UK 
United States
The workplace has changed.
For some time, people have been discussing how the traditional 9-5 is being disrupted. Where people once expected to travel to their place of work, log on to their computer, stay there all day and repeat tomorrow, people are demanding more choice in how they work. Businesses have also learnt just how effective flexible working can be.
This shift from a fixed workplace has meant the need to re-evaluate how business operates, and importantly how they drive engagement with their people to ensure they feel valued and fully supported with their mental, physical and financial health; three core reasons why businesses provide employee benefits.
As people work in different ways and different places, many businesses use an employee benefits platform to provide a way host, manage and drive engagement with their rewards and benefits wherever and whenever people may be. The features you get will depend on the platform you go for. Some platforms have limited features, some have more and sometimes you’ll have the option to go for a tailored, bespoke option or an off-the-shelf solution.
With so many options out there, we’ve compiled 5 important areas to consider if you’re implementing an employee benefits platform for the first time or simply upgrading your current offering to meet the evolving expectations of your people.
1. Are your current benefits delivering value?
Benefits are likely to be one of the biggest costs for your business. The best benefits platforms are always based around the best benefits – benefits that are valued by your people and offer a genuine return on investment for your business.
No matter how good your new benefits platform is, if it doesn’t talk about the kind of benefits your people need, ’ll just be papering over the cracks. We always advise our clients to review their benefits before they start to consider new technology.
By undertaking a holistic review of your benefits package, against the new needs of your people, you’ll be able to ensure the investment you’re making is delivering a return for your business and is delivering value for your people.
2. Identify what your people need from an employee benefits platform.
Making sure benefits technology meets your organisation’s needs starts with your people. Are they mainly online in an office, even if that is now in their home? Are they mobile? Are they tech savvy? This can all help determine what you should be looking for in a technology platform. If your workforce is increasingly mobile they may want to access their benefits on-the-go. So a solution designed with excellent mobile functionality would be essential. Platform stats show most log-ins are from mobile devices not desktops, so whatever your workforce profile an excellent mobile experience is likely to be essential.
Having a clear picture of your needs will also help your team or consultant make the best technology selection, including the best strategy for communications or even selecting new more relevant benefits you may not currently be offering.
3. Invest in new technology.
When purchasing any product or service, you want to ensure that it’s going to be fit for purpose in years to come; selecting a benefits platform is no different. The good news is that benefits technology has dramatically evolved over recent years.
Catching up with the expectations of consumer technologies, the next generation of employee benefits technology focuses on the configuration of your benefit scheme, not building your platform from the ground up.
This means there’s no longer the need for intensive and costly manual processes behind the scenes to build what you and your people are after. Any modern benefit technology provider should be able to quickly configure any benefit scheme, no matter how complex.
Some technology features you should look for as standard:
Built for mobile
Single sign-on
Ability to self-serve and to make changes
Secure, seamless and robust data flows that are GDPR compliant
4. Tools to drive engagement
Personalised experiences have become the normal in our online interactions due to advances in technology. Make sure your benefits technology is keeping pace with the wider technology market. It’s right to expect that the personalisation we’re all so used to is also available from our benefit platforms too.
Personalisation will help your people get the most out of their benefit scheme by creating personalised, user-friendly journeys. It should accelerate their decision-making process and help to ensure that the right choices are made.
5. Access to meaningful data and MI for your HR team
Look for a platform that gives you open access to your data via real time dashboards. The last thing you want to be doing is waiting to make a decision until a report to be generated.
Instant access to MI will allow you to make informed decisions, calculate the trend analysis, interaction, spend and absence reduction and even how the employees are accessing the platform to allow you to better understand the best way to engage with different employees.
Download our free guide to expand on the 5 core areas above
Installing or changing a platform is likely to be a major investment for your business but with the right approach, one which should deliver a significant return on your investment. In our free informative guide, we expand on the 5 areas covered above to help you choose a platform that will give you full control of your benefits delivery and deliver an exceptional experience for your people in 2021 and beyond.
