Creating an employee benefits scheme needn't be scary. There are many compelling reasons for your organisation to introduce or re-launch an employee benefits scheme, on top of the obvious ones of retaining and attracting talented staff. Benefits can help compensate when pay rises or bonuses are restricted, they enhance your brand perception and as an employer, you make tax and NI savings from salary sacrifice benefits.
If you know you want a scheme creating but are feeling daunted or unsure of where to start, follow our simple check list below and you’ll make the process as smooth and straightforward as possible:
- Construct a sound business plan to gain buy in from your key stakeholders, demonstrating this is the right plan of action and positive ROI. Our guide on building an employee benefits business case can talk you through this.
- Talk to your staff once you have gained stakeholder support. It’s really important that you involve your workforce from the beginning to gauge what they would like to see in a scheme. Whether your employees are of a similar profile or a complete mixture, getting their feedback is vital to ensuring the benefits you offer are of interest to them. Also consider whether you will be managing this project alone or if you need support from colleagues and whether this impacts on other departments that need involving early on.
- Choose a provider. Take time to select the right provider for you. The relationship should be a partnership in order to be successful and you need to be able to rely on them to advise and guide you throughout the process. Ensure their system is capable of doing what you need it to do, that the platform will be user friendly and that the MI reporting will meet your requirements. The system you receive should be easily adaptable as your business changes and grows and you must be confident that your data will be 100% safe with them. Crucially, check that all charges are clear - you don’t want to be hit by unexpected fees for updates or changes. It’s always useful to have a look at their list of clients and have a read through testimonials.
- Choose the benefits you want to include. Choosing the right ones to offer your staff depends to a certain degree on the demographics of your workforce. If you involve your employees when researching getting your scheme in place, you should have a good idea about what benefits would be well-received.
- Implement. Scope out the timeframes with a clear action plan that includes the deliverables from you and your supplier. Ensuring where responsibilities lie, for example, when preparing your employee data to underpin the new scheme, will help the implementation process and the transition to launch run smoothly.
- Launch including a strong, targeted communications plan. Careful and thorough planning is essential here as you need to get maximum employee take up.
Following these steps, you should be able to get a great new system in place without too much unnecessary delay. Decide when you would ideally like to launch your scheme and plan to that date.
Implementing the right scheme will provide a positive, enhanced experience for your workforce, making for a happier, harder working team with a strong sense of loyalty.
If you want to find out more about how You at Work can help you deliver the best scheme for your business, give us a call or drop us an e-mail and we’ll show you why businesses like you, like us.