Recruiting and retaining the best talent in your industry requires a competitive salary, a winning company culture and, increasingly, an attractive employee benefits offering.
So, how do you know if your employee benefits are ticking all the right boxes? This is where benchmarking comes in.
This article explores the value of comparing your benefits to typical employer practice in the industry or country you’re operating in.
Need help launching or reviewing your employee benefits plan? Get FREE expert advice from our consultants on 01273 974419 or email [email protected].
The importance of benchmarking
What is employee benefits benchmarking?
The most common form of benefits benchmarking involves the process of comparing how your benefits package compares to standard industry practice.
For businesses that employ globally, there is the challenge of benchmarking across different countries and ensuring you are complying with local regulations.
James Carrick, International Senior Manager at Engage, explains the process:
“Benchmarking could be anything from providing a side-by-side benefit comparison, to industry-specific information, country prevalence and typical employer practice.”
When Engage customers receive benchmarking reports, they also benefit from the consultant’s expertise.
“We often extrapolate the gathered information for our clients too, providing our insights and opinion rather than just passing on the report’s findings without context.”
“For a company with employees in different countries, we can use our network of local specialists to ensure we’re up-to-date with typical employer practice and the finer points of local legislation.”
Whether you need to start from scratch with an employee benefits plan, or are reviewing current benefits, benchmarking helps businesses to:
- Identify any missing key benefits compared to competitors
- Ensure are no duplicated benefits – and therefore unnecessary spend
- Assess how you shape up within your industry
- Provide the employee benefits staff expect
- Ensure your employee benefits are relevant and effective
The benefits of employee benefit benchmarking
In the rush to execute their benefits policies, some businesses skip benchmarking but this would be unwise. Below we have outlined the benefits of benchmarking, especially when it comes to attracting and retaining the best talent.
#1 Identify gaps in your benefits plan compared to the competition
For example, if other businesses in your industry are providing a Group Health Insurance plan and you’re not, potential employees will likely take this into account when considering their options. Equipped with this knowledge, you can ensure your benefits plan is, at the very least, matching the competition.
#2 Attract and retain the best talent in your industry
Multiple surveys show that employee benefits have become a key part of a company’s recruitment and retention efforts.
According to a survey by One Medical, 69% of employees say they might choose one job over another if it’s offering better benefits.
Meanwhile, 37% of employees joined their current employer due to their benefits package, and 44% said they have stuck with their employer for the same reason, according to the 2024 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey.
By benchmarking against best practice in your industry, you can be sure that your benefits package will be a key tool for finding and keeping the best people.
#3 Adapt to trends
Benchmarking enables your business to stay ahead of the game – not just matching the competition, but going one step further.
Employee demand is always evolving and so are the products and technologies that companies have available. Doing some benchmarking will potentially highlight some new ideas and trends that you previously hadn’t been aware of.
Exploring what other companies are providing for employees is a good starting point to ensure your benefits are capable of standing out from the competition.
#4 Ensure compliance in different countries
If you have multiple plans in different countries around the world, it can be very difficult to monitor whether you have the correct plans in place. Consequently, there is a risk that there may be gaps if local benefits don’t meet local regulatory requirements
#5 Greater visibility and cost control
It’s not easy to have visibility of all your benefits in the UK and around the world. A full benchmark of your benefits highlights opportunities to simplify and harmonise benefit plans and identify cost savings
Want to discover how your employee health, wellbeing & protection policies compare against the competition? Engage Health Group consultants provide benchmarking services as part of our free consultancy service to UK businesses, including those with global workers. Contact our team for free advice and guidance on 01273 974419 or email [email protected].
The value of investigating other companies
Salary size remains important, but employee benefits policies are a very important part of your ‘Employee Value Proposition’ especially during a time of high living costs and high demand for health and wellbeing support.
Employee benefits packages can either make or break hiring and retention efforts. Sixty-five per cent of candidates say they consider employee benefits as a crucial factor when job hunting, according to data collected by Avado.
By benchmarking your employee benefits offering against other companies in your industry, you can ensure your offering is capable of attracting the kinds of people who will drive your business forward.
How our Engage brokers implement benchmarking
Some businesses will come to us with a list of objectives they want to achieve from their employee benefits investment. For example, they may want to reduce staff sickness or improve staff retention rates.
With this in mind, we have to think of all possible angles when we assess data. Benchmarking allows us to take a look at what other companies in your industry are providing.
Our benchmarking service is also provided for companies with a global footprint. On a global scale, it can be overwhelming to have multiple plans in different countries. The auditing and benchmarking of benefits ensures global oversight and governance.
We can compare and contrast benefits trends, requirements and expectations across different countries.
“We provide country reports and country prevalence information to some clients for free,” says James. “It’s important to note though that this is on a case-by-case basis, determined by the size, strategic fit and revenue opportunities.”
As employee benefits brokers, Engage Health Group will:
- Review your existing benefits in all countries
- Benchmark benefits against mandatory and typical market practice
- Compare benefits against competitors
- Analyse results and identify gaps and potential areas for improvement or change
- Provide an overview of potential costs and how best to proceed to the next steps
Contact our expert team at [email protected] or call 01273 974419 for FREE no-obligation advice and support.
