The days of attempting to offer one-size-fits-all benefits packages are long gone. As employers shift away from mediocre levels of choice to ultra-personalising benefits, helping individuals navigate choice is key to success. Not only are employees becoming more vocal about their needs and wants but different employees have different needs, even within the same generational group.

Critical to meeting these differing needs is going beyond current levels of flexibility and ultra-personalising benefits. For example, by introducing a wellbeing fund that automatically reimburses employees for doing whatever they think will best support their wellbeing, be this rock-climbing, mindfulness or ballroom dancing – instead of just allowing them to choose between a gym or cycle to work scheme.

Not only does this approach boost wellbeing, but global research from Mercer Marsh Benefits shows that 78% of employees with access to personalised benefits say these meet their needs, compared to just 56% of those without[1].

However, increasing benefits choice can prove an administrative nightmare for HR, which is why a new era of benefits technology and AI is now being utilised to not only automate access to benefits, but also better understand employee needs to signpost them towards appropriate support.

For example, by guiding someone with back pain to talk to a physio helpline or look at their desk set up and movement, before they start a costly private medical insurance claim. Or someone in need of mental health counselling to use the pre-paid support available through an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) or cash plan, so this doesn’t generate extra costs.

Curating benefits and benefits communications in this way not only optimises spend but makes employees feel more cared for. 80% of employees who have access to benefits technology say they are ‘thriving’, compared to just 54% of those without. Similarly, eight out of ten people with personalised benefits also believe their employer cares about their wellbeing, compared to just half of those who have no choice.

This is in no small part due to the difficulty employees have finding and accessing their benefits. Just two thirds of employees know where to find information about their benefits when needed and 80% do not fully utilise the benefits available to them[2].

The employee benefits user experience is a major reason for this, due to many employers viewing benefits as something to be administered, rather than an opportunity to create emotional touchpoints with employees. Instead, the science of attraction shows us that making employees feel valued, supported and in control are three fundamental drivers of employee retention.

This means employees who can immediately access emergency child, elder or pet care, in a moment of need, will feel more emotionally connected to their employer than someone who knows there’s support but not how to access it, or someone who needs eldercare but can only access childcare.

It’s this interconnectivity between aligning benefits to personal needs and life events that enables employers to transcend simply offering benefits and instead create an emotive experience that makes employees feel valued.

Critical to achieving this is utilising analytics, based on different workforce demographics, to understand benefits utilisation. Which benefits are being underutilised, compared to benchmarking data? Is it because they haven’t been communicated properly? Are they not valued or are they being overshadowed by similar benefits?

As technological advancements continue, it will become increasingly easy to identify which groups aren’t engaging with benefits as anticipated. In response, you can then either eliminate or replace unpopular benefits, or devise strategies to boost engagement.

With more than thirty percent of payroll going on employee benefits, this sort of analysis is only set to become even more important.

Interestingly, a frequent outcome of using benefits technology to run automated campaigns to alert employees to relevant benefits is thanks from employees for the ‘new’ benefits package. In practice, these are benefits the employee always had access to, but because they hadn’t been promoted since the employee joined, they perceive them as new.

This highlights how it’s often the way benefits are being communicated, rather than the underlying benefits strategy, that needs improving. Fortunately, it’s now easy to run campaigns, automatically tailored to individual needs. For example, a menopause campaign tailored by gender and age, or an advanced cancer screening benefit for those most at risk.

In this sense, optimising benefits isn’t just about increasing choice. It’s about making sure employees know what’s available and using hard data to review and refine your approach, to make sure it remains fit for purpose now and in the future.

[1] Health on Demand, Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB), 2025

[2] 80% fail to fully utilise workplace benefits, HR Review, 2024

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