6 Trends Shaping

the Future of
Employee Benefits

How HR innovators are doing more with less to

create a powerful employee benefits strategy
Table of Contents
3 Introduction

4 Letting Strategy Lead Your Employee Benefits Design

9 Having to Do More with Less

17 Keeping Diversity and Inclusion High on Your Benefits Agenda

20 Putting a Focus on Employee Wellbeing

24 Harnessing the Power of Communication

29 Leveraging Digital Technology

33 Conclusion
 strategies, programmes and delivery of them through technology has become even
more important.

Companies need to ask themselves three core questions as they determine the future of
their own employee benefits:

1. Are our benefits still right?

2. Do our benefits reflect and support the changing needs of our workforce?

Debra Corey 3. Do the benefits we have on offer fit within this new world of work?
Best-Selling Author and Advisor to Reward Gateway In this eBook I will explore six trends that are shaping the world of UK benefits, sharing
trends, tips and examples to help you get your benefits in shape for now and for the future.
The world of work is changing at an
unprecedented pace, being reshaped
by changing workplace demographics,
increased globalisation, technological 3. Keeping Diversity and
1. Letting Strategy Lead Your 2. Having to Do
advancements and even societal, political Employee Benefits Design More with Less Inclusion High on Your
Benefits Agenda
and economic factors. Individually or
together, they have a huge impact on how
we source, retain and engage our talent.
4. Putting a Focus on 5. Harnessing the Power 6. Leveraging Digital
Against this ever-changing backdrop, the Employee Wellbeing of Communication Technology
need to evolve our employee benefit

3 | Introduction
1. Letting Strategy
Lead Your Employee
Benefits Design

4 | Letting Strategy Lead Your Employee Benefits Design

As more and more companies are giving
HR a seat at the table, they in turn are
asking for something in return. And that is
a business-led approach to why and how
we design our HR programmes. Gone are
the days when we could turn up as a guest
at the table, saying that we wanted to put
in place a new benefit programme because
we ‘felt it was the right thing to do’ or
because ‘our employees were asking for it.’
We’re expected to provide thorough details
around the strategy that has informed
our decisions, and ultimately, our asks.
And rightly so, for every benefits decision
we make should be solidly built on our
benefits strategy, our foundation.
This is especially important as we think of
benefits that are fit for the future, since most
likely the strategy, the ‘why,’ has changed.
5 | Letting Strategy Lead Your Employee Benefits Design
For example, in the past a key driver of benefits are part of a larger EVP, HR leaders
employee benefits was to be competitive, are designing benefits that directly align
in fact I spent a good amount of my time with a company’s wider business goals,
looking at benefit surveys and calling values and culture, to create a benefits
around to ask my fellow HR colleagues package that is as unique as their company.
what benefits they had and which ones
they were considering. Nowadays, although
being competitive is still important,
companies are focussed on developing
their benefits strategy to align with what
makes your business different, rather
than following in the footsteps of others.
This is why now, more than ever, employee
benefits work hand-in-hand with a
company’s Employee Value Proposition,
which is what you portray to candidates
when recruiting new talent, and what keeps
your people from leaving – it’s what makes
your company different from the one down
the street. By understanding that your
 Spotlight on These values, which were developed to drive the company mission
Reward Gateway: of ‘make the world a better place to work’ ensured that the benefits
truly aligned with and supported the business and its people.

When I was Reward Director at Reward Gateway and was developing

our benefits strategy, company values such as ‘Be Human’ and ‘Think
Global’ directly influenced the design of our rewards strategy and
our guiding principles. As these values talk about understanding
and respecting what makes each employee unique, the principles
included words such as ‘fairness’ and ‘balance’ to ensure that these
sentiments were woven into each and every benefits programme.

And it was with this new strategy that we changed benefits

such as our holiday benefit in these two ways:

1. We removed holiday entitlement based on years of service

as this did not align with the strategy of ‘fairness.’

