over 500 customers, including Hargreaves Lansdown, Taylor Wimpey and Yahoo, serving over 300,000 employees. Its multi award-winning platform offers a fresh approach to truly flexible employee benefits.

Employers can use Zest’s ROI Calculator to learn more about potential savings on employer NI contributions as well as approaches to reduce talent loss and boost productivity: https://www.zestbenefits.com/roi-calculator/