smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big


Oval Financial Services’ Debby Hannaford explores how focus groups and surveys can be used to gain constructive and positive feedback about employee benefits packages

There is little value for any business in offering benefits to its staff that are not appreciated, particularly in a small business where the funds available for benefits may be limited.

Surveys and focus groups are a useful means of discovering employee attitudes to a range of workplace issues, including employee benefits.

In designing a survey, it is essential to have a good idea of what it is that you want to achieve and to design the questions accordingly. If staff are asked: ‘What benefits do you want?’ the likely outcome will be a confusing range of ideas, many of which would not be practical.

By contrast, if employees are asked what they think of their current benefits, whether they understand them, how important they feel they are and ultimately if they value them, this can be a good starting point.

It may be that the current benefit offering is not well understood. Initially, it might be worth re-communicating existing benefits before introducing anything new. If a company is looking at introducing new benefits, it might be a good idea to offer two or three practical options and see which is most popular, rather than simply asking: ‘What do you want?’

The options that are offered might depend on a number of factors, including budget, and the demographic make-up of your organisation. For example, if there are a lot of young mothers, childcare vouchers are likely to be popular, whereas a company made up of young single men is more likely to value gym membership.

Communication at all stages of the consultation is the key to successful outcomes. If employees understand what the purpose of the consultation exercise is, and can see what is in it for them, they are more likely to contribute. Feeding back the results of a survey, and subsequently communicating any changes that are going to take place, helps ensure engagement with the process.

Finally, it is worth considering that if a company goes through the process of consulting its staff but doesn’t act on the outcomes, it runs the risk of disillusioning its staff and making them feel they aren’t listened to.

But a well-designed consultation should ensure a result which is both realistic for the company and valued by its staff.

Debby Hannaford is ReWard Director for Oval Financial Services www.theovalgroup.com

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