Reality of employee experience fails to match HR's ratings

While 84% of HR leaders in the UK believe their employees would rate their overall experience at work as 'excellent or good', only 60% of employees actually do.

British workers are among the least satisfied among seven countries where employee benefits platform Benifex polled employees. Researchers found workers in Canada (69%), Sweden (66%) and Germany (63%) rated their employee experience as excellent or good. Only Singapore (56%) recorded a lower proportion than the UK.

Yet 95% of UK HR leaders rate their overall employee experience as good or excellent and 84% estimate their employees would say the same. Only 60% of employees actually do.

Two-thirds of UK HR leaders (66%) report expanding their benefits offering over the past year, and 88% say investment in employee wellbeing is already supporting business and financial outcomes.

But Benifex found that investment is largely going unnoticed:

• Only 29% of UK employees said their employer has added or expanded benefits over the past year

• 48% said their benefits offering has stayed broadly the same

• 11% believed it has actually been reduced

• A further 11% are unsure.

Nearly half of UK employees (47%) said it is difficult to access and understand the full value of their rewards and benefits.

While 72% felt some positive wellbeing impact from their employer's provision, the specific gains are modest with 31% feeling better able to balance work with the rest of their life, 26% feeling more productive at work, and only 23% feeling more engaged or positive about work.

Psychologist Gethin Nadin, chief innovation officer at Benifex, said: "Employers are investing in benefits and wellbeing with genuine intent - and the evidence is clear that when that investment works, it has a real impact on how people feel, perform and whether they stay.

"But investment that employees can't find, access or connect to their own lives may as well not exist. It doesn't matter how generous the offering is if it isn't reaching people.

"This is a design and delivery problem, and it's one we as an industry know how to solve - not by spending more, but by being more deliberate. Better data on what's actually being used and felt, offerings that are easier to navigate, and a clearer line correlation between action and impact. Done well, that's not just better for people - it makes the entire investment easier to justify, sustain and build on."

The findings are based on a survey of 600 HR, reward and benefits professionals based in Sweden, the UK and US and 7,000 employees based in Canada, Germany, India, Mexico, Singapore, Sweden and the UK, in organisations with over 200 employees.