Employee Engagement

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  • Growth Partners
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Research suggests bosses no longer understand employee needs

Research suggests bosses no longer understand employee needs 1920 1280 Growth Partners

The cost-of-living crisis and soaring inflation can significantly impact an individual’s financial stability and lead to increased stress levels. Recent research from Speakers’ Corner however reveals business leaders aren’t recognising the impact of the current economic climate on their employees’ stress levels. It isn’t intentional – they’re misinformed about the causes of stress among their employees, believing they directly align with their own.

According to the business owners surveyed, they believe the top five leading causes of stress for employees are:

  1. Heavy workload
  2. Long hours
  3. Tight deadlines
  4. Job security
  5. Changes to job role

When in fact, the top five leading causes of stresses for employees according to research by Unum are:

  1. Managing financially throughout the cost-of-living crisis
  2. Work-life balance
  3. Dealing with debt/mortgage interest rate rises
  4. Mental health concerns
  5. General health concerns

Business leaders are clearly interested in supporting their employees, with 92% of respondents currently providing support for their employees’ wellbeing. The problem is they are providing solutions for the wrong challenges. With 60% of employees finding that managing financially with the cost-of-living crisis is one of their biggest concerns, there is a clear need for financial wellbeing support.

What’s the impact?

Employers who don’t acknowledge the impact the cost-of-living crisis is having on employees, are likely to struggle with employee retention. The cost-of-living crisis is expected to spark the ‘Great Resignation’ of 2023, with nearly a fifth of the UK workforce (19%) planning to look for new jobs this year with higher salaries or better employee benefits in light of the rising cost-of-living, stagnant wages and increasing financial insecurity (Unum, 2023).

Our CEO of employee services recently highlighted the importance of understanding the financial pressures employees are facing and how as business leaders you can support them to ease that pressure through the ongoing cost of living crisis.

“It’s actually about creating a framework whereby people know that you understand what’s going on and the impact it’s having on people in the wider society and your employees and the impact it has on them. They need to feel that you understand”.

Though managers, especially those in senior positions, may not feel the direct effects of the cost of living and inflation in the same way as their employees they need to be aware of the impact on their employees and take proactive steps to support them. By doing so, they can improve employee morale, productivity, and overall job satisfaction, which can positively impact the business as a whole.

Want to know more?

Read more about the benefits of financial wellbeing services or download our free guide to retaining and attracting staff.

Other useful resources:

Employee engagement starts with payroll
  • Scott Read
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Why employee engagement starts with the payroll team

Why employee engagement starts with the payroll team 1280 720 Scott Read

National Payroll Week is an occasion designed to mark the hard work payroll professionals do to keep Britain paid. And they really do.

In a year that started with CPIH inflation rates of 26.7% caused by housing fuel costs, payroll is becoming the most important department in every business and the payroll team is potentially carrying the weight of success on its shoulders.

35% of UK employees would find another job if they were paid incorrectly even once and 51% would lose trust in their employer and resent them. Based on this, you could be seeing more than a third of your staff walking out the door if the payroll department mess up just once – this is huge. Overlooking payroll processors as a business-critical role opens companies up to risks that aren’t just limited to financial in nature.

The first risk to consider is morale.

If an employee is paid incorrectly, they lose trust and confidence in the management and they might be vocal about it too. You can imagine it “we’re not priority” “we’re an afterthought” “I bet the boss still got paid”.  Of course, the thoughts will depend on how big an error is, how frequent errors are and who is on the receiving end, but they can quickly create a culture where people question the management’s integrity – if they don’t care enough to get my pay right, they certainly don’t care about what’s going on at home. Low morale can lead to a reputational issue internally but with the growth of review sites such as Glassdoor, internal reputational issues can quickly become external issues not only impacting retention but talent acquisition too.

Do it once you might be ok, do it more than once you’re in trouble.

At this point any change (good or bad) can raise suspicion. If you pay people a day early but don’t communicate why, they’ll think you don’t know what you’re doing. Pay people a day late, they’ll think there’s a cashflow issue. A lack of trust here will make employees question their faith in the leadership team to make decisions in other areas of the business and ultimately their confidence in the business and its products or services. And no matter what the cause is, people won’t 100% believe your reasons.

