The 4 Most In-Demand Employee Benefits Your People Want

23 April 2021

We tend to split employee wellbeing into three main pillars - physical, financial, and mental. However, it's important to remember that they're interconnected - each impacting the other. During this blog, we'll explore how these pillars translate into four key areas, with insights into the employee benefits that will meet your people's needs.

From employee benefits that help us with our finances to lifestyle perks...

There are many types of benefits you could offer to your employees.

Employee benefits can be essential in helping your employees stay mentally, physically, and financially well. More than an effective way to support your employees’ wellbeing, they also help you attract and retain your top talent.

75% of people are more likely to stay with their employer because of the strength of their employee benefits package (Towers Watson).
69% of employees would choose one job over another if it offered better benefits (One Medical).

Having the right employee benefits offering is vital for you and your employees, but what does that look like?

The four main types of employee benefits you should be offering are:

Workplace or cultural benefits
Health & wellbeing benefits
Financial benefits
Fitness & lifestyle benefits

Workplace & culture benefits

Employee benefits, whether tangible or not, boost employee wellbeing, making life at home and work more joyful.

EVP-enhancing workplace benefits include the following...

Flexible hours and remote working

Hybrid, remote, and flexible working is the norm in many workplaces, with 52% of employees requesting a more flexible working mode.

Post-lockdown, around 30% of UK employees said they would likely switch jobs if they had to return to fully office-based work (McKinsey).

Empower your people with new skills

Career development opportunities are a staple part of your Employee Value Proposition.

Show your people you’re committed to their future to boost employee engagement.

Upskilling your current talent pool benefits your business, improving the quality of their work, reducing turnover, and enhancing performance.

Lunch on… you!

With employees working in the office less, covering the cost of their lunch could be more feasible than it once was.

You may even want to use this as an incentive to get your people back in the office.

Providing lunch for your people, either through expenses or vouchers, is a positive wellbeing initiative – supporting their physical and financial wellbeing.

Align it with your social value initiatives, supporting small businesses and locally sourced food.

Health & wellbeing benefits

Healthy employees = higher levels of productivity & lower levels of absenteeism.

Helping your employees stay healthy yields a return on investment by reducing the expense of absenteeism and presenteeism.

Here are two must-have mental and physical wellbeing benefits:

Employee Assistance Programme: Mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety are believed to trigger 70% of doctor visits and 85% of serious illnesses. Be proactive. Empower your people to recognise the signs of mental ill health and give them a safe place to turn when they need support.

Our Employee Assistance Programme gives you access to BACP-accredited counsellors who are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year – at work, at home – whenever help is needed!

Online GP: Online GP gives your employees worldwide access to a digital healthcare platform, 24/7, 365 days a year, supporting and enhancing the health of your most valuable assets.

Financial Benefits

Salary-stretching solutions have become an employee benefit must-have during the cost-of-living crisis. Our wages aren’t going as far as they once did, and employees are turning to their place of work for support.

Here are a few ways you can help…

Cashback: Our Pluxee Card is a pre-paid offering powered by Visa that helps employees stretch their salaries further and enjoy more of what really matters. Earn up to 15% cashback when they purchase from one of the over 80 retailers we partner with on everyday essentials and high-end purchases.

Our Pluxee Card allows your employees to earn cashback with over 80 retailers, but our Online Cashback platform has over 400 cashback offers!

Available as part of our Employee Benefits Platform, Online Cashback is available alongside our Employee Discounts, giving your people more opportunities to stretch their salaries.

SmartPay: Whether it’s the latest phone or a new laptop, there are times when we want access to the latest tech, but it isn’t always cheap. Help your employees get access to the tech they need, with the option to spread the cost through their salary with our SmartPay.

Financial education + money management tools = reduce employees’ financial anxiety.

Financial Wellbeing App: Our Financial Wellbeing App brings you the tools your employees need to boost their financial health, including a money management app and financial education for debt consolidation and employee savings schemes.

Fitness & lifestyle benefits

Bring more moments of joy to your people by making morale and lifestyle-improving activities affordable.

Cycle to Work: A scheme that helps your employees get fitter, afford the bike of their dreams and saves them and you money in tax and National Insurance Contributions… that’s Cycle to Work!

Gym & Fitness Discounts: Employees are looking for businesses that will help them to afford more of what matters most. With our Pluxee Gyms & Fitness discounts, you’re proving that you’re prioritising their health and wellbeing, making life more joyful.

We offer discounts with over 3,000 gyms, studios, fitness centres, boot camps and sports clubs across the UK and the Republic of Ireland, as well as a vast range of digital fitness providers!

Annual Leave Purchases: Promote a healthy work-life balance by allowing your people to take more time to explore what the world has to offer.

An employee purchases extra holiday allowance, you deduct the cost over their monthly salary throughout the year, saving you money on your wage bill!