Creating engagement through employee benefits

Abstract

Purpose

The potential impact of employee benefits on individuals and their dependants is significant and growing as new products and solutions come on to the market. The aim of this paper is to investigate how benefits impact on employees and the organization as a whole, and how organizations are choosing to inform their people about the type of benefits on offer.

Design/methodology/approach

Research conducted by AIG UK Benefits seeks to provide an insight into the current employee benefits environment and in particular to the areas highlighted above. The research consisted of a two‐stage study undertaken by the AIG UK corporate research and development team between November 2007 and January 2008.

Findings

The study highlights the differences between the perceptions of employers/HR professionals and employees when it comes to the awareness and understanding of the benefits on offer and asks whether employees are really to blame if they fail to appreciate the true value of their employers' voluntary employee benefits.

Originality/value

There is an opportunity for HR to improve benefits communications. The study looks at how one UK retailer has successfully implemented a strong communications program and presents steps that employers and reward professionals can take to improve their own benefits communications.

Citation

Pegg, T. (2009), "Creating engagement through employee benefits", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 5-12. https://doi.org/10.1108/14754390910937521