Introducing targeted benefits can cut costs and motivate workers

Businesses which tailor workplace benefits in line with gender and age will motivate workers more whilst saving money, according to a new study.

PwC published its findings from a survey of 2,400 UK employees on Monday, which revealed notable trends among workplace benefit preferences.

For example, company car schemes were favored most by men, with 29% of male respondents citing this as the benefit they’d most like to see at work compared with just 21% of female respondents. Meanwhile, women were more likely to favor medical insurance, with 32% of female respondents choosing this as one of their most valued benefits compared with 24% of male respondents.

In addition, women were nearly twice as likely as men to ask for childcare benefits to be introduced at their company.

Meanwhile, younger respondents were more likely to take risks with their pay, and were more attracted to variable remuneration. 36% of respondents under 20 indicated that they would swap £1,000 of their salary for the chance to receive a performance-related bonus of £5,000. By contrast, only 18% of 40-59-year-olds would agree to this risk.

PwC’s Performance and Risk partner John Harding commented: "Our research highlights that reward is by no means a one size fits all […] Effectively communicating and targeting benefits to different segments of the workforce could bring significant cost savings and stop the employer wasting valuable cash on benefits that are simply not valued by everyone."

Hideo Owan discusses how effective benefits and employee compensations can help to boost productivity in the workforce. He particularly advocates compensation based on team performance, which can greatly enhance task coordination and problem solving.

Elsewhere, Mirco Tonin notes that many workers are strongly influenced by the social profile of the company itself. He discusses how employees work harder and are more motivated when their job is associated with a social cause. Many are also willing to give up some of their private compensation in order contribute to the greater good.

Read more here.