Strategies for boosting the take-up of your flexible benefits

Transcription

1 Strategies for boosting the take-up of your flexible benefits Employee Benefits Live nd September 2015 Evan Davidge Head of Reward, UKMEA

2 Scope How to select the right benefit options for your workforce Conveying the value of your offering to your staff to bolster take-up Using new technology to increase engagement with your flex plan

3 Ove Arup and our legacy We shape a better world

4 Flexible Benefits - The Employment Value Proposition Arup EVP 2015

5 Flexible Benefits The Business Imperative Board sponsorship is a must not least of all the FD! Be clear on philosophy and principles, use elevator speech - shape a better world, reasonable prosperity etc Demonstrate how will it align with your business and HR strategies, e.g. attraction and retention tool What part can benefits play in your organisation s particular lifestage, e.g. organic growth, M & A, disinvestment etc Tease out the risks and opportunities of flexible benefits What degree of core and flexibility should be offered Remember it is the employee who will ultimately define or crash flex How does it fit with your current and target demographic with this individual needs

6 Multi-generational workforce Veterans Builders Baby Boomers Gen X Gen Y Gen Z b b b b b % 19% 32% 27% 14% Traditionalists Beatlemania Thatcher s Children Millennials Zeds

7 Multi engagement levels Impact on benefits Another reason to leave if I could! Another brick in the wall Comfortably Numb I really don t mind benefits one way or another I love everything about this place and the benefits Have a cigar Money Cash is king

8 How to select the right benefits Audit your benefits in terms of spend and takeup Engage with key stakeholders Assess market trends and practices Assess what are your key employee segments and their preferences Evaluate the risks and opportunities Pilot the benefit

9 Using marketing techniques - conjoint Conjoint analysis is a statistical technique used in market research to determine how people value different attributes (feature, function, benefits) that make up an individual product or service.

10 The Most Popular Benefits Top 6 Benefit Take-Up Childcare Vouchers 85% Dental Insurance 83% Bicycles 79% PMI 77% Life Assurance 76% Buy & Sell Holidays 72% Employee Benefits / Towers Watson flexible benefits research 2014

11 The new imperative Work life balance wellbeing employee value and importance

12 Where does flex fit into this? Lifestyle benefits Buy/sell annual holidays Travel insurance Discounted gyms Bicycles Spa finders Wellbeing benefits: PMI more flexibility Medical cash plans Health checks Dental Mindfulness & other coping benefits Protection: Critical illness Permanent Health Insurance Core life assurance Financial education modular approach

13 Convey the value of benefits Communication strategy Senior Leader Sponsor Key objectives Straplines Targeted campaigns Multi-channel Personalised Timely Fun and engaging

14 Communication Channels Face-to-face Multi-media Roadshows Financial Education 14

15 What is flex technology A system, operating in-house or from cloudbased servers, that provides a platform to deliver a flexible benefits scheme. Increasingly, systems are designed to interface with other elements of benefits and reward, including pensions, and often feature interactive tools and data-modelling programmes that can be used by employees.

16 Employee Benefits Technology Trends Prudential Study of Benefits Today & Beyond

17 Modellers & Apps Standalone modellers are becoming more common. Modellers and apps are most appropriate for benefits that have financial implications, such as pensions, healthcare, flexible benefits, company cars or buying and selling holidays Modularity is adapting them for smaller organisations. Employers can benefit from greater staff appreciation of benefits, lower national insurance costs through salary sacrifice arrangements, and reduced administration through online transactions.

18 Apps for specific purposes Pension apps: These can help engage staff with their pension, and can include an overview of their savings, recent transactions, projected benefits and the performance of their funds. Healthcare apps: These can address different issues, for example, an antistress app that identifies stress levels and gives practical tips and advice. Also, an eyesight app that provides staff with a series of sight tests to determine if they need a full eye examination. Mileage claim apps: These enable employers to manage mileage claims through detailed journey logs. Shopping discount apps: Using these, employees can access their voluntary benefits shopping website. Sustainability apps: These help employers address corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues and set targets.

19 Downsides of online technology It should never replace human interaction the primary driver of engagement It will not suit every segment of the workforce It will not suit every employer or flexible benefits scheme there should be reasonable scale Creep scope and customisation can be expensive It should form part of a wider communication campaign It can still be resource hungry There can be security issues or breaches Employees could object to personal data held on a third party application

20 Tips on sourcing technology Do a market scan there is no regulated industry body Be clear on what you are looking for go through a noobligation Expressions of Interest exercise Get your FD and ITX on board Look for compatibility and interface with your HRIS Produce a comprehensive and thorough specification test it out with key stakeholders Talk to other employers or people in your network who have already introduced flex technology Follow up references and evaluate lessons learned Allocate appropriate resource/timelines and double it! Convene a multi-discipline project team Be mindful of data that is stored outside the EU

21 Future drivers of change

22 Final words Know your market Communication is the key to success Smart technology can facilitate and drive benefits engagement

23 Questions?