I believe people leave jobs for more money.

Yes, more and more people are considering culture and employee benefits over salary but ultimately in a time where less and less people have savings for a rainy day because it’s been raining for two years, pay matters and is usually the deciding factor. So, a reputation for paying people late or incorrectly isn’t a look you need to be going for.

Employee benefits are not contractual in nature and can be removed from an employee’s contract without consultation. Being paid correctly on a certain date is. In essence, if you mess up payroll, you mess with people’s contracts of employment. Employee benefits don’t mean anything if you have a bad culture anyway. So, for those companies that attract people based on a great rate of pay if you don’t deliver it on-time and correctly – you better have an out of this world company culture to make them stay. Of course, chances are you won’t if you have payroll issues.

Payroll is complicated.

The importance of paying people correctly isn’t new – but when you consider that a third of UK workers are now living payday to payday the potential impact of payroll errors and mistakes has higher stakes.  But payroll is complicated. You only have to look back to last year when bosses of high street giant Next apologised to staff for underpaying some of them by up to £200 a month due to a payroll error and just a few months ago WH Smith, Marks & Spencer and Argos were among a list of companies facing financial penalties for payroll breaches.  If the big boys can make mistakes, it’s a stark reminder to check in with your payroll team or provider to assess the potential risk to your business. If new legislation is announced, how is it handled? Do they have the reliable updated software to comply automatically with significant changes?

Ultimately if you want an engaged workforce, check in with your payroll team or provider first. If you want to invest in employee benefits to improve company culture, check in with your payroll team or provider beforehand. If you genuinely care about your employees and believe they are the key to business success, you guessed it check in with your payroll team or provider.

Happy national payroll week!

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Scott Read, CEO of Employee Services at Growth Partners

Scott Read Growth Partners discusses the link between employee engagement and retention

Scott Read is a results-driven business leader with a proven track record in helping employers strategise key business growth through employee engagement. To find out more about the link between pay, pensions and employee benefits chat to us or book a demo with one of our experts.

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7 Stand-Out Stats: employee engagement in hospitality

7 Stand-Out Stats: employee engagement in hospitality 560 420 Growth Partners

We partnered with research and insights experts KAM Media to understand the use and awareness of employee engagement services within the hospitality sector.  The research also revealed to what extent employees are more likely to remain in a role because of them.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen a lot of employees leaving the hospitality sector for other industries, such as warehouses, delivery, and supermarkets. The numbers don’t lie – by the end of 2022, there were 149,000 job vacancies in the accommodation and food service sector (ONS). These numbers reemphasise why employers in the sector need to consider how attractive they are to help retain employees.

We’ve rounded up seven eye-opening stats from our research to shed light on employee perceptions and preferences when it comes to employee engagement and employee benefits as well as the impact on retention and satisfaction.

Employee Engagement in Hospitality Infographic

The Power of Employee Benefits
3 out of 4 employees agree that employee benefits have the power to make them happier at work. This is a significant finding, as happier employees lead to improved service, customer satisfaction, and increased spending.

Given the impact that employee benefits have on overall workplace happiness, hospitality businesses should consider these offerings and the impact on their bottom line.

Employee Benefits and Retention
An impressive 79% of employees have chosen to stay in their hospitality roles for a longer duration due to the presence of employee benefits. This statistic emphasises the importance of offering attractive and valuable benefits to foster loyalty and reduce turnover within the sector. By investing in employee benefits, businesses can create a positive work environment that encourages long-term commitment. This in turn reduces recruitment and training costs.

Face-to-Face Training
Almost half (48%) of employees surveyed expressed a desire for face-to-face training opportunities. This indicates that traditional, hands-on training methods are still valued by hospitality employees. Organisations should consider providing regular in-person training sessions to empower employees, enhance their skills, and promote their professional growth.

Online Access to Pay Documents
45% of employees said they would like online access to their pay documents. In the digital age, it is essential to offer convenient and secure platforms for employees to access their financial information wherever and whenever they are.