2. We introduced holiday buying and selling to align with the

At Reward Gateway, all employee benefits are put on full display via the organisation’s
strategy of ‘choice.’
employee engagement hub, boom!

6 | Letting Strategy Lead Your Employee Benefits Design

Overcoming
challenges with
the right benefits
programmes
We’ve already determined that your benefits
strategy should be aligned to your overall
company goals and reflect what makes your
business unique, but another way that the
‘right’ benefits programmes can help your
business is by directly addressing challenges.
Some of the challenges I’ve found benefits
can directly help with are in the areas of
recruitment, retention or engagement. When
you isolate these particular challenges, you
can then build your overarching benefits
strategy around meeting these needs. Let’s
take a look at how this works:

7 | Letting Strategy Lead Your Employee Benefits Design

 Spotlight on further and providing extra benefits to make life easier. These new benefits included a Cycle
Welcome Break: to Work scheme, discounted car leasing and an EAP. Adding to that, Welcome Break also
added two new centralised hubs dedicated to financial advice and loans and a more holistic
Welcome Break, a motorway service employee wellbeing one. The team also re-focussed their attention on their existing employee
operator, identified a recruitment and discounts programme.
retention challenge following the EU
The result of their efforts was an 8% reduction in turnover, and a £135k decrease in
referendum and Brexit. Many new starters
spending on recruitment agencies.
were leaving the company to return
to their home country, which greatly
reduced the applicant pool and the
possibility of new starters staying with
the company for long-term careers.

To address this, Welcome Break looked at its

benefits offerings to see how it could offer a
more rounded approach to help attract and
retain people. Working with Reward Gateway,
the team rebranded their engagement hub,
‘My Welcome Break,’ to simplify the logo
and content to show that the site was about
capturing hearts and minds of their people
through helping them make their pay go

8 | Letting Strategy Lead Your Employee Benefits Design

2. Having to Do
More with Less

9 | Having to Do More with Less

Another challenge that all businesses are facing is the concept of doing more with less. Why an employee discounts
Whether it’s less money, less time or both, we are all being put in the position to find programme makes a lot of ‘cents’!
ways to overcome these challenges in an increasingly more demanding world. It’s absolutely critical to get a return on your investment
(ROI) from your benefits programme, even if they don’t

Doing more with less...money cost a lot of money.

We all wish we could have a magic wand and give our employees absolutely everything An employee discounts programme does this better than

they ask for, don’t we? But the reality is that especially during uncertain times, your many others as it gives your employees something that

business is likely putting pressure on HR to cut costs, while your employees are looking each and every one of them want - a way to save money!

to the business to lend support where they need it most – their wallets. It also shows that you care about them, putting in place a
benefit that will support them and

9.5 million Brits have mental health issues due to money worries, with more than 18 make their pay cheque go further.

million UK adults worrying about money on a daily basis, and a third saying their Discounts programmes are typically
concerns affect their sleep. used more often than many

(Source: N26, a British online bank).

benefits since it ties into employees’
everyday spending, leading to

So how can you satisfy both parties and boost your employees’ incomes, while also greater ROI for your business.

keeping your CFO happy? An online discounts programme

There’s been an increasingly popular trend over the years to provide benefits to can be set up, fully implemented

employees that can take away some of these financial concerns, helping to stretch and and made available to every

extend their disposable income and create financial flexibility. employee in less than a week,
so your employees can start
saving straight away.
10 | Having to Do More with Less
 One of my ‘go-to’ questions to ask in this situation is – does the benefit programme apply
and appeal to a large percentage of my workforce? Too often we have benefits in place
There are a variety of benefits that can
that only a small percentage of our population is eligible for and/or only a small percentage
do this, from pension salary sacrifices
actually utilise. To me, these sit firmly in the ‘why bother’ category, as they are taking up too
to cycle to work schemes to online
much of our precious benefits budget.
employee discount platforms.

Any or all of these will help your employees

do more with less.

