Five new statistics you should know about employee benefits

It’s always important to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and statistics in HR and employee benefits. After all, understanding what your employees are looking for in their benefits package is key to the success of your offering. Trends and statistics can change quickly due to a huge number of external factors, and it’s important to stay on top of them. Some of these statistics may surprise you!

The top perk 17-24 year olds want is unlimited holiday days (Metro)
Of course, while some companies do offer this, it isn’t always practical for every company. However, why not offer Holiday Trading? With this you’re giving employees the option to buy or sell annual leave giving them more options when it comes to their holidays for the year. Offering Holiday Trading is a win-win for both employees and employers. Employees have the option to buy or sell more annual leave and employers can make NI and salary savings.

Dental care is also shown in the study to be one of the top priorities for 17-24 year olds. This could be because many people have to pay for their treatment once they’ve finished their education and have gone into the world of work. Look into offering Dental Care for your younger employees in 2019.

It’s also worth noting that priorities for other age groups include pension contributions and private healthcare.

20% received information about their benefits and perks when they first joined their organisation but have not received any communications since then. (Canada Life)

The key thing to take away here is simple, consistent communication about your employee benefits is as important as it’s ever been, if not more in 2019. We’ve always said at caboodle, what’s the point in having an exceptional employee benefits offering if your employees don’t know about it? The key to engagement is consistent communication. Ask yourself, are you doing enough to communicate your employee benefits package?

Three-quarters of employees want a more tailored benefits package (Get Living)
This is why flexible benefits are going to be highly important in 2019. Increasingly, employees want more and more choice when it comes to their employee benefits. As the research from Metro shows, different employees have different priorities when it comes to their perks.

With flexible benefits, you’re making sure there’s something in your benefits package for everyone. Allowing employees to choose the benefits they can use makes your benefits offering more tailored. 2019 is definitely the year for flexible benefits!

62% of millennials are generally satisfied with their benefits (LaSalle)
Firstly, the important thing to note with this statistic is the definition of millennials. Millennials are often thought of as younger than they actually are. Millennials are actually anyone born between 1981 and 1996, while Generation Z are defined as those born between 1997 and 2012.

So, what can we do with this statistic? Again, a key thing to take away here is that it’s important to cater to everyone of all ages in the business when it comes to your employee benefits. If 38% of your millennial workforce are unsatisfied with their benefits offering, what can you do to engage them?

A third cite employee wellbeing as the key driver for their 2019 benefits strategy (Employee Benefits)
This statistic gives us an idea of what the industry professionals are expecting in 2019. They also cite employee engagement and attracting talent and retention as important. That said, this statistic shouldn’t necessarily mean you or your company should do the same.

Whether you choose to adapt your offering to new trends and statistics in employee benefits for 2019 is up to you. It’s worth noting that conducting your own research on your own employees is just as important if not more important than taking in the latest industry statistics. Make sure you’re conducting surveys to get a good idea of what your employees want from their benefits offering.