Gym Discounts
40% of employees expressed a desire for gym discounts. Promoting employee wellbeing through fitness initiatives can positively impact overall job satisfaction which in turn helps reduce churn rate and absences. Collaborating with gyms to offer discounted memberships or wellness programs can incentivise employees to prioritise their health and create a healthier, more engaged workforce.

Employee Benefits all-in-one place
A staggering 77% of employees mentioned they would use employee benefits more frequently if they were all consolidated in one place. Making employee benefits easily accessible and user-friendly is crucial to their effective implementation. Employers should aim to streamline the process by providing a single platform, such as an app or portal, where employees can access and navigate various benefits seamlessly.

Health Benefits as Job Switching Incentives
An overwhelming 83% of respondents admitted that offering a specific health benefit influenced their decision to switch jobs. Health and wellbeing benefits have a significant influence over employees’ job choices. Hospitality businesses should prioritise relevant health benefits to attract and retain top talent, demonstrating a commitment to employee wellness.

 

Offering attractive benefits, all-in-one place not only creates a positive work environment that fosters employee loyalty and satisfaction, but also contributes to the overall success and profitability of the organisation. A motivated and engaged workforce will ultimately deliver exceptional service, create happy customers, and establish the hospitality sector as an attractive and competitive industry for both current and prospective employees.

Download your copy of the research

From the impact of employee benefits on overall workplace happiness to the influence of specific health benefits on employees switching jobs, our findings offer actionable insights for organisations looking to boost employee engagement. You can download the full research here.

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Financial wellbeing support
  • Growth Partners
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How to support your employees’ financial wellbeing [Free downloadable guides]

How to support your employees’ financial wellbeing [Free downloadable guides] 1920 1280 Growth Partners

61% of UK adults currently saying they’re concerned about paying general household bills, and more than a third feeling anxious about their financial situation, it’s the perfect time to check on your employees’ financial wellbeing.

Anxiety is one of the most common mental health problems in the UK – the Mental Health Foundation reports a quarter of adults have felt so anxious it stopped them from doing the things they want to do some or all of the time. In April, demand for our Employee Assistance Programme increased by 400% on the month previous, with our clients’ employees using the confidential counselling services for personal (72%) and work-related (28%) support.

It’s clear, as employers we must help increase awareness and understanding of these concerns and inform ourselves on how and why we can help support employees’ financial wellbeing and in turn their emotional wellbeing.

Financial wellbeing in the workplace 

There is a clear link between financial wellbeing (or financial wellness as its sometimes referred to) and emotional wellbeing and a very clear link to the impact they can have on productivity in the workplace.

In the year to March 2023, the price of food and drink rose at its fastest rate in over 45 years and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels rose by 26.1% (Money Statistics). All of which impact your employees’ take-home pay and ultimately their wellbeing – how happy and healthy they feel.

Looking out for your employees’ financial wellbeing is incredibly important, and the benefits for them and you, are more tangible than you may think. Financial worries negatively impact employee productivity and absence rates, causing the ‘presenteeism’ effect. If you haven’t already, seek support to enhance your financial wellbeing services and get advice from experts.

Ensuring the financial wellbeing of employees is an important aspect of creating a positive and productive work environment. Here are some things to consider…

4 things to consider when it comes to financial wellbeing:

  1. Open communication:

    Encouraging open communication about financial issues can help employees feel more comfortable discussing their financial concerns and seeking support when needed. Employee assistance programs (EAPs) can provide confidential support and counselling for a variety of issues, including financial stress. Do you have the systems in place to minimise absence days and ensure workers aren’t worrying about their finances while at work?

  2. Flexible working arrangements

    Offering flexible working arrangements, such as hybrid working, flexible hours, and job sharing, can help employees save on transportation and childcare costs and help reduce the pressure they may be under from increasing costs.

