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Looking back over the history of the employee reward and benefits space, it’s clear to see that in years past, employers had little idea what they were doing. The very definition of ‘nice-to-haves’, many of the benefits that hark back to the early days of the Silicon Valley boom are aimless, good sounding but not actually useful or effective acts of tokenism that were more interested in saying ‘we’re cool’ to the world, than ‘we care’.
Obviously, the space has changed dramatically since this time. Even more so as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, when worker wellbeing and health was intensely shaken up. Now, those shouting about an unlimited supply of booze on a Friday, hammocks in the office or access to an on-call masseuse sound limited in scope, and more interested in throwing money at what is actually a fundamental problem in the way they see their people, than actually solving it.
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This raises a very important question. What’s the point of employee reward and benefits? If they’re designed to simply look cool to prospective talent then congratulations, margaritas on tap will probably tick the box. However, if the complexity of what you’re trying to achieve with benefits grabs your interest, then let’s explore further.
To answer this question, we must look at what benefits are actively succeeding in this day and age. The number one benefit requested by staff, according to Access data, is flexible working, offered by 85% of employers. This is no surprise. Workers got a taste of a greater balance between their work and the other factors in their life in recent years, and are largely unwilling to give it up.
Also high on the list is access to private medical care. Again, this correlates with a time in which physical health was impacted greatly by the pandemic. And, along with assistance with physical health, it seems that mental health support is high on the list. Workers want access to councillors and mental health professionals who can guide them through times of aversity.
