Eight in 10 employees feel more motivated by a good company benefits package, but which ones hold the most value with top talent today?
Most common employee benefits in the UK
The five benefits most commonly offered in the UK include:
|
Benefit |
% companies offering this benefit |
|
Paid bereavement leave |
82% |
|
Christmas parties |
79% |
|
Training and career development |
78% |
|
Employee Assistance Programmes |
76% |
|
Free drinks in the office |
73% |
At least 15% more companies offer these benefits now than before the pandemic started. This strongly indicates a trend in how employers and employees perceive the importance of workplace benefits beyond salary.
Five most popular benefits being offered since the pandemic
Since the pandemic, 17% more companies have introduced flexible working, with 15% introducing training and career development benefits. The five most popular benefits being offered since the pandemic include:
|
Benefit |
% increase of companies first offering this benefit since March 2020 |
|
Physical fitness programmes |
22% |
|
Discounted insurance (health, dental, travel) |
20% |
|
Company parties, meals, events |
19% |
|
Employee assistance programs |
19% |
|
Christmas parties |
19% |
Many of these are unsurprising: working from home brought home the importance of work’s social side and emphasised that mental wellbeing cannot be ignored in the workplace. Employers were attuned to those parts of working life that people felt the lack of in working from home and tried to compensate via reinforcing their benefits efforts.
Increasing health and wellbeing benefits
Since Covid, there has been a noticeable rise in wellness-related benefits, including:
|
Benefit |
% companies offering this benefit |
|
Free drinks in the office |
79% |
|
Employee assistance programmes |
76% |
|
Paid sick leave |
74% |
|
Free eye tests |
72% |
|
Financial support for those in isolation |
48% |
Most valued benefits, according to employees
These are the wellbeing benefits that are most valuable to employees:
|
Benefit |
% employees that rated these benefits as highly valuable |
|
Virtual mental health counselling |
35% |
|
Insurance to reduce cost of mental health treatment |
34% |
|
Tools to help build mindfulness and resilience |
34% |
|
Virtual support groups |
34% |
|
Tools for training on how to help others with mental health problems |
32% |
The most popular financial benefits
Offering a workplace pension is now a legal requirement for all businesses in the UK. However, financial benefits cover a much broader range of perks which can boost employee engagement. The most commonly offered financial benefits are:
|
Benefit |
% companies offering this benefit |
|
Paying a voluntary living wage |
69% |
|
Employer pension scheme (6% contribution) |
62% |
|
Christmas bonus |
59% |
|
Debt counselling |
57% |
|
Financial scam education |
47% |
Large companies offer financial benefits more frequently than SMEs. For example, whereas just 44% of SMEs offer a pension scheme with a 6% contribution, 77% of larger organisations provide this benefit.
Financial support for childcare is also a key consideration for many job-seekers. Whether it’s offering vouchers (53%), emergency childcare (23%) or providing nurseries and day-care on-site (5%), childcare benefits can also help you to attract employees who are looking to start a family while working at your company. This is particularly important considering the number of parents who consider leaving work due to the costs of childcare.
Employee benefits on the rise
With benefits becoming an increasingly common factor for job seekers, it’s unsurprising that many companies are looking to further invest in team member benefit schemes to attract top candidates.
Areas businesses are planning on investing in this year include:
|
Benefit |
% businesses planning an increased spend on this benefit in 2022 |
|
Career development opportunities |
44% |
|
Financial benefits |
30% |
|
Health and wellbeing benefits |
27% |
|
Paid Leave Benefits |
16% |
|
Personal and family benefits |
13% |
Increasing employee engagement with benefits
A recent YouGov poll reveals that only 57% of employees have been told about the benefit schemes at their work. Even fewer (53%) have been given information on how to access their benefits, and only half know how their benefits could help them.
This points to a crucial way for employers to improve employee engagement and create productive benefits schemes. Beyond just investing in attractive benefits packages, employers need to shout about them and inform their teams of everything on offer in their workplace too.
Finding any of our terminology confusing? Check out our Glossary of Flexible Office Space terms for explanations of all things flex office space-related!