  3. Fair and competitive compensation

    Employees need to be paid fairly and competitively for their work. This includes not just their base salary, but also any benefits such as healthcare, retirement plans, bonuses, and other ‘perks’ Do you have an employee discounts schemein place to help your employees’ wages go a bit further? Discount schemes can provide financial support by increasing your employees’ disposable income. Can you do anything to bring salary reviews forward to help people that little bit more, sooner? Have you reached out to local businesses your employees use to see how you can support each other e.g., negotiate reduced parking fees with a local car park or a discount at a local food outlet – can you reciprocate?

  4. Financial education and resources

    Providing financial education and guidance in the workplace can help employees understand personal finance, budgeting, investing, retirement planning and other important financial topics. This can include workshops, seminars, and online resources. Where do your employees go for financial guidance?  You can also signpost them to reputable sources such as Money Helper’s budget planner

Useful resources to support your employees’ financial wellbeing

  1. Discuss Budget Builders with your employees

    This one is provided by The Money Charity and it’s free and easy-to-use. It can be used to create an initial budget and keep track of day-to-day spending.  It does all the calculations for you and it can be used as a way of organising money across different bank accounts.

  2. Download our free New Ways of Saving Guide to share with your staff.

    Our savings guide gives you a simple guide to share with your employees – link to it from your internal communication systems, print some copies for the break room or ask line managers to share it with their team. However you use it, it’s full of ideas and tips designed to help your employees save money.

  3. Read: How to Support your employees to navigate through the cost-of-living crisis

    Recent research from Speakers’ Corner suggests business leaders are misinformed about the causes of stress among their employees, believing they directly align with their own. Heavy workload is the number one pressure for business leaders, whereas managing financially throughout the cost-of-living crisis came out top among employees. Knowledge is power and keeping abreast of ways to support your employees to navigate these uncertain times will help inform your financial wellbeing strategy.

  4. Help employees secure their future, with our free Employees FAQ Guide to Pension

    When it comes to financial wellbeing, information is key. By providing your employees with reliable, helpful information you’re empowering them to make informed decisions to benefit their future. This free guide answers some of the most commonly asked pension questions such as What makes pensions more rewarding than other kinds of savings? Would I benefit from combining my pensions into one? What are my options for taking my money?

  5. Download your free guide to creating a wellbeing and engagement strategy to attract and retain staff

    If keeping great staff is on your radar, our retention strategy guide will help. The guide focuses on how you can add a range of employee benefits and wellbeing services in a cost-effective way, without necessarily adding additional costs to your business.

What next?

If you’re concerned about your employees’ financial wellbeing and the impact on your business growth, chat with our experts for advice. We know the combination of reduced costs, unburdening your management team, and prioritising the happiness and health of your employees is the key to business growth. And we can provide an all-in-one solution to help.

 

Book a free demo of our all-in-one solution for payroll, pension and employee engagement services or contact us

Understanding pensions
  • Amrik Birdi
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Help your employees understand pensions better [Your Free FAQ Guide]

Help your employees understand pensions better [Your Free FAQ Guide] 1920 1280 Amrik Birdi

Pensions Awareness Week officially takes place 11 September – 15 September 2023 and it’s the perfect time to stop and think, how much do your employees know (or care) about their pension?

It’s been ten years since the introduction of automatic enrolment which was intended to help people make provisions for their retirement. Since the rollout of auto-enrolment, the participation rate has reached 88% according to the figures from Department for Work and Pensions, with economic pressures from the pandemic having very little impact on the pension opt-out rates.

As the UK now faces a cost-of-living crisis and the possibility of an economic recession, employee financial wellbeing becomes an even more important topic of conversation. Employees will be keen to know how to make their money stretch further, not just under the current economic climate, but also in the long run to fulfil their future objectives, for example, retirement plans.

When it comes to financial wellbeing, information is key. By providing your employees with reliable, helpful information you’re empowering them to make informed decisions to benefit their future.

Download your free Employee FAQ Guide to Pensions

As part of Pensions Awareness Week, we’ve put together a guide which helps answer some of the most commonly asked pension questions such as What makes pensions more rewarding than other kinds of savings? Would I benefit from combining my pensions into one? What are my options for taking my money?

Download the Employee’s FAQ Guide to Pensions here

Do you need help with your pension engagement from pension specialists?

