Receiving employee benefits advice from your team

Knowing what incentives and initiatives to offer your team is vital. There are a lot of recommendations and programmes out there. What none of them will reveal is that you can learn a lot by listening to your team for employee benefits advice.

Today, we’re going to look at how your own workforce deserves to be heard when it comes to incentives. We’re going to learn how to leverage conversations, observations and how leaders can lean into the employee benefits advice from their own team.

Why? Because it’s these very individuals who utilise your initiatives. Instead of shooting in the dark, leaders can draw on true data and insight. By the end, you’ll realise that employee benefits advice isn’t hard to find, and requires little more than the people you work with!

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Why do I need employee benefits advice?

First things first, why do you need employee benefits advice? In today’s work environment, we’re seeing changes faster than ever. Everything from the way we work to employee benefits is shifting. Now, companies of all shapes and sizes are trying new and innovative ways to meet these demands.

For this reason alone, employers should be keeping on top of the trends and desires of their workforce — or as we’d put it, listening to employee benefits advice.

For example, companies that have adopted a permanent flexible approach are coming out on top against less flexible competitors when it comes to hiring top talent.

It’s simply not enough to offer a cash plan or a long list of meaningless perks. There’s no escaping the truth; workplace incentives have to be actively monitored. They have to align with the current demands of employees.

There are an incredible number of benefits to receiving employee benefits advice from your team — the people your incentives affect the most.
From personalising the employee experience to creating a work environment that supports health, happiness and wellbeing, the results you collate will likely paint a different picture than your existing package.

That, of course, isn’t a problem. It’s only when we reevaluate things like workplace perks and the needs of employees that we can create a forward-thinking, progressive business. It’s the neglect; the lack of active and genuine analysis that creates unhappy teams.

Leaders need to listen to their team for the best employee benefits advice. Management in all organisations, both big and small, should be asking themselves the following questions:

1. Are we really listening and acting on employee benefits package advice?
2. What tools do we have at our disposal to collect feedback from people
3. Do we understand the current underutilisation rate of employee perks?
4. Does our workforce get the chance to share employee benefits advice?
5. Have our staff incentives evolved with the times?
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The power of communication for employee benefits advice

So, how can speaking with your team revolutionise your incentives? How can you encourage your workforce to offer employee benefits package advice? Let’s look at the various ways below.

Remember, communication is key to many successful functions in business. Whether it’s wellbeing discussions or employee benefits package advice, the first step to improvements in any department is effective discourse.

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Discuss the things in life your team want to improve

We all have things in life that we want to improve. Perhaps this is financial, physical or another area of self-accomplishment. As a leader, you must show employees that your workplace benefits support this growth.

By demonstrating (through your staff benefits) that you support this both in and outside of the workplace, you are sending a very positive message.

With the economic downturn looming ever larger over the UK, your employees are likely to be anxious and fear the worst. This uncertainty can seep into workplace performance and hinder business growth.

The workforce won’t hold back on their thoughts when it comes to pay increases and other incentives that make life that little bit more financially stable. Listen to these demands, and recognise them as employee benefits advice.

Consider things like better financial wellbeing. Whether it’s savings tools, financial coaching, debt management support or any form of financial education, it’s time to explore solutions.

Ultimately, your employee benefits, in any scenario, should be based on problem-solving. How do they solve problems and make life easier for your people? Ask your team for employee benefits advice around self-improvement.

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Find out what causes stress, anxiety or upset

The world has been through a lot lately. In just a couple of years, everyone has been hit with a global pandemic, the cost of living crisis and rising concerns of war in Europe. In the workplace, worry, anger and sadness continue to remain above pre-pandemic levels. 

It’s clear. More needs to be done in the workplace to minimise these negative emotions. And while it’s only human to be anxious and stressed from time to time, the workplace must play a role in reducing the frequency and severity of these feelings; which can be achieved through employee benefits advice, i.e listening to your team’s needs.

The world of work is plagued by an “always-on” culture driven by burnout. If leaders cannot find solutions to the stress, anxiety and depression people face in the workplace, they could find themselves losing top talent to competitors. 

Speak with your employees about the stress, anxiety and upset they experience both in and outside of work. It may be the uncertainty of a recession, it could be their current workload, or perhaps there’s an element of toxic workplace behaviour happening. You won’t know unless you ask.

You should then use this data and insight to support employees with different initiatives. Consider their response as employee benefits advice; what can you do next to help? If you don’t have the capacity to speak one-on-one with employees regarding their fears and anxieties, consider sending them a survey about their wellbeing.