With the cost of benefits rising year on

year, and with benefit budgets being cut
and/or scrutinised due to business and
pay challenges directly or indirectly related
to COVID-19, HR teams everywhere are
being asked to find ways to deliver more
benefits value with less money. What
this means is that we need to make sure
that each and every pound we spend
on benefits delivers the most value, the
most return on our financial investment.

11 | Having to Do More with Less

Finding your ROI in
employee benefits
The sweet spot of benefits are those
that apply to a large percentage of your
population AND appeal to a large percentage
of your population, something you should be
tracking and analysing constantly through
your benefits data. Here’s a chart showing
this sweet spot, where there is a high ROI
for your business and for your employees.

12 | Having to Do More with Less

Doing more with Right now, HR is being asked to wear multiple ‘hats,’ or as I like to say, they are playing the role
of the ‘agile architect’ where every day there are new priorities and challenges to overcome!

less...time
I firmly believe our most valuable currency
isn’t actually cash – it’s time. Whether you are
saving your employees time, or whether you
are part of a time-poor HR team (or a team
of one!), getting time back creates flexibility
for HR to concentrate on more impactful
strategic initiatives.

After all, who wants to spend all day fielding

messages about new benefits policies,
broken pages or out-of-date information?
Not me.

If you invest in the right kind of solution

to help your team save time, your
employees will reap the benefits, too.

13 | Having to Do More with Less

 So how can you get back your precious time? Let’s take a look at how this might work within your business:
Ways to save employees time
1. Centralise the employee experience.
One of the biggest reasons that employees don’t understand and/or don’t use benefit
programmes is that they don’t have the time (or patience) to search for them.
And for this reason, many companies have put all of their benefits in one place, on one
benefits platform, saving employees time from this frustrating search, and at the same
time, creating a more engaging experience and environment for them.
2. Offer instant access
Another reason that employees don’t use benefits is that they want to view and use
their benefits in their own time, rather than waiting for a window or a notification in their
email/post. And for this reason, many companies are providing their employees with
mobile-optimised platforms or specific benefits apps that busy employees can use on the
go and in their own time.
3. Make it intuitive
And finally, employees don’t engage with benefits because of the friction points we put
in front of them to access and engage, wasting their time and energy. To overcome this,
companies are moving to providers that make benefits access easy and intuitive whether
you are 18 or 90 years old.
14 | Having to Do More with Less
Ways to save HR time
1. Consolidate benefits and HR tech providers
It’s common to use a variety of providers and technologies to support your HR initiatives,
e.g. having one for benefits, another for communications, and another for reward and
recognition. Many companies are bringing these together under one provider and one
system, which not only saves them money through reduced fees, but also saves them
administration time as administrators can make changes or access approvals all in
one go.
2. Deliver real-time insights
Another time saver that is becoming more important to HR is being able to easily access
insights about your programmes. This provides visibility on key data such as take-up
rates, adoption by user groups, and what content is being engaged with, which allows
HR to keep their finger on the pulse of their benefits and save them time by focussing on
which benefits will deliver the most ROI.
 Spotlight on
YMCA:
When four YMCAs in London merged to
form YMCA St Paul’s Group in 2018, the
organisation became the largest YMCA in
all of Europe. As part of the merger process,
the team was tasked with aligning and
improving employee benefits along with
a review of other reward and recognition
programmes. As the largest Association,
other YMCAs in the wider YMCA Federation
were starting to look to the organisation
to be trailblazing and leading the way.
Alongside a challenge of having to align
vastly different benefit offerings, YMCA’s
position as a charity meant they had the
added challenge of limited budgets. “We
needed to make sure that our money went
15 | Having to Do More with Less
further, using our benefits as a way to forge
together the culture of our new group. We
also wanted to show our people that they
were worth investing in, and that we cared
for them” Nicola Kent, Head of Organisational
Development at YMCA St Paul’s Group said.
“We determined very early on that a
key driver of employee engagement
was the ability to recognise and reward
staff in a way that was flexible and
instantaneous. The ability to openly
and transparently recognise good
performance and reward those who
go the extra mile shows that we value
the contribution of our staff and want
to visibly show our appreciation.”
Marjorie James, Director of People. And allowed them to take advantage of instant
so in the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown, discounts on their weekly shopping
YMCA SPG launched ‘Thrive,’ its new online from many major supermarket chains.
one-stop-shop employee engagement
YMCA was also able to provide
hub. The new hub brought together several
wellbeing support to staff working
elements to engage its employees, such
from home, who were feeling isolated
as online discounts to support financial
or facing challenges of combining
savings, a new focus on wellbeing with
working with family commitments.
a dedicated wellbeing portal and a
fresh digital recognition programme. “This new offering has been a great
way to help our small budget go
It was rolled out to staff who were
further, improving existing benefits
working home, within the office and
along with new ones, and showing
sites spread across 40 sites throughout
everyone that we give them as much
London and also to those who had been
as we can” said Efrat Burl, HR Business
furloughed due to service closures. As
Partner YMCA St Paul’s Group.
many of the YMCA staff had accepted
a reduction in pay of around 20% it

