A cost-effective employee benefits insurance plan will look after both the needs of your people and the needs of the organisation. The value of employee benefits can be seen in all areas of a business, from attracting, hiring and retaining talent to delivering better engagement levels and productivity.Choosing the best employee benefits package can be challenging, though. Firstly, it is difficult to ascertain which employee benefits your employees would truly value without first asking them. Not all employees will value the same kinds of benefits. The benefits that people value can vary by location, industry and the employee’s stage of life. Younger employees may be drawn to the best childcare benefits, for example, while older workers may favour comprehensive group insurance, or older female employees might want menopause relief and support.Making sure that a package of rewards and perks aligns with business and people management objectives is a crucial step towards maximising the value of employee benefits. Different departments within a business can sometimes be too focused on certain elements though, and this can prevent an organisation from fully maximising the value of employee benefits insurance.Besides asking the staff themselves through a survey or focus group, the key question to consider is what are the business outcomes that you want to achieve? Are you looking to reduce staff turnover rates and recruitment costs? Do you want to improve the financial wellbeing of employees during the cost-of-living crisis? Do you need to motivate staff to achieve a specific KPI?Once you know what you’re trying to achieve with an employee benefits plan, you can focus on maximising the humanistic and financial value they add to the organisation. Here, we look at some ways to do this.Budgeting for employee benefitsChoosing what to offer your people will largely be driven by the cost of employee benefits and the budget you have to work with. SMEs might not be able to invest to the same degree as larger businesses, but it’s still possible for small businesses to deliver a cost-effective employee benefits plan that improves the lives of your people at work and at home.When you understand which rewards resonate most with your employees, it’s possible to choose a streamlined plan that focuses on those highly valued benefits. Not only can this help to keep costs down, it can boost staff engagement.A well-considered benefits package that enhances your people’s financial, physical and mental wellbeing can make a meaningful difference. As research by Hymans Robertson suggests, a majority of people would choose an employer which positively contributes to their wellbeing, even if it meant earning less money.With YuLife, employees are rewarded with YuCoin for completing attainable everyday wellness activities, such as walking, cycling and meditation. They can then convert their digital currency into real-world rewards.Your people have the potential to earn £250 each in YuCoin value, with an additional £750 available in discounts available with each plan. All of this added value comes without any financial contribution from the employer too.Understand the value of employee benefits to your team Recognising which benefits have the most value to your people is key to better engagement. If your members of staff don’t value or use their rewards, then the organisation won’t see a return on their investment.Seeking feedback from employees via surveys and focus groups will provide useful insight when it comes to reviewing a benefits plan. But conducting regular surveys and focus groups may not always be comprehensive or possible. What is most helpful would be the ability to receive real-time data on how your people use their rewards automatically, so that you get an accurate picture of which benefits have the most value.With YuLife’s award-winning employee benefits app, we give HR Team members a comprehensive dashboard where HR teams canTrack employee engagement with benefits conveniently all in one placeSee the impact your existing benefits are having on your employee’s wellbeingLearn how much additional value you’re getting in the form of rewardsMeasure & monitor your company’s ESG impactImpress your leadership team with data on the ROI on your benefits.Communicating employee benefits If you want your people to engage with their benefits, then they need to know about them. That might sound obvious, but there is sometimes a disconnect between the perceptions and expectations of employers and employees.Our ‘Mind the Gap’ cost of living survey, which canvassed the opinions of working adults (via HR Ninjas) and HR professionals (via YouGuv) underlines the problem.Only 42% of employees said they were aware their workplace had policies or initiatives in place to improve the financial wellbeing of staff. Even where employees are aware that such support existed, 20% of those surveyed said that it wasn’t clearly explained.Another problem to consider, highlights the CIPD in its Reward Management Survey, is “what the organisation and employees see as a benefit”. To avoid misunderstandings, it suggests that “the HR function should start a dialogue so that there is a shared understanding of what is seen as a benefit.”Taking a proactive approach to educating your employees on the scope of their benefits and how they can leverage them is key. With the YuLife app, you can put perks and rewards right in the hands of your people, and boost engagement via the tools in the Employer Portal, where they can clearly see their benefits all in one place - the Wellbeing Hub. This helps to bring awareness of their benefits and has been proven to 3x the benefit usage of employees.Stay alert to employee benefit trendsMaking sure that your perks and rewards package meets the changing needs of your people will enable you to continue maximising their value. By benchmarking your employee benefits against the market, you can ensure you’re doing everything possible to attract the right people and hold onto them.Adopting emerging people management technologies will help you to stay relevant. Taking a digital-first approach to employee benefits delivery and giving members of staff the flexibility to access their financial, physical and mental wellbeing benefits whenever and wherever they choose, can help to raise engagement.YuLife’s benefits platform can help enable you to customise your offering, showcasing all your resources and initiatives in an employee hub that can be easily updated with the most relevant perks for your team. HR professionals are also able to access powerful people analytics that identify opportunities to further enhance the employee experience. To find out more, speak to our team here.