Employee benefits are an elusive term here in Australia. They can mean anything from a fancy coffee machine to discounted or even subsidised health insurance. It can therefore be frustrating for employers to constantly read that employee benefits are on the rise without a clear indication of what job benefits are coveted by employees.
The Top 10 Employee Benefits Australian Workers Would Like Their Companies To Provide:
- Flexible working 59%
- Discounts on electricity, gas and water 32%
- Continued education options 30%
- Petrol discounts 29%
- Free meals 27%
- Supermarket discounts 26%
- Mental wellness initiatives 26%
- Subsidised massages, yoga and gym memberships 25%
- Special company deals on loans, mortgages, health insurance 23%
- Discounts on mobile phone and data services 22%
Demographic Analysis:
A demographic breakdown of our data showed that flexible working conditions are especially important to female employees (62%) and part-time workers (63%). It also found that those on lower incomes (64%) found flexible work to be more desirable than those on higher incomes (54%). This echoes data that shows those on lower incomes are more likely to take flexible work into serious consideration before accepting a job offer, whereas those on higher incomes are more likely to place more value on remuneration.
5 features to look for in employee benefit software solutions:
Payroll Integration:
Employee benefits software should always be able to integrate with your company’s payroll software. So, when an employee is hired and added to your payroll system, the hire date, employee information, and benefits eligibility automatically flow to the benefits administration system.
When an existing employee elects benefit choices, that information needs to flow from the benefits program to the payroll system as it has a direct bearing on the employee’s take-home package. Likewise, when an employee is terminated in the payroll system, that information must flow automatically to the benefits system.
Integration saves time and frees you up from dreaded duplicate data entry and reconciliation.
Employee self-service functionality:
With self-service functionality, employees are able to log in and quickly review the details of their employee benefits program, or make changes as required.
Choosing a system that’s optimised for mobile devices is also a smart move as your employees can access their benefits information when it’s most convenient for them.
The more your employee benefits software allows employees to set up their available benefits, the less work there is for you to do.
Reporting and visibility:
A major advantage of using software is it makes it so easy for you to set up and oversee your employee benefits program. With a comprehensive admin dashboard, you can see your entire program on one screen.
At a glance, you can see employee uptake and registrations of your benefit options. And when it comes to data-driven decision making, a centralised platform also makes it easy for your management team to quickly and easily access the information they need.
This greatly simplifies the process of managing employee benefits data, and streamlines the reporting process.
Automated record-keeping:
Without technology to help, managing benefits programs can be a highly manual process.
Today, it’s possible to select a system that allows you to handle the promotion, onboarding and management of job benefits online.
The employee benefits software stores all the records, and you can easily tap into the information when you need to undertake audits or create reports.
Happier employees:
Giving employees an easy way to access their job benefits transforms this once highly manual process into a simple and efficient way for you to give your employees more of what they want.
With the right benefits solution you’ll have happier, more engaged, and more loyal employees, and reduced administrative costs. Of course, increasingly employee satisfaction ultimately lifts business performance.