16 | Having to Do More with Less

3. Keeping Diversity
and Inclusion
High on Your
Benefits Agenda

17 | Keeping Diversity and Inclusion High on Your Benefits Agenda

Over the years our workforces have become
more and more diverse, not only in terms of
generations but in terms of so many other
attributes such as race, religion, gender, etc.
To address this, most if not all companies
are starting to add diversity & inclusion (D&I)
as a core part of their people strategy, and
in turn are thinking about how it applies to
their overall employee benefits strategy.
In fact, according to the Towers Willis
Watson 2019 UK Benefits Survey, 60%
of companies are prioritising D&I in their
benefits design.
Companies need to recognise that
employee benefits have a critical role
to play in demonstrating a company’s
commitment to D&I. By designing a
benefits strategy that drives D&I, and
then developing benefit programmes
that support D&I, you’re well on your way
18 | Keeping Diversity and Inclusion High on Your Benefits Agenda
to attracting, retaining and engaging a
diverse (and awesome) workforce.
Here are four trends and things to consider
as you design benefit strategies and
programmes that meet the current and
future needs of D&I. Of course, the first step
to all of this is having a documented D&I
strategy, so if you don’t have one already,
I suggest adding that to your agenda!
Remove conscious and unconscious
bias from benefits design
Explore if and how conscious and
unconscious bias is built into your
benefits programmes. Going back
to my example of tenure-based
holiday entitlement, consider the
bias that this benefit design has,
treating long serving employees,
who often are older, better than
those new to the company.
Conduct a diversity review
Line up each of your benefit
programmes and determine which
parts of your workforce they
meet the needs and expectations
of and which they don’t.
Consider all aspects of diversity
– age, gender, race, religion, etc.
Once doing this, map out and
determine which diversity-related
changes should be made.
Weave flexibility and choice
into benefits design
Consider introducing flexibility and
choice into your employee benefits
design. Since there is not one
‘size’ of employee, your benefits
approach cannot be approached
with a ‘one-size-fits-all’ mentality.
Going back to my holiday trading
 example, that’s exactly what this
design offers, choice as to whether
your employees want and need
more time or more money.
Utilise on-demand benefits
as a means for choice
Many companies are considering D&I when it comes to benefits regarding ‘time,’ as they put
in place a more flexible approach to holiday entitlement, leave policies and even looking at
flexible public holidays, all reflecting and respecting their diverse workforce.
A few other areas where your HR team team could put their D&I hats on to make
improvements are:

Consider ‘on-demand’ benefits

that employees can use 24/7 by
accessing them anywhere, at any
time. These not only incorporate Pensions Parental Days off for Professional
the point above regarding flexibility Leave Volunteering Development
and choice, but mirrors how most
of us, regardless of demographic,
live our lives. A great example
is an online discount benefit,
something that can meet the
needs of a very diverse workforce
and can be used whenever
employees choose to do so.

