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It’s a well-known (and probably slightly irritating), fact that despite poll after poll revealing staff want ever-more exciting/comprehensive benefits (to the point where they’ll quit without them), time and time again, the awkward reality is that most workers don’t actually know what they’re given in the first place.
And, even if they do, they’ll either underestimate the value their benefits package offers or won’t even take the benefit up at all. As recent research by benefits provider, Boostworks finds, most rewards and recognition programmes have utilisation rates of below 40%.
The frustration rewards heads must feel can be summed up through 2024 and 2025 data by Drewbury Insurance, which found a whopping 50% of employees didn’t understand their company benefits, with only 45% "somewhat" understanding them, and 10% having little to no understanding at all.
Last year, the provider’s same research (its annual Employee Benefits and Workplace Satisfaction Survey), found things had gotten even worse, with 67% of employees admitting they didn’t know what was in their core benefits package. When staff were asked why they weren’t accessing certain benefits, 39% of respondents said they didn’t realise they had them.
A different approach needed
Statistics like this will make grim reading for those who try and provide the best (and widest) selection of perks they can for their staff, especially in these increasingly budget-chastening times.
But either HR professionals can moan about it, or they can actually do something about – and at Helen & Douglas House, the Oxford-based children’s hospice charity – it’s very much decided on the latter, with a re-launch of its financial wellbeing coach-access benefit, offered through Octopus Money.
Constant reminders needed
“With only a third of our staff in Oxford, and the rest distributed in across a number of counties and in shops themselves, we constantly have to remind people of the benefits we have,” says Simon Bolton, Head of People, Helen & Douglas House.” He adds: “Lots of our shop staff volunteer, or come and go quite frequently, and so this creates the additional need to have benefits re-explained to new joiners.” He continues: “But while some people teams will often focus their energy on launching new benefits, we’ve learned that you can create just as much impact by reminding staff about the support that already exists; especially if you explain clearly what’s in it for them.”
And so it was that at the start this year, the charity, which provides care for children and young people in Bedfordshire; Berkshire; Buckinghamshire; Gloucestershire; Hertfordshire; parts of London; Northamptonshire; Oxfordshire; Wiltshire, decided to relaunch its financial assistance benefit for all of its 260 staff.
While take-up was initially very good to begin with, we were noticing that take up of the benefit was starting to slip away
Says Bolton: “We first launched Octopus Money’s one-to-one money planning service two years ago. It was done with a real fanfare, to really help staff with the cost of living crisis. But while take-up was initially very good to begin with, we were noticing that take up of the benefit was starting to slip away. Plus, there were lots of people who would have joined in the period since who wouldn’t have seen the initial launch, and so probably didn’t know it was available to them.”
