Month: May 2018

30 May 2018

Gone are the days when providing a company pension indicated a forward-thinking, benevolent employer.

The new tax year marks more than five years since auto-enrolment was introduced. The compulsory minimum contribution by employers into workplace pensions has now increased to 2% of earnings. This will rise to 3% in April 2019. Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) shows the number of employees in the private sector with workplace pensions more than doubled between April 2012 (32%) and April 2018 (67%). The IFS state that this was a direct result of the introduction of auto-enrolment. According to the Pensions Regulator (tPR), auto-enrolment saw 9 million people joining a workplace pension by the end of 2017.

Today, with pensions an integrated part of employment, the progressive employer is much more likely to offer employee benefits and services to staff, a decision which can be mutually rewarding in a number of ways. In addition to offering expert pension advice, Corinthian’s specialist team of employee benefits consultants can create a comprehensive Employee Benefits Package, tailored to the specific requirements of your business, from our extensive range of company benefits. With over 25 years’ experience in helping SMEs with their workplace pensions and benefit schemes, Corinthian offers extensive knowledge and guidance in these areas.

Here we answer some of the most frequent questions asked by employers…

What other benefits can I offer my employees?

The options available to the employer looking to create a benefits package for employees include:

• Private Medical Insurance
• Dental Plan
• Health Cash Plans
• Group Income Protection
• Gym membership
• Total Reward Statements
• Voluntary benefits
• Share incentive plans
• Relevant Life Assurance
• Group Life Assurance

From allowing dogs at work to flexible working, employee benefits can include anything that your employees might value.

Developed with SMEs in mind, Corinthian offers the Total Rewards Portal, a flexible complete benefits and management solution. Featuring a comprehensive administration area where data can be uploaded, reports generated and employee records viewed, edited or personalised. The portal delivers a highly effective means of managing data, people, holiday and other absences. In addition, the Total Rewards Statements generated by the portal provides employees with a summary of the overall value of their financial rewards, including base pay, incentives and employee benefits. This not only educates employees about their benefits but helps them understand the value of them.

HR Magazine states that when an employee benefits package, such as the Total Rewards Portal, is implemented alongside other benefits such as flexible working, support for parental leave and other family-related policies, it provides a powerful mix for managing skills and talent in an organisation.

What are the advantages of providing employee benefits?

In providing company benefits, a business proactively nurtures its relationship with employees, consequently reinforcing brand identity within the workforce. When staff identify with their organisation, they’re more likely to feel a sense of belonging and loyalty to the business. This results in a workforce that is easier to motivate and contributes more to the smooth running of your organisation.

Provision of employee benefits programs can also offer some financial savings e.g. employer NI contributions decrease under salary exchange schemes. However, arguably the most important factor to consider is how employee retention improves when employees receive more than standard pensions.

Why is employee retention important?

High employee turnover can be bad for business, creating unease within the organisation, affecting staff morale and depleting businesses of time and money in recruiting replacements. Conversely, investing in employee retention can offer a return over and above the financial savings of employing and training new staff.

Those gains include:

• Increased productivity – happy staff stay longer and are more productive, doing a better job for your business.
• Corporate identity – experienced employees work better in the ways and style of your business, and they are better able to promote it.
• Culture – positivity is contagious, resulting in less conflict in the workplace. An ethos of support and encouragement leads colleagues to help each other succeed.
• Customer relationships – that ethos filters through to those you are in business for, creating satisfied, loyal customers who want to continue doing business with you.

If you want to find out how your business can take advantage of these gains and more, speak to a Corinthian consultant today.

1 May 2018

A recent survey found that 70% of UK workers would consider leaving their current job. Up to 24% are actively seeking new opportunities and 46% are passively looking. This is a huge percentage of your workforce that could be looking around for a better deal. And with the high cost of recruitment, employee retention has never been so crucial.

The same study found that 62% of UK workers do not believe they are valued at work. This is a huge disconnect from the 56% of employers surveyed who believed their workforce did feel valued.

So, why the gap?

You might offer your staff a 5% pension contribution (3% over the employer minimum), early finishes on Fridays and an amazing Christmas party. So why are you losing good employees?

What could you be doing wrong?

1. They don’t know what you’re offering.
Your employees may not know about the tax-free cycle to work scheme, local discounts or your financial advice offering – much less how to make use of these perks.

2. They don’t know how it benefits them.
Your employees might know that you offer life insurance. But they might not understand that this means £50,000 to a person of their choosing to help avoid financial difficulties should anything happen to them.

3. They don’t know what their benefits are worth.
For perks that aren’t ‘money in your pocket’, it’s easy for staff to forget how much they gain from them. Flexible working hours could save your employees money, or it could improve their quality of life, fitting work around their lifestyle. And that can be just as important.

4. They don’t want the benefits you are offering.
Do you have quite a young office? Life insurance might not mean much to them. Perhaps you could consider swapping that for discounted gym memberships. Maybe you live in an area where places at an NHS dentist are few and far between and your workforce would benefit much more from dental cover than local discounts.

The key is communication

At Corinthian, we offer Total Rewards Statements which helps an employer listen, inform and show the value to employees.

• Listen – listening and understanding what matters to your employees. A local Corinthian representative can offer advice on how to decide which benefits your employees will benefit from the most.

• Inform – informing your staff of the benefits that you are providing them. Corinthian’s Total Rewards Statements include a white-label online portal. Employees can log on and clearly see everything offered to them.

• Show the value – to make sure your staff can see the value of everything you offer. For example, with the Total Rewards Statements, all employee benefits are given a monetary value to helps employees think of more than just their salary when they consider what they gain out of working for you.

Having benefits your employees want, see and understand will help them feel valued and improve employee satisfaction and retention.

To find out more about Total Rewards Statements and how they can benefit your company, speak to a Corinthian consultant today.