Did you know that employees leave £2.4 trillion worth of benefits unused every year? This highlights a gap between what companies offer and what employees actually value. A well-designed employee benefits survey can bridge this gap, improve satisfaction, and boost retention.
Here’s what you need to know:
- 75% of employees stay with their employer when happy with benefits.
- 79% would choose extra benefits over a pay rise.
- A 2024 report showed 47% of employees considered switching health insurance options.
To create an effective survey:
- Define goals like understanding satisfaction, usage, and gaps in benefits.
- Organise sections to cover demographics, current benefits, wellness, family support, and career development.
- Ask essential questions, such as:
- How satisfied are you with current benefits?
- What prevents you from using certain benefits?
- What new benefits do you value most?
Pro tip: Keep it anonymous, use varied question formats, and tailor it to UK-specific needs like NHS top-ups and cycle-to-work schemes.
A clear, actionable survey can help you invest in the right benefits, improve employee happiness, and ensure your perks are actually used.
How to Create Effective Employee Benefits Surveys
Survey Planning Steps
To make the most of your survey, it's essential to carefully plan its structure and content.
Define Your Goals
Start by identifying the main objectives of your survey. These could include:
- Measuring satisfaction with current benefits
- Pinpointing gaps in the benefits offered
- Understanding how benefits are being used
- Comparing your offerings to those of competitors
Organise Survey Sections
Divide the survey into well-defined sections to cover all relevant topics clearly and effectively.
Keep Respondents Interested
To maintain engagement throughout the survey, use a mix of strategies:
- Vary question formats: Include scales (e.g., 1–5 or 1–10), multiple-choice options, open-ended questions, and comparison-based queries.
- Add context: Frame questions with relatable scenarios, such as "particularly for working parents" or "especially whilst working remotely."
- Ensure anonymity: Allow anonymous responses to encourage honesty. This can help participants feel more comfortable sharing their opinions, leading to more reliable and actionable feedback.
Must-Have Survey Questions
Once you've outlined your survey plan, these essential questions can help you gather meaningful insights.
Basic Employee Information
To better understand responses, include demographic questions that allow you to segment the data while ensuring anonymity:
- "What is your role? Individual Contributor, Team Lead, Manager, Director, or Executive?"
- "Which department do you work in?" (Provide a drop-down list of all departments)
- "Where do you primarily work? Office, Hybrid, or Remote?"
- "How long have you been with the company? 0–1 year, 2–3 years, 4–5 years, 6+ years?"
Once you've gathered this data, move on to evaluating current benefits.
Current Benefits Review
Understanding how employees view existing benefits can reveal areas for improvement:
- "How satisfied are you with our current health insurance coverage?"
- Very satisfied
- Somewhat satisfied
- Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
- Somewhat dissatisfied
- Very dissatisfied
- "In the past 12 months, which of these benefits have you used?" (Select all that apply)
- Health insurance
- Dental care
- Vision care
- Mental health support
- Gym membership
- Professional development
- "What prevents you from using certain benefits?" (Select all that apply)
- Lack of awareness
- Complicated process
- Limited relevance
- Time constraints
- Other (please specify)
With this feedback, you can begin to explore what employees might want in the future.
Future Benefits Preferences
To align with changing employee needs, ask about preferences for potential new benefits:
- "Would you prefer more remote work days or flexible hours?"
- "Which family-related benefit would be most valuable? Enhanced parental leave, childcare support, or fertility treatment coverage?"
- "What additional wellness support would you value? Mental health services, fitness programmes, or stress management resources?"
- "Which development opportunity interests you most? Professional certifications, a mentorship programme, or industry conference attendance?"
"What benefit would make the biggest positive impact on your work life that isn't currently offered?"
Survey Design Tips
Once you've planned your survey, it's time to refine your questions to ensure they are clear and engaging.
Mix Question Formats
Using a variety of question types can keep respondents interested and help you collect a range of feedback:
- "Rate your satisfaction with our dental coverage from 1-5"
- "Which wellness benefit would you prioritise? (Select one)"
- "How could we improve our current benefits package?"
- "Rank these benefits in order of importance to you"
For consistency, use the same scale (e.g., 1-5) across all rating scale questions.
Sort Benefits Questions
Organise your survey so related benefits are grouped together. This makes it easier for employees to provide focused responses:
- Healthcare
- Financial
- Lifestyle
- Family
Start each section with the most important questions while respondents are most attentive. Save optional and demographic questions for the end.
