30% of companies do not match benefits to age, lifestyle or risk factors

Employers across the UK are not matching the benefits they offer with the specific needs of their workforce, according to new research from the employee benefits experts at Everywhen. The figures show that 30% of companies offer the same benefits regardless of age, lifestyle and risk factors, and 40% of companies offer the same benefits to staff regardless of their gender.

Not taking into account the demographic and risk factors of employees may mean that the health and wellbeing support is far less effective than it could be.

Debra Clark, head of wellbeing at Everywhen, explained: “For health and wellbeing support to have the most impact, it needs to be appropriate to the needs of the employees. Offering employee benefits to match the demographic of the workforce means that more specific needs are likely to be met.

“Employers would be wise to take into account the demographic and associated risks of their employees when they put health and wellbeing support in place.”

The best way to ensure that health and wellbeing support is appropriate and effective is to understand the needs of the workforce. A company can do this through employee surveys, focus groups but also looking at their own demographic data.  An adviser will then take a macro view, for example, of the statistically more likely requirements of employees who are office-based or remote, active or sedentary, young or more mature, and this can indicate the probable needs of that company’s employees.

Age, gender and lifestyle impact the risk profiles of employees, and this can help dictate what health and wellbeing support will be most beneficial to them. Understanding such detail enables employers to target the benefits they offer towards specific groups and requirements. The more appropriate the benefits, the more successful and impactful they are likely to be.

 If a company wants to target benefits to a specific gender, this might mean focussed support for gender-specific cancer care, for example, with screening for cervical or prostate cancer. Or if a company has a mostly desk-based workforce, it may want to focus on increasing activity levels to reduce the risk of developing health issues such as diabetes or MSK issues.

Matching the health and wellbeing support offered to the needs of the workforce means that it is more likely to be effective in keeping employees healthy and happy, and this will be of most benefit to the company too. Carefully considered employee benefits, personalised where possible, are more likely to achieve engagement from employees and to boost productivity. Ultimately, this means that they will offer greater value for money for the business.

 Debra Clark commented: “Benefits are rarely one-size-fits-all. It is still, of course, better to offer something general than providing nothing at all, but health and wellbeing support tends to be much more effective if it can be matched to the needs of the workforce.”