To find out more about how the team of pension specialists at Growth Partners can help you with your pension member engagement, please get in touch with us today or read more on our pension services page.

The importance of employee engagement in hospitality
  • Growth Partners
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The growing importance of employee engagement [Hospitality Talks interview] 

The growing importance of employee engagement [Hospitality Talks interview]  2500 1667 Growth Partners

Each month Katy Moses, MD of KAM, chats with hospitality industry leaders as part of the Hospitality Talks series. In this latest episode, we share our insight, predictions, and advice to help the industry thrive.

In the new video our CEO of employee services, Scott Read discusses the growing importance of employee engagement and reveals new insights from our recent research.

Hospitality Talks: The Importance of Employee Engagement

Watch this episode of Hospitality Talks with KAM where we discuss our latest research and white paper and Scott’s thoughts on how to measure profitablity from employee engagement services.

Prefer to read?

Read the transcript of the discussion between Scott and Katy for this episode of Hospitality Talks here…

Katy:
Hello, and welcome to this episode of Hospitality Talks. I am absolutely thrilled to be joined by Scott Read, who is the CEO of employee services for Growth Partners. Scott, thank you so much for joining me. We’ve had some research recently conducted that we did together about employee engagement services, but for anyone out there who hasn’t seen that research or doesn’t know who you are, do you just want to give a brief introduction?

Scott:
Yeah, definitely. Thank you, Katie. Growth Partners is a payroll and pension business. We set it up about five years ago with a view of doing payroll and pensions very differently and adding a huge amount of value to what is traditionally commonly outsourced service that businesses will look to use, and that value is all around. How many other employee benefits, employee engagement type services could we include at a really cost effective way? In essence, can you get all of these tools and services at the same price as what you would normally outsource your payroll for? So something that’s commonly done, but ultimately not, given the wide range and breadth of additional services and value-added services alongside it.

We did that because both myself and the person who founded Growth Partners back in 2017 have a background in employee engagement – he had probably 20 years of experience and knowledge of the employment employee engagement sector, and I’d worked alongside him for the previous ten years. So it really helped us, and we felt that it was a way of getting employee benefits and employee engagement services to smaller to medium-sized businesses that wouldn’t traditionally invest in it.

Katy:
Before I started KAM, I ran a recruitment agency. And, of course, employee benefits was a sort of buzz phrase that we used a lot of the time, and it encompassed holiday, maybe a gym membership. This is quite some time ago, remember? What is the difference between benefits and employment engagement services? What exactly is an employment engagement service?

Scott:
I think it’s a great question, because employee benefits and employee engagement is massively misunderstood, and I think it means something different to everybody. I mean, even the people that you interviewed during the whitepaper we did together, they’ve all got a slightly different take on what employee engagement is, which is really interesting to read for me.

Employee engagement comes down to trying to achieve something within your business, right? And that sounds really vague, so I will explain…what I always talk to people about is, how can you unlock the discretionary effort from your employees?

And that’s the question that I pose myself, which is, effectively, I’ve got employees working nine to five or, I don’t know, six till ten in a pub or a restaurant or whatever, and everybody has a set of tasks that they need to do during their shift or during their day’s work. I personally have a to-do list that I write at the beginning of every day of the things that I want to achieve that day. And subconsciously, you have almost a level of acceptance of what looks good for the day. If I get to the bottom of that list, is that a good day? If I get the top three done because they’re quite massive tasks, is that a good day? And in reality, everybody has this subconscious acceptance of what good looks like.

And what I mean when I talk about unlocking that discretionary effort is, how do you get the individual to do the next two things on their to-do list even though the end of their shift is there, or even though they’ve already had a really productive day. And you can’t do that by management alone in terms of just asking them to do it for a start. It’s not right. Everybody’s got to get the work-life balance.

We are well beyond the ‘you work an extra hour and now because that’s just what’s expected of you, right?’ That’s not the culture that society sees as acceptable anymore – for all the right reasons, but actually, it’s about an individual caring, passionately about what they do, the company that they work for, and wanting to go above and beyond.

