Reward, benefits & incentives - what's 2026 got in store?

There’s a saying, that goes something along the lines of ‘people don’t miss what they never had’. Perhaps in the world of reward/benefits/incentives this can be similarly be applied – that employees don’t feel like they’ve missed out, if they didn’t realise what they ‘could’ have been having in the first place.

But those days it seems are long gone. In fact, as just published data by Willis Towers Watson (WTW) reveals, it’s doubly bad news for employers. That’s because not only are employees incredibly learned about the benefits they feel they should be getting (84% say-so in fact), they are knowledgeable ‘and’ they’re not happy with what they are getting. The data finds that only 61% of staff say they are now feel satisfied with their benefits offering. Oh, and this is down from 66% during 2024.

With each passing year, WTW is finding staff feel less content with what they’re getting – which as another year ends, and a new one is about to start, raises the stakes yet further in the rewards/benefits landscape.

For rewards heads it must be a chilling thought to have to keep meeting ever-higher expectations – at a time where the cost of having staff is the highest its ever been, and (after the recent Budget), is only likely to subdue spend further.

So what does all this add up in terms of what the outlook for 2026 might be?

“The challenge facing HR, to try and do more with less, will only get harder,” concedes Phil Williams, Head of Employee Programmes EMEA at global engagement agency, BI Worldwide. “We’ve seen, in the last few years, a big push by employers to do more around incentives, but now they need to be even more laser-like on what they feel they’re getting from it.”

He adds: “The problem they have, is that at the same time, staff are also asking if the incentives they’re being offered chimes with their own and their company’s values, so there’s going to be convergence of challenging perspectives at play here too.”

One trend Williams says we might all be seeing more of is what he describes as the “convergence of recognition and incentives,” – which he says will focus on more frequent recognition for demonstrating certain cultural behaviours, and which sees reward heads build in more real-time feedback loops. He says: “It’s about making recognition and reward a more continual thing, rather than just an annual bonus, and one where incentives are linked to demonstrating desired behaviours.”

A lot of what Williams says Chimes with the observations of Paula Allen, Global Leader, Research, Insights and Strategic Communications from Telus Health. “Things that will go by the wayside in 2026 will be anything that appears random,” she says. “what will be far more valued by staff will be anything that builds their skills – such as training – or experience, such as working towards building a better at-work culture,” she says. “Recognition will – or will need to be – much more focused on how it contributes to culture.”

The outcomes of this, she argues, ought to be more extensive use of wellbeing accounts – where staff spend an amount of money as they choose – and promoting more of a culture of recognition, which she says needn’t actually cost much, because it comprises shout-outs to people or very small thank-you gifts. “Research tells us staff think more favourably around anything that focuses on mental health support – so this should absolutely not be ignored for 2026,” she adds.

But what else do reward chiefs and experts see on the horizon in 2026?