Some of the contents of this article were originally delivered and discussed during Lockton’s Benefits for Breakfast: Back to Basics event, held on 1 July 2025.
Despite significant investment in employee benefits, many organisations face low engagement and underutilisation challenges. A recurring barrier to driving meaningful benefits engagement is poor and inconsistent communication, which can reduce employee participation and engagement.
Clear, consistent communication is essential to the success of any benefits programme. When communication is embedded at the core of a rewards strategy, it helps employees understand and engage with their benefits at the moments that matter most. This approach strengthens the employee-employer relationship and creates a more relevant and personalised experience for each individual.
Making employee benefits visible and valued
At the heart of every organisation is an unspoken agreement — the employment deal. It’s the mutual exchange: employees contribute their skills, time, and commitment, and in return, employers provide compensation, benefits, support, and opportunity. Too often, this deal is viewed through a narrow lens; with focus solely on salary. But in reality, it’s much broader. It includes benefits, leave entitlements, learning and development, workplace culture, and a sense of belonging — all of which represent a significant investment by the business.
Employee benefits are no longer a “nice-to-have”, but are a vital part of the employment value proposition. And in today’s economic climate, where public services are under pressure and essentials like healthcare are harder to access, employer-provided benefits have never been more important. Yet, many employees remain unaware of the full range of support available.
This lack of awareness isn’t just a missed opportunity — it’s a strategic risk. When benefits go unnoticed, their perceived value declines. Critical offerings like income protection, life assurance, private medical insurance, wellbeing services, and pension contributions easily fade into the background.
The impact of poor benefits communication
Organisations often invest heavily in their benefits programmes and continually seek ways to enhance them. However, without effective communication, even the most generous offerings can fall short, leading to missed opportunities and tangible risks for employees and employers.
Some of the consequences include the following:
For employees | For employers |
Lack of awareness – leading to underutilisation of valuable support | Poor return on investment – both financially and in terms of employee impact |
Reduced perceived value – benefits may seem less meaningful or relevant | Weakened employer brand - making it harder to attract and retain top talent |
Lower engagement and satisfaction – diminishing overall employee experience | EVP Misalignment - creating a disconnect between promise and reality |
Missed opportunities for support – help isn’t accessed when it’s needed most | Increased turnover risk – employees may seek more visible value elsewhere |
Recommendations for employers: closing the gap between investment and impact
Employee benefits can play a powerful role in the modern employment deal, but only when clearly understood, consistently communicated, and meaningfully connected to the employee experience. It is imperative that communication and engagement is considered a core component of your benefits strategy — not an afterthought.
This may seem overwhelming initially, but getting started is easier than you think. Small shifts in how you approach benefits communication can make a significant impact. And the best part is, you can then measure that impact because measurement is key in not only demonstrating the value of your benefits programme to leadership, but also helping you understand what’s working for your people and where to go next.
To close the gap between investment and impact, organisations should consider the following steps:
Strategic foundations
Define your EVP
Understand why people choose to work for you and align your reward and benefits with that purpose.Embed communication into your strategy
Treat communication as a core pillar of your strategy, not an afterthought.
Employee-centric communication
Simplify language and amount of content shared
Avoid jargon-filled, over-complicated information.Tailor messaging
Understand your people and then remember to segment some communications by audience, life stage, and needs.Focus on the ‘why’
Explain how benefits support employees, not just what they are.
Design and delivery
Develop a visual identity
Align with your brand and EVP to build familiarity and trust.Prioritise key information
Place the most important content at the top for easy access.Use a multi-channel, multi-touch approach
Have one source of truth but supplement this with other channels like videos, webinars, guides, FAQs, townhalls, etc.Create campaigns, not one-off messages
Reinforce messages over time through coordinated efforts.Centralise communication
Own the messaging rather than relying on other parts of the business or benefit providers.
Future-ready thinking
Integrate artificial intelligence (AI)
Keep updated on how AI personalises benefits communication, drives insights, and anticipates employee needs.Open dialogue and feedback loops
Understand employee preferences by integrating reward and benefits questions into existing surveys or collecting real-time feedback, such as during annual enrolment.Get leadership and advocate buy-in
Ensure your leaders and advocates like employee resource groups understand and advocate for the benefits available and how they can support your people.
To learn more about how we can support your business with its benefits communications, visit our Pe (opens a new window)ople Solutions page or contact your Lockton consultant.
