Communication Employee Engagement: Communication is Key

Failing to educate staff of available benefits is costing UK companies £2.7 billion every year in lost employee engagement, according to new report

A new report from group healthcare provider Unum highlights the importance of ensuring that if your organisation offers staff benefits, adequate measures need to exist to communicate these benefits, and in the correct way.

We have highlighted the importance of communication for Employee Engagement before, but The Workplace Communication Blueprint, which surveyed 1,000 UK employees, puts a specific value of £2.7 billion lost every year by UK companies failing to educate staff on the available benefits offered. This equates to an annual cost of £470,000 for a typical company with 1,000 employees.

 

A staggering 64% of employers who offer a large range of employee benefits are failing to communicate to staff what they are entitled to. Unawareness of various different individual benefits ranged from 17% to 37%, with 17% of staff citing they were unaware if their company offers flexible working, which again we’ve reported previously as being an issue in the workplace.

 

The choice of communication method used to spread the word of benefits is also important. Staff surveyed expressed interest across a range of methods, with the top three being email (43%), intranet (32%) and face to face/company talks (30%). This might be reflected in the variety of different working practices of those surveyed, such as office-based workers versus staff working remotely. The majority of employees agreed that the HR department is best placed to explain benefits options and provide information on current benefits.

 

As well as ensuring you educate your staff to the available benefits, it’s also imperative that the benefits you offer align with the requirements of your workforce. 50% said their benefits package is not always tailored to their needs, whilst 32% said their employer does not understand what benefits are important to employees.

 

The document also raises the point that that although managers are often the ones placed to discuss requirements with staff and then propose workplace benefits, they don’t necessarily have inherent knowledge of the subject. Education is needed so that they are best equipped for the role.

 

Alongside confirming staff are aware of offered benefits, organisations need to foster an environment where they are openly discussed and line managers are seen using them, to encourage take-up.

 

Bodet can help with your Employee Engagement Strategy by providing communication, fairness, wellbeing, staff empowerment and flexible working through modern Time & Attendance Solutions.

 

For more information about how we can tailor a Time & Attendance System for your organisation’s specific needs and engagement requirements, please contact us.