Q&A: Feeling The Benefits

Following on from The HR World’s recent webinar on international rewards and benefits, we were able to pose two more questions in the direction of our panellists.

Those experts were: James Carrick – International Senior Manager at Engage Health Group, Dina Knight – Chief People Office at DataTec and Logicalis and Carl Chapman – Head of Marketplace at benefits platform Ben. The webinar itself is packed full of ideas and inspiration and is well worth a watch – and a indeed a rewatch.

Q1: I work in an SME business and flexibility was discussed. Do the panel know of any organisations where flex benefits is a real possibility for an organisation of up to 100 people in various countries?

James Carrick: This is tricky to answer as there are companies that offer flex benefit platforms in many parts of the world, but there are providers who are stronger in some countries than others, so it can be dependent on where your employees are based.  We are working with providers to enhance their global proposition to accommodate this growing need of the client.

Dina Knight: Yes, many SMEs with employees based in different countries do offer flexible benefits to their staff.  This can include options like remote work. Heath insurance choices, flexible scheduling and more.  It depends on the specific policies and culture of each company in terms of employee needs versus what the company can offer.

Q2: Senior managers seem more motivated by remuneration than extra benefits. Do you agree and is there anyway out of competing for this talent on price alone?

James Carrick: Remuneration will always be an important driver to retain and attract talent, but there are also many other factors that come into the total reward package. In our experience it’s not just about the salary; it could be more flexible working patterns, share options or more choice around benefits but there is always a base layer of traditional benefits which play a role with our clients. As state pensions in many parts of the world are squeezed, supplemental pension plans are increasingly seen as an important part of a benefit package and in some countries, there are mandatory obligations on companies to provide a pension plan as part of the package. Medical insurance is also seen as key benefit, in particular as waiting lists to obtain treatment get longer cross the world. Access to medical is important for the employer as well as the employee as there is a duty of care on organisations to manage the health and wellbeing of their employees.

Companies need to protect themselves against any unwanted surprises if there is no medical insurance cover in place, as claims costs can be high. This is particularly important as the world of remote working expands and ‘work from anywhere’ policies are implemented.

Dina Knight: While remuneration is a significant motivator for senior leaders, it’s not the only factor. Senior leaders/executives value other aspects such as challenging/interesting work, opportunities for succession positions to further advance their career, a positive work culture and a sense of purpose in their roles.

When competing for talent, it’s important to emphasise your company’s unique strengths, investment in leadership programmes, work life balance initiatives etc. It is beneficial to highlight the comprehensive package which is a mix of financial and non-financial rewards and non-monetary benefits that will make the offer more attractive.

Carl Chapman: Research tells us that normally it is the other way around and low earners tend to be more motivated by salary and as people move up the pay scale other things like pensions and healthcare become more of a priority – the cost of living crisis will obviously impact this and depending on the remuneration structure of managers or senior managers then it could still be the case that people in these positions are still salary motivated. I would encourage employers to conduct surveys and ask their employees the question around salary and benefits, trying to understand that for those still motivated by salary is there something that is causing this?