19 | Keeping Diversity and Inclusion High on Your Benefits Agenda

4. Putting a Focus
on Employee
Wellbeing

20 | Putting a Focus on Employee Wellbeing

A 2019 UK benefits survey found that only
26% of UK businesses have a wellbeing
programme in place, despite the fact that
this same survey reported that 97% of
these businesses recognised the positive
impact it could have on both employees
and the organisation. Another 2019
survey from HR consulting firm Buck
supplemented these findings, saying that
76% of businesses plan on incorporating
wellbeing into their overall benefits
strategies, so change was on the horizon.
Fast forward to 2020 and the picture is
very different, with companies putting
their foot to the pedal to put in place
wellbeing programmes to meet the
demands and challenges of COVID-19.
In fact, according to a 2020 COVID-19 UK
benefits survey from Willis Towers Watson,
21 | Putting a Focus on Employee Wellbeing
three-fifths of employers are looking to
enhance their wellbeing programmes,
which is probably due to the fact that so
many either added them in haste and/
or have realised how much more work
they need to do in this important area.
Companies, regardless of industry, size
and location no longer consider wellbeing
a ‘nice-to-have,’ but a ‘have-to-have,’ and
are focussing on how they can support
the overall wellbeing of their workforce.
Here are five trends and things to
consider as you develop your wellbeing
programmes for today and the future:
The definition of wellbeing
has changed
Keep in mind that the definition of
employee wellbeing has evolved.
Where it once was all about
improving the physical health of
your employees, companies are
now focussing on the multiple
pillars of wellbeing for a more
holistic approach. These pillars
often include physical, financial
and mental, and all should be built
into your wellbeing strategy.
Understand your employees’
wellbeing needs
Start by understanding the
wellbeing needs of your workforce,
addressing both the diversity
of who they are and what they
want and need. A great way
to do this is through employee
pulse surveys, giving you valuable
insight into exactly what your
employees are thinking.
 Choose tools that support it’s by designing more flexible
individual wellbeing needs work patterns, work from home
arrangements or condensed work
When it comes to wellbeing, making
schedules, find ways to improve
it personal is the key. It’s important
your policies to complement
to put in place wellbeing benefits
employee wellbeing. One note
that offer choice, supporting your
of caution is to balance flexibility
employees’ individual quests to
with wellbeing, making sure that
lead healthier lives, choosing tools
the lines don’t blur between
and programmes that best fit their
‘home time’ and ‘work time.’
goals, interests and lifestyles.
Use recognition as a wellbeing tool
Review and evolve your
flexible working approach Employee recognition is a great
way to drive and support employee
Flexible and remote working were
wellbeing. Studies have shown that
once seen as an innovative perk,
employees who are recognised
but as a result of COVID-19, many
will feel more valued and more
businesses have been forced to
appreciated, which can boost
adopt it, and have in turn realised
their confidence, improve overall
that remote and flexible work
company morale and generally
can have a positive effect on
make your employees feel happier.
employee wellbeing. Whether

22 | Putting a Focus on Employee Wellbeing

 Spotlight on
Macmillan Cancer Support:

Macmillan Cancer Support, one of the largest

British charities, made the decision to broaden its
wellbeing offering during the pandemic to improve
morale with a renewed and more holistic approach.
With nonprofits being hit especially hard financially
and employees experiencing increased stress as
a result, Macmillan made the mental, physical and
financial wellbeing of its people one of its biggest
priorities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

The team launched an online Wellbeing Centre at the

start of the pandemic, giving employees full access to
hundreds of videos and articles on improving physical,
mental and financial wellbeing, and within one month
it received more than 1,000 views. The Centre can
be accessed directly through a tile on its employee
engagement platform, Top Banana’s homepage,
which makes it easy to use and stays top of mind.