And I guess a couple of examples for me, it would be:

Technically it’s clocking off time (whether we have a technical clock in off time or not is another question for another day) but ultimately I can look at my to-do list and say, no, do you know what? There are two or three things that I still need to get done today because I don’t want them to dictate or change what tomorrow looks like or the next working day.

Or for somebody else, it might be the element of my job is to serve the food. But actually, I’ve got two minutes whilst I’m waiting for the food to be ready from the chef, and I can see that the dust bins are overflowing and need to be emptied. So actually, I’m going to take it upon myself to do that extra bit, when actually I could be completely justified in standing there and waiting for the food to be ready for me to serve. But instead of being told by my manager to do something, I’m voluntarily doing it and going the extra mile.

So it’s very much about using employee engagement services to create a positive culture within businesses where you are working as a team by choice, and actually, you want as the employee to add as much value as the employer is adding to your life, essentially. 

I think so many businesses, for all the right reasons, look at employee engagement as almost a list of employee benefits. And what you can do is you can believe you’re doing a truly amazing job for your staff. And genuinely, you’re convinced that you’re doing everything right because in front of you, you have a checklist of “do I do anything about emotional wellbeing? Do I pay people the right? Are people getting holidays more than statutory? What are all the things that we do?” And you can go down this tick list and you could tick every single one of them and go, brilliant, look how great we are as an employer. 

But actually, do you regularly pay them late? Do people wake up on payday and not know whether their money is going to be in their account first thing or whether it’s going to be mid-afternoon? Now, that one act in itself undoes everything else that you’re trying to do. 

And even if you get that right, do you actually create a culture whereby people understand why you’re putting these benefits in place, what the benefits actually are to the employee? Because in reality, a really good employee benefit or employee engagement culture, there should be benefits to the employees, but also to the employer. And it’s that double-handed approach of. Why are we doing this? Are we communicating? Why are we doing it? And I guess, more importantly, what’s the strategy behind every element of it? 

There’s no point ticking and saying, we’ve got the most popular top ten employee benefits. So what if they’re not relevant to you or they’re not being used an example of that is ‘we do a cycle to work scheme. Yeah, but your staff might all live literally 200 yards from the building.’ What benefit is that really doing? You’re creating maybe a green culture and it fits with another strategy that you might have, but is it actually the right place for you to invest your money to support your staff? And conversely, people might have a cycle-to-work scheme in as much I know you like your bikes, but if I was to get on a bike, I’m talking about that’s a 50 miles journey to work every day. It’s not realistic that that cycle-to-work scheme is going to be something that actually motivates me. 

So find the right benefits for your staff and have a strategy about what is it that you want to implement? Why are you implementing it? Can you then communicate that to all so that they understand what you’re trying to do? And then ultimately, can you measure whether that’s having an impact on your business or not? And for me, it’s the strategy and the communication piece that takes it from a list of things that you can do to actually driving engagement and driving that of the discretionary effort. Because if the employee doesn’t understand what you’re trying to do and why, then you’ll never unlock it.

Katy:
I suppose this isn’t just about attracting new staff, is it? I mean, these are some statistics, I think, that were in the white paper that we wrote together – there were 149,000 hospitality vacancies at the end of last year and you’ve got all of these fantastic initiatives like Hospitality Rising who are going to come in and change the perception of the industry and make it a more attractive place to work. But presumably we all know that it is cheaper and easier to retain the staff that you’ve got than it is to bring on new staff. So does employee engagement have a place to sit in that area of hospitality as well in the retention? 

Scott:
Absolutely. I think one of the people who was interviewed used the phrase that “employee engagement services are an essential part of a business and then they went on to say they’re costly, but ultimately, if they’re applied right, it’s worthwhile rather than a cost.” And I think the problem that you’ve got with employee engagement services (and it’s a challenge that’s been there since employee engagement benefits became a thing in reality) is so many businesses look at them as a drain on the bottom line because there’s a £10,000 cost or £50,000 depending upon the size of the organisation, ultimately people see it as well that’s money off the bottom line and we’re not going to get a return on that. 