This will reveal all the employee benefits advice you need to make better decisions. Generally, there is stronger demand than ever for incentives that demand wellbeing support.

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Ask about their ambitions and goals

Closely related to self-improvement, we all have ambitions and goals in life. Typically, these are related to our careers. By seeking out employee benefits advice from your team by asking them about their ambitions and goals, you can improve your offering.

Consider employee benefits like learning and development, tuition reimbursement, formal education opportunities and more. Perhaps employees want more structured progression in the workplace.

One of the key reasons people leave their job is due to a lack of opportunity, the lack of challenge and the desire to learn and develop their skills. This alone should be all the employee benefits advice you require — there’s little need to speak with employees on this one.

But, of course, it does help to understand how and why employees want to learn and progress in their careers. Although your employees may love their job, it doesn’t necessarily mean they can’t foresee a future of progression and success elsewhere.

We all have things we want to achieve. Find out what these are within your employees through employee benefits advice, and you’ll be 10x closer to finding solutions to help them progress.

Top tip: consider their ambitions outside of the workplace too. Not everyone is driven by the success of their careers. You may find out that certain employees want to learn a second language or play an instrument.

Whilst these aren’t career-related, they’re still the ambitions and goals of your employees, and any support offered could, presumably would, improve their happiness and subsequently their wellbeing.

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Gather general feedback for better employee benefits advice

Finally, one of the best ways to find out what works and doesn’t work when it comes to employee benefits advice is just to ask. Dig out the data around employee benefits use and quiz your team on whether they’d want to keep certain benefits or change them for something else.

If you have a wellbeing committee, this is a great task to get them involved in. Unlike asking your team-specific questions, open discussions encourage all kinds of ideas. It’s best to assess certain areas of employee benefits, but we recommend combining that with some form of open discussion. 

Questions to ask your team for employee benefits advice:

1. What do you think about the current employee benefits package as a whole?
2. Do you feel our employee benefits are easily accessible?
3. Do you completely understand our benefits package?
4. Since working for us, have our employee benefits scheme supported you?
5. What workplace benefits would you like to see in the future?
6. Would you like a stronger presence of wellbeing incentives?
7. How do our employee benefits compare to previous jobs you’ve had?
8. Do you think any of our employee benefits are outdated?

The list isn’t exhaustive, by no means. However, these questions should give you a good idea of what to ask, and should provide you with the best employee benefits advice from your team.

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Should I use an employee benefits advisor?

Some organisations believe they need an employee benefits advisor. Well, an employee benefits advisor isn’t necessarily the answer. As we’ve explained above, your workforce has all the answers you could possibly need.

Employee benefits should be personalised, not a tickbox exercise. For far too long, employee benefits have become a “one-size-fits-all” game - and a losing game at that. Employees need to look inwards to their workforce for an idea of the employee benefits that will work for them.

The short answer? If you aren’t willing to receive constructive feedback or provide a personalised benefits package, then an employee benefits advisor may be the answer. 
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Our conclusion on employee benefits advice

Congratulations, you’ve made it this far! Hopefully, by now, you recognise the importance of receiving employee benefits advice from the people that matter most to your business.

Conclusively, it is down to you, as a HR manager, business leader or people ops professional to support healthier, happier teams. It’s only through active listening and conscious leadership that this can be achieved.

One could say that employee benefits advice from the workforce itself is a form of conscious leadership! While our list of pain points or questions to ask your team isn’t all-encompassing, it does touch on key factors.

It’s their biggest goals and ambitions and their worst fears and worries that leaders need to recognise; to find ways to support them.

Remember: Your team’s thoughts, feelings and ideas are tremendously important. It’s not just the crumbs of employee benefits advice you discover through conversations and surveys, but it’s the fresh perspectives you receive on the business as a whole.

Now, let’s turn our attention to Heka, a platform that takes out the guesswork and puts employees in the driving seat for the betterment of their health and wellbeing!

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Using Heka for your employee benefits package

So, now that you’ve found out how to ask your workforce for employee benefits advice, how can Heka help? Heka is an employee wellbeing platform in the UK.

Every month, employers use Heka to reward their team with an allowance. With this allowance, employees can book and buy from thousands of experiences, services and products.

That means axe-throwing in the heart of London, virtual therapy, in-person yoga classes and so much more. There really is something for everyone in your team.

We understand the importance of personalised employee benefits, and our wellbeing platform reflects this massively! Wellbeing really is a superpower in the modern workplace! If you’d like to find out more, book a demo with our wellbeing experts.

Not sold? Find out what some of our customers have said about rewarding their employees with access to thousands of perks.