Six in 10 employers now say they communicate the health and wellbeing support on offer to their employees more regularly.
However despite this only 39% of employers believed their employees had a good understanding of the full range of employee benefits they provided.
Research conducted by Opinium for Towergate Employee Benefits among 500 UK HR decision makers found hybrid working was affecting employee understanding of these benefits.
This was illustrated by 38% of employers stating they now found it more difficult to communicate the support they offered because many employees work from home either some or all of the time.
However, making communications relevant to employees remains a sticking point, with 43% of employers saying it was difficult to target specific messages to specific groups of the workforce.
Digital options
In terms of how employers communicate their health and wellbeing benefits, 55% concentrated more on apps and digital platforms.
And there were a number of reasons why employers were utilising digital benefits platforms.
These included:
- Easier for employees to see all their benefits in one place – 34%
- Helps to communicate employee benefits – 33%
- Easier for employees to make use of their benefits – 32%
- Enables benefits to be accessed by employees at any time – 32%
- Helps employees make personal choices about which benefits to choose – 31%
Debra Clark, head of wellbeing at Towergate Employee Benefits (pictured), said: “It’s positive to see that employers are clearly aware that communication of employee benefits is important, however in many cases, the current processes are not sufficient.
“What needs to happen now is for employers to fully understand the options open to them and to harness the tools to improve benefits communication.
“Employee understanding of benefits needs to be a core priority and this will only come with careful communication. If employees do not know about, and understand the benefits on offer, then they will not make use of them, and the employers will not receive the value for the business.”