The hardest thing to do if you’re trying to sell it to somebody is to give them the tangible benefit from a monetary point of view. Businesses that adopt it and work it really well have stopped trying to monetise what it does for them. Ultimately, they just know that over a period of time, their staff loyalty increases, retention increases, recruitment costs go down, and productivity goes up.

The other thing the white paper does is clearly talk about the link between happiness and productivity 

That in itself has to mean happiness equals productivity, which ultimately is what every CEO and FD is after within their organisation anyway. 

But probably not the first strategy that they put together to demonstrate how they were going to be profitable in the first place. They’re much more likely to go and speak to a supplier about reducing costs or chain supplier to get more margin in a product than they are thinking about, I need to invest in my staff because that will ultimately get us greater profitability. The reason for that is because they are tenuous financial examples that you will give. You have to a certain extent take a leap of faith that by investing in this you’ll get a return. 

I think the key thing that I also need to stress there is that if ultimately the management within your organisation isn’t supporting what you’re trying to do by creating that culture, then please don’t invest in it because it will just be money off the bottom line. Because how it is communicated, how you then manage your staff, how you pay them properly on time, how you encourage them to save or make their money go further. All of those things are pointless if fundamentally you’ve got a bad manager running a site because it just that’s the thing that overrides everything. So the management have to be on board with what the strategy is. 

So it’s a top-down strategy that everybody needs to be engaged with. And one of the things that I’ve always found is how do you make sure that all those managers are invested in it. And we all as people managers give our staff objectives. How many give them people objectives? In my opinion, every manager should have a people objective as much as a financial or a commercial one. 

I agree. I wholly agree. And I think that we are as an industry changing for the better when it comes to looking after our people. But there is still a way to go. And obviously having access to employment engagement services is one of the tools that we should all be looking at to recruit and retain. 

Katy:
Scott, thank you so much for your time. I’m afraid that is all that we have time for. Although I am going to come and personally pick your brains on employment engagement and see what we’re doing right and wrong at CAM and see where we should be making some changes. 

Employee engagement services in hospitality research paper

Our new study led by insights and research consultancy KAM reveals how employees in the hospitality sector feel about the employee engagement services available to them. Download a copy here.

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About Growth Partners

We’re a payroll provider and so much more. We’re on a mission to make employers’ and employees’ lives easier, happier and healthier. We provide an end-to-end solution for payroll, pensions and employee engagement services. You can book a demo here or see how much you can save, or even earn by outsourcing services to us.

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24 hour call handlers enjoy boost to their benefits

24 hour call handlers enjoy boost to their benefits 1152 1152 Growth Partners

Based in Cornwall, telephone answering service Phoneta has been handling calls for over 27 years.

The dedicated team partnered with Growth Partners in 2021 and has been benefiting from being a SMART employer since.

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The Growth Partners’ SMART employment model gives companies an all-in-one solution for pay, pension and employee benefits – which frees managers up to focus on their people and culture and ultimately business growth.

Anthony Caddy managing director at Phoneta said:

“We love the peace of mind that Growth Partners provide. They handle everything to do with payroll and pensions – and take on all compliance and full liability. This frees us up to concentrate on business growth, for us and our customers.

Our employees love the discounts. Everyone uses the app to save money at supermarkets, on their holidays, when online shopping… everything!”

Growth Partners offer peace of mind 

Our payroll bureau guarantees people are paid accurately and on time and help field all pay-related queries to take the burden away from in-house teams. And our pension team, led by a qualified pension consultant, manage all pension auto-enrolment. Not only do they maintain records, but they also work with businesses to help improve their employees’ financial wellbeing by offering workshops and support information.

Our CEO of employee services, Scott Read added:

“We pride ourselves on delivering a personal service – we build great relationships with all our clients and our experts become a seamless extension to their business. It’s a partnership.”

Anthony added:

“The service is fantastic, we are so pleased to be working with Growth Partners – the cost-savings are a no-brainer and the benefits our employees get, really help boost morale.”

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Do you need more time and money to focus on business growth?

We provide employers across all sectors with a cost-effective end-to-end service for payroll, pensions and employee engagement services. If your workforce could benefit from their pay, pension and employee benefits all in one place, book your no-obligation demo of My SMART-e here.

