Employees Really Do Value Workplace Perks & Rewards

Some research from Zest for you;

Three quarters (76%) of financial services employees believe they get good value for money from their reward packages – the highest of all sectors surveyed – according to new research from employee benefits technology provider, Zest.

Other sectors with high employee satisfaction in terms of value for money include business services and IT, which ranked a close second – 75% of employees in both industries believed their workplace perks offered good value for money.

Top 10 sectors offering value for money from their benefits packages

Healthcare and education were the worst-performing sectors in terms of value for money. Just four in ten (42%) of education employees and half (48%) of those working in healthcare said they thought their reward packages offered good value.

Despite four in ten (39%) HR leaders in education saying that they’ve increased investment in their benefits package in the past 12 months, six in ten (57%) employees believe their workplace benefits package is inadequate. Four in ten (37%) employees say that due to the benefits on offer being good enough, they want to leave the education sector.

Across all industries – six in ten (58%) employees admit they don’t use most of the benefits currently available to them and half (47%) feel as though their benefits are irrelevant to their personal situation. Although four in ten (37%) of all businesses say they have increased investment in their benefits offering in the last 12 months, just 45% of employees feel as though their employer listens to their needs and responds through the benefits they offer.

Given 19% of firms say they are struggling to keep up with competitors who are raising salaries – and 58% 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: “Benefits are an effective approach to reward employees, but too many packages offer poor value for both employer and employee.

“Financial services firms are doing a better job than other sectors when it comes to understanding employee needs. Getting a benefits package right ensures that employees are fully supported, more empowered and more productive – key to meeting commercial targets and business growth plans.

“However, this research will make for painful reading for education businesses – the sector is the worst-performing in terms of value for money in the eyes of its employees. Leaders in this sector must pay greater attention to their rewards packages if they are to retain staff – many of whom are considering changing sectors in order to access the support they sorely need.”

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/.