23 | Putting a Focus on Employee Wellbeing

5. Harnessing
the Power of
Communication

24 | Harnessing the Power of Communication

I can remember when we’d spend tons of
time and money developing dry, boring
and technical benefits communication
material, and then wonder why no one
was reading it or taking the actions as
instructed. Times have certainly changed,
as benefits professionals are realising that
they need to put the same amount of effort
into their communication as they do into
their benefits design and administration.
And that’s because one of the most
powerful tools to deliver an ROI on your
benefits is communication, something
that gives your benefits the voice
and spotlight it needs and deserves.
Without communication, you risk your
benefits not being understood, not
being used and not being engaged
with, all of which are essential goals for
any successful benefits programme.
25 | Harnessing the Power of Communication
Here are five trends and things to consider
as you harness the power of benefits
communication for today and the future:
Think of your employees
as consumers
If your benefits communication is
to be effective it first needs to be
consumable and action-oriented,
so employees need to be able to
access the benefit and interact
with it, with a specific goal in mind
to use or ‘purchase’ the benefit.
One way I’ve done this is by starting
with the question ‘WIIFM,’ which
stands for ‘what’s in it for me’?
If you can figure out what your
employees will get out of your
communication, you can then
structure your communication
messages to draw them in so
that they will be consumers of
your benefit. For example, if
you’re launching a new discount
benefit, ask yourself, what will
my employees like best about
it? It’s probably being able to
save money at their favourite
retailers, so when you develop
your communication put those
retailers under the spotlight.
Create a strong brand
Another way to get your employees
to engage with your benefits
communication is by creating a
strong brand for them. By doing
this you are connecting with your
employees at an emotional level
and at the same time creating
benefits brand recognition to draw
them in time and time again.
Here are a few examples of great Personalise benefits communication
benefits branding:
Another way to boost engagement
with your benefits communication,
Orbit Build a Bear
and in turn, the benefits you’re
promoting, is by personalising the
communication you send to them
in the same way that companies
like Netflix and Amazon do with
their marketing messages. By
Kettle Foods Canine Partners segmenting your workforce
and your communications, you
make sure that the messages
are directly relevant to your
employees, seeing only what
matters most to them personally.
Border Biscuits For example, if an employee is in
the process of enrolling in benefits
and enrolls in private medical
insurance, the right kind of benefits
administration technology can
26 | Harnessing the Power of Communication
help recommend similar benefits
on the platform, like a cycle to
work scheme, which helps drive
awareness and usage. This type
of communication can take place
during the enrollment process, or
through reminders or alerts while
an employee is engaging with other
elements of a centralised hub.
Use storytelling to
create engagement
An effective trend in benefits
communication is storytelling,
sharing stories of how your
employees are using their benefits
and the difference it’s made in
their day-to-day lives in blogs
or news posts. The benefits of
storytelling is that stories can bring
dull facts to life and create stronger
 engagement with your employees. You can also
use stories to change employees’ opinions, shape
their feelings and ultimately guide their actions.

Bring your benefits communication all together

And finally, one of the most powerful benefits

communication tools are total reward statements.
These are a great way of bringing together
the overall value of benefits to your workforce,
allowing them to see their own tailored benefits
picture, and at the same time raising awareness
of the individual benefits programme.

The trend has been to move these statements

online with real-time data, making it easier
to access and refer to them over and over
again, as well as to link directly with individual
benefit pages so that employees can easily
engage with and make use of them.

27 | Harnessing the Power of Communication

 Spotlight on
Plymouth Community Homes:

Plymouth Community Homes (PCH), an

independent housing association, faced challenges
in communicating to their workforce, with its staff
survey showing a drop in satisfaction with internal
communications as employees couldn’t access and
engage with their existing intranet site and with their
benefit programmes. The solution was to put in place a
new internal communications platform that they named
‘Jannet,’ since in Plymouth people are called Janners.

By combining corporate news and operational updates

with its employee benefits on Jannet, PCH have made
it easier for employees to access communications and
important benefits information. The results have been
impressive, with 93% of their workforce registering
for Jannet and engaging with its messaging.

