Our recent research with REBA highlighted that 66% of organisations already use technology for their employee benefits, with a further 22% either in the development stage or considering it in the next 12 months. This confirms what most of us probably already knew: benefits technology is on the rise.
For businesses where their largest headcount is in the UK, deployment of technology for the UK population is in place for the majority of businesses. The challenge has come in ensuring that employees in other locations, commonly across the EMEA and APAC regions, enjoy a consistent experience and don’t feel left behind.
Whilst global benefits management has, until now, been the preserve of larger organisations, we now see more and more UK headquartered businesses looking to introduce tech solutions for their smaller, international offices. More often than not, relatively small numbers of people are dotted in different locations, all with a very inconsistent experience of their employee benefits, far removed from that of their UK counterparts.
But that doesn’t have to be the case. There is a way to deliver a consistent experience of benefits (for employees and for HR), regardless of location. And it’s all down to using the right technology.
For any organisation with a workforce spread across multiple countries, you’ll already be aware of two things:
- Benefit provision in the UK is very different to most other locations, but the challenge of engaging employees effectively remains the same everywhere.
- The cost of implementing a full benefits management solution for smaller populations can appear to be prohibitive.
Both of these points can be tackled with a single solution that delivers the same, high-quality, and consistent experience of reward for employees, regardless of location but with differences captured through relevant and personalised information presented to employees.
Our recent research with REBA identified a number of areas that should – and indeed can – be addressed by technology.
- Better signposting to the various benefits offered by an employer
- Better awareness of the benefits available to employees
- Better use of personalisation to deliver relevant content
- Better integration between the various platforms that exist in the HR ecosystem
- Better engagement in reward
- Better data quality upon which to base reward decisions
And it can all be done in a way that doesn’t need to cost the earth, as you don’t need complex and expensive benefits builds in every location. It’s a big win for your employees and for your HR team, and your FD is happy too! There really is something in it for everyone.