Making Sense of Results
Analysing survey data effectively is key to turning responses into actionable insights. Here's how you can make sense of your benefits survey results.
Identify Key Issues
Use a priority matrix to compare satisfaction scores against importance ratings for each benefit. This helps pinpoint areas that need attention:
Critical
Criteria: High importance, low satisfaction
Suggested action: Immediate review and improvement
Maintain
Criteria: High importance, high satisfaction
Suggested action: Keep the current approach
Consider
Criteria: Low importance, low satisfaction
Suggested action: Plan for future adjustments
Monitor
Criteria: Low importance, high satisfaction
Suggested action: Regularly review for any changes
Focus on benefits that are rated as highly important but show low satisfaction. These areas should guide your next steps, particularly when examining specific employee groups.
Analyse Employee Segments
Once you've identified priority benefits, segment your data to uncover varying needs among employees. Common segmentation categories include:
Department
Metrics: Satisfaction levels, benefit usage
Location
Metrics: Regional preferences, access challenges
Employment Status
Metrics: Differences between full-time and part-time staff
Family Status
Metrics: Uptake of parental benefits, interest in flexible working
This segmentation can reveal trends, such as family-focused employees valuing parental leave, while younger staff might prioritise career development opportunities. Adjust your benefits strategy accordingly to meet these diverse needs.
Present Data Effectively
Clear communication of your findings ensures they lead to action. Focus on these elements when sharing results:
- Highlight Key Metrics: Show overall satisfaction scores and participation rates prominently.
- Use Visual Aids: Charts and graphs can make trends and preferences across employee groups easy to understand.
- Provide Direct Recommendations: Summarise actionable insights clearly.
Share the results with employees to demonstrate their input matters. When presenting to leadership, link the findings to outcomes like retention and productivity. This can strengthen the case for updating or investing in your benefits programme.
Employee benefits surveys are a powerful tool for shaping perks that employees genuinely value. With an estimated £3 trillion in unused benefits each year [1], collecting and acting on employee feedback can lead to meaningful changes.
A well-executed survey can significantly boost employee satisfaction and retention. Here's how to make the most of it:
- Ensure anonymity to encourage honest and open responses.
- Share results quickly, ideally within 30 days of completing the survey.
- Develop targeted action plans that address the most pressing concerns.
- Track progress with regular updates on the implementation of changes.
- Run follow-up surveys to evaluate whether improvements have been effective.
"Benefits are as important as salary – if not more." - McKinsey [1]
Sharing the survey findings transparently helps to build trust and shows employees that their input drives real change. Explaining the reasoning behind benefits decisions can also boost engagement and satisfaction. By using these insights effectively, you can turn survey feedback into a competitive edge.
FAQs
How can an employee benefits survey improve staff retention and satisfaction?
An employee benefits survey is a powerful way to enhance staff retention and satisfaction by understanding what your team values most in their benefits package. By gathering feedback, you can identify which perks resonate with employees, spot gaps in your current offerings, and make adjustments that better align with their needs.
Tailoring benefits to employee preferences not only boosts satisfaction but also fosters loyalty, reducing the likelihood of staff seeking opportunities elsewhere. Additionally, these surveys demonstrate that you value employee input, which helps create a more positive and engaging workplace culture.
Why might employees not make use of the benefits their company provides?
There are several reasons employees might not take advantage of the benefits offered by their company. A common issue is lack of awareness - employees may simply not know what benefits are available or how to access them. Poor communication or unclear information about the perks can also contribute to this.
Another factor is relevance. If the benefits don't align with employees' needs or priorities, they are less likely to use them. Additionally, if the process to access benefits is overly complicated or time-consuming, employees may feel discouraged from engaging with them.
To improve uptake, employers should ensure benefits are well-communicated, easy to access, and tailored to the diverse needs of their workforce.
How can businesses tailor employee benefits to meet the unique needs of diverse groups, such as working parents or remote employees?
To effectively support diverse employee groups, businesses should design benefit programmes that reflect the unique needs and preferences of their workforce. Start by conducting employee benefits surveys to gather insights into what employees value most. This feedback can guide the development of tailored offerings.
Consider providing flexible benefits that allow employees to choose options suited to their circumstances, such as childcare support for working parents or stipends for remote workers to set up home offices. Additionally, think about life-stage-specific benefits, such as eldercare assistance for those with ageing family members or enhanced leave policies for parents.
By prioritising flexibility and inclusivity, organisations can ensure their benefits programmes resonate with all employees, boosting satisfaction and engagement.