Which benefits do employees value?

The extent to which employees value staff discount schemes depends a lot on the individual organisation and the strength of the employee discount provision.

Some organisations have relatively small schemes, offering discounts and savings from only a hundred or so retailers. The levels to which employees value these schemes tends to be significantly less than that obtained by larger and broader schemes such as Reward Gateway.

Nevertheless, looking at all employers as a single group, research company TNS were commissioned by Centaur's Employee Benefits Magazine in 2006* to find out how employees valued the various types of employee benefts that were on offer.

Employees value Staff Discount schemes graphThe key finding, illustrated by the chart on the right, was that 21% of employees surveyed rated 'Discounts' as their favourite employee benefit. This rating was higher than that for some types of pension, private medical insurance, employee share schemes and season ticket loans - all of which cost significantly more than the best voluntary benefits scheme.

Importantly, the only employee benefits that were rated more popular, were significantly more expensive for the employer to deliver. These included a final salary pension scheme, flexible working, additional holiday, cash bonuses and a car allowance.

The conclusions drawn from this research were that not only are staff discount schemes the favourite benefit for a large number of staff, they are certainly the most popular benefit that can be delivered for a low cost of just a few pounds per employee.

Reference

TNS surveyed a representative sample of 784 employees aged 16 years and over at home between 30th August and 3rd September 2006. Research commissioned by Employee Benefits Magazine and reproduced with thanks.

© Asperity Employee Benefits Ltd 2007

Asperity Employee Benefits Ltd is registered in England at 90 Westbourne Grove, London. W2 5RT. Registered company number 05696250. Telephone 020 7229 0349.

Asperity Employee Benefits provides the UK's largest staff discount product designed for easy integration into an employer's existing employee benefits package. The level of staff discounts available is higher than in any other employee benefits scheme in the UK. Combined with the biggest range of staff discount providers, Asperity offers employers maximum value from their investment in employee benefits. Level of employee discounts and the number of participating suppliers offering an employee discount are key factors in driving usage of a staff discount scheme. Asperity delivers market beating results on both the level of staff discount and the number of suppliers offering an employee discount, ensuring high value payback for employers.