28 | Harnessing the Power of Communication

6. Leveraging
Digital Technology

29 | Leveraging Digital Technology

Technology is another area that has and
will continue to change dramatically in
order to meet the changing needs of
our businesses and of our workforces.
With more remote workers, flexible work
schedules and with the increased need to
be nimble and move quickly, technology is
critical in the evolution of employee benefits.
A recent survey from Willis Towers
Watson supports the focus on
employee experience in benefits,
noting that 70% of HR professionals
surveyed are now set to prioritise
their focus on online portals or apps,
while two-thirds (66%) will implement
or enhance employee self-service.
Here are five trends and things to consider
as you leverage digital technology for today
and the future:
30 | Leveraging Digital Technology
Create a central source
for your benefits
One of the best ways to make
sure your benefits have a strong
ROI is to make it easy for your
employees to find and use them.
And for this reason, more and more
companies have unified their benefit
programmes into a centralised
engagement hub, that one central
source where employees can go
to view information on benefits,
find the right documents and
policies, and access benefits directly
through self-service options 24/7.
Develop an integrated
user experience
Taking the concept of a single
source to the next level, another
technology trend is to create a more
integrated overall user experience.
Companies are finding that if
they integrate their other key
workplace applications such as
Slack, Yammer and Okta into their
current workplace technology,
it makes it easier for employees,
and at the same time creates a
‘stickiness’ that brings employees
back time and time again. It’s an
additional way to raise awareness
and engagement at every click.
Personalise user experience
Another trend taking shape is to
personalise the user experience.
While we discussed this when it
comes to benefits communication,
you can also use personalisation
in the actual benefits employees
see on the benefits portal.
By doing this, employees only
see benefits they are eligible
 for and messages that relate to
them, focussing their attention
and actions where it matters,
and not bombarding them with
information that is not relevant.
And for those seeking higher
adoption rates for their benefits, this
personalised and instant approach
has been proven to be key. With
a generation of employees who
have these expectations, wanting
immediacy and personalisation,
this approach engages them and
aligns with their ways of using
technology in their personal lives.
Real-time reporting.
The next trend relates to data,
something we’ve come to expect
and depend on to help us make
informed decisions and to manage
31 | Leveraging Digital Technology
our benefits programmes and
budgets in the most effective
way. And through technology,
we’ve been able to access real-
time data, allowing us to evaluate
successes and failures, and tailor
our benefits strategy as needed,
helping us to design benefits
that meet the needs of our
employees and the business.
Streamlined administration.
The final trend relates to benefits
administration, something that I’m
sure you agree can take up a vast
amount of your valuable time.
Technology has been a blessing
in this area as manually managed
benefits processes and exports
can be automated and run on their
own without your involvement.
 Spotlight on
Kellogg’s:

At Kellogg’s, they provide employees

with benefit choices through ‘CornFlex,’ a
programme that combines flexible benefits
(e.g. medical cover, Cycle to Work and Holiday
Trading) with ongoing online discounts.

By having one central place to find and

select their benefits, it’s created a more
engaging and personalised experience for
their workforce. And for the HR team, the
technology that sits behind CornFlex makes it
easier to manage and easier to communicate
in a more meaningful and effective way.

32 | Leveraging Digital Technology

Conclusion
I hope this eBook has helped you think differently
about the employee benefits journey your business
may be on. Whether you’re looking to reevaluate
your technology, invest in personalised and engaging
communications or expand your benefits strategy
to align with your business goals, taking just one of
these six trends to heart will improve your
benefits engagement.

My friends at Reward Gateway are here to explore

new employee benefits options with you and help you
do more with less, as we all continue to navigate a
challenging and ever-evolving environment in HR.

I wish you the best of luck on developing your own

future benefits strategy!

Debra Corey
Best-Selling Author and Advisor to Reward Gateway
debra.corey@debcohrltd.com
Reward Gateway delivers the only employee
engagement platform with industry-leading employee
benefits, reward and recognition, communication tools
and surveys all in one place.