5 tips to refine and communicate your benefits package during the cost of living crisis

Here we share 5 tips for communicating these benefits and bringing them together into a package that resonates with people. These are based on feedback from HR leads in the public sector who were interviewed by Edenred, the supplier on our Employee Benefits framework.

• Listen to employees more

Right now public sector employers are checking in on their workforces more regularly. Either through official surveys or improved communication through line managers that are being trained to listen to employee concerns more intently. They say this is critical to ensuring that communication stays open and honest and the benefits they offer in response to the crisis stay flexible and relevant.

• Ensure employees can speak up anonymously

Not all employees are open to sharing any troubles they may be having – or indeed feel like they have anyone they can talk to if they work alone regularly. This has led to an increase in anonymous communications channels that can also be used to refine offerings and highlight benefits that are most relevant. 

• Create financial wellbeing hubs 

While most organisations said that financial wellbeing has been on their radar for a while, they also admitted that resources haven’t been as coordinated in the past as they could have been. This year’s cost of living crisis has been a catalyst for change that has seen many public sector employers pull all their financial wellbeing offerings and advice together into a single hub. This includes clearer signposting to both existing resources and new resources such as energy consumption advice services that have been added to tackle the current crisis.

• Bring financial, physical and mental wellbeing support together

As well as creating financial wellbeing hubs, HR teams have also focused on bringing financial, physical and wellbeing together to provide more rounded and connected support. Many have also appointed new overall wellbeing leads that provide more accountability and drive adoption of the benefits available. 

• Communication is key – to all parts of the workforce 

Without exception, all the HR directors Edenred interviewed also stressed the importance of making sure that communication around financial support is clear and focused. It’s important that this communication is also set up to reach field workers that rarely have access to PCs or a desk. 

One HR leader working for a local authority put it like this: “More than ever, we’re working closely with our comms team to make sure that people get the message that we’re here to provide support. Like lots of other organisations, we do have challenges around reaching all of our workforce, but we’re working hard to put systems in place to connect everyone and make sure that key information reaches everyone, regardless of how or where they work.”

Make the most of our Employee Benefits Framework

By following these tips you can maximise the range of employee benefits we provide through an online employee benefits platform available from our Employee Benefits framework.

The 9 core benefits for employees are schemes for childcare vouchers, cycling to work, reward and recognition, payroll giving, employee discounts, discounted gym membership, technology and smartphone discounts, financial wellbeing and green car incentives. 

The benefits for you as a buyer include:

• consistency of benefits and price across the public sector
• easy call-off using a single supplier route
• all benefits accessible through one benefits platform
• user access using an app-based application
• a broad range of benefits to meet your reward strategies
• flexibility to add additional benefits to tailor your offer to meet the cost of living crisis

Find out more by visiting the Employee Benefits framework page.