The Understanding Gap
Only 21% of UK employees say they have a very good understanding of all the health and wellbeing benefits they are offered. Ask their employers, and 57% believe their staff are fully aware of and fully understand everything on offer (Group Risk Development, Opinium survey of 1,212 UK employees and 503 UK HR decision-makers, October 2023). That's not a minor communication gap. It's a strategic failure that costs organisations money in wasted spend, weaker retention and reduced employee wellbeing.
The irony is painful: employers invest heavily in competitive benefits packages, then fail to communicate them in ways employees can actually understand. The result? Benefits that exist on paper but barely register in reality.
Why Understanding Matters More Than Availability
Having benefits isn't the same as benefiting from them. An employee who doesn't understand their pension matching is leaving free money on the table. Someone unaware of their EAP won't use it during a mental health crisis. A parent who doesn't know about enhanced parental leave will plan their life around statutory minimums.
The gap between availability and understanding directly impacts every metric HR cares about: engagement, retention, wellbeing, and employer brand. When employees undervalue their benefits, they're more susceptible to competitor offers that seem better on the surface.
Where Communication Breaks Down
The Onboarding Overload
Most benefits communication happens during onboarding - the worst possible time for information retention. New starters are overwhelmed with processes, names, systems, and culture. Benefits details presented in this context compete with dozens of other priorities and are quickly forgotten.
The Annual Enrolment Rush
The other peak moment is annual enrolment, when employees are asked to make important decisions about benefits they've barely thought about for 11 months. Under time pressure, they default to last year's choices or tick boxes without understanding.
The Jargon Barrier
Benefits communication is often written by people who understand insurance, pensions, and HR terminology - for people who don't. Terms like "salary sacrifice," "excess," "defined contribution," and "qualifying service" create an invisible wall between the benefit and the person it's designed to help.
The Channel Problem
A single email or PDF doesn't constitute communication. People need to encounter information multiple times, through multiple channels, at moments when it's relevant to them. One-and-done communication is barely better than no communication at all.
The Real Cost of Poor Understanding
When employees don't understand their benefits, the costs cascade:
- Wasted spend: Benefits that aren't used represent pure cost with no return. If your EAP has 5% utilisation, 95% of that investment is wasted.
- Lower retention: Employees who don't appreciate their total package are more likely to leave for what appears to be a better offer elsewhere.
- Reduced wellbeing: Benefits designed to support mental health, financial resilience, and physical wellbeing can't work if people don't know they exist.
- Higher HR burden: When employees don't understand their benefits, they ask HR. Repeatedly. For the same questions.
What to Do About It
1. Communicate Year-Round, Not Just at Enrolment
Create a monthly communication rhythm where each month spotlights a different benefit. This ensures employees encounter every benefit at least once a quarter, in a context where they can actually absorb the information.
2. Translate Everything Into Plain English
Every piece of benefits communication should pass the "would my parent understand this?" test. Replace jargon with everyday language. Use concrete examples: "If you put in £100, we add £100" is better than "100% employer matching on employee contributions."
3. Use Multiple Channels
Email alone isn't enough. Use intranet pages, manager briefings, team meetings, posters, videos, and one-to-one conversations. Different people absorb information differently - meet them where they are.
4. Equip Your Managers
Managers are usually the first person an employee asks, and they are often as much in the dark as the person asking. We have seen the claim that managers are the most trusted channel quoted widely and could not find the UK research behind it, so treat it as a working assumption rather than a finding. Either way, give them simple talking points, one-page cheat sheets and quarterly briefings so they can answer benefits questions confidently.
5. Make Benefits Visible at Life Moments
Benefits become most relevant during life changes: having a baby, buying a house, dealing with a health issue, approaching retirement. Build triggered communications that surface relevant benefits at these moments.
6. Measure and Improve
Run an annual awareness survey: can employees name their benefits? Do they know how to access them? Track utilisation data from providers. Use both to identify gaps and improve.
The Starting Point
Bridging the benefits gap doesn't require a huge budget or a complete overhaul. It requires a commitment to ongoing, clear, multi-channel communication that treats employees as the audience, not as an afterthought.
Start with one benefit. Communicate it clearly, in plain language, through three different channels, over the next month. Measure what happens. Then do the same for the next benefit. Within a year, you'll have transformed how your workforce understands and values what you offer them.
The understanding gap is fixable. It just takes communication that works as hard as the benefits themselves.