Did you know? We provide all our clients with an employee engagement support payment, a dedicated employee engagement manager and ongoing employee engagement consultation. Contact us today to find out more about how we can help you to reduce costs, attract and retain employees, increase productivity and ensure compliance.

Menopausal women are now the fastest-growing demographic in the workplace.
  • Scott Read
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Menopausal women are now the fastest-growing demographic in the workplace

Menopausal women are now the fastest-growing demographic in the workplace 1920 1280 Scott Read

Effective employee wellbeing is an essential component of a thriving business. So when it comes to choosing between the vast range of services available, it can make business sense to opt for services with the potential to make the biggest impact on as many employees as possible. However menopausal women are the fastest-growing demographic in the workforce, yet only 18% of businesses offer menopause support services. 

A survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development revealed 47% of women who need to take a day off work due to menopause symptoms don’t tell their employer the real reason for their absence. And 45% of women report that menopausal symptoms have had a negative impact on their work. This calls for an urgent need for more support for both those employees experiencing menopause but also for managers and co-workers too. 

When we consider that menopausal women are at significantly higher risk of leaving their job due to the impact symptoms may have on their work, the argument for menopausal support services in the workplace becomes even more pressing. The average cost to replace an employee is currently 3.5% of their annual salary – a significant financial impact on the bottom line. This cost of course is made up of recruitment charges but also the often-overlooked financial impact of other employees picking up the slack leading to burnout and further increased absence rates. The first 6 to 12 months of employment are the costliest depending on the role – new employees are unable to perform tasks at the required level until they’re fully up to speed, they need training and significant time investment from colleagues and managers to get them there. In most cases (not just those relating to menopausal workers) productivity drops from the moment an employee decides they want to leave 

All this is not to say that despite the lack of specific menopause support services in the workplace, employers are already providing more support services tailored to their workforce. A study by CBI Economics suggests 70% of businesses that can, now give employees more flexibility to work in a way that supports health and wellbeing since the pandemic. 

Things employers might want to consider offering employees affected by menopause:

  • Flexible working to support varied working patterns 
  • Confidential professional counselling services 
  • Option to take more regular breaks
  • Training for managers to better understand the menopause 
  • Providing a supportive work environment that prioritises employee wellbeing
  • Signposting to reputable local and national support services
  • Talking openly and normalising life challenges – removing the stigma and taboo around health-related issues  

Of course, services designed to support employees’ physical and emotional wellbeing are all designed to help decrease absence rates, improve productivity, and ultimately achieve business growth. Once a business puts the services in place however, they must ensure they provide the right environment where employees use them for the impact to be truly realised. Employee engagement is a culture; it’s all about unlocking discretionary effort. It takes time but investing time and money in employee wellbeing appropriate to the workforce is a crucial step.

Scott Read, CEO of Employee Services at Growth Partners

Scott Read Growth Partners discusses the link between employee engagement and retention

Scott Read is a results-driven business leader with a proven track record in helping employers strategise key business growth through employee engagement.

About Growth Partners

We’re a payroll provider and so much more. We’re on a mission to make employers’ and employees’ lives easier, happier, and healthier. We do this through our end-to-end service for payroll, pensions, and employee engagement. Our new support package gives businesses support payments to invest in their business, a dedicated employee engagement manager and ongoing employee engagement consultation.

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  • Growth Partners
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Hospitality businesses fail to maximise employee benefits [New Research Paper]

Hospitality businesses fail to maximise employee benefits [New Research Paper] 1280 720 Growth Partners

We’ve partnered with KAM, to reveal the use and awareness of employee engagement services within the hospitality sector and understand to what extent employees are more likely to remain in a role because of them.

The study led by research consultancy KAM involved 500 employees within the hospitality sector as well as eight hospitality bosses. The findings clearly highlight how employers in the hospitality sector are missing a trick in effectively communicating the employee benefits they offer as part of their retention strategies.

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Unsurprisingly, there is a demand for certain employee engagement services and even an expectation from employees. And the availability of such services increases the extent to which they are likely to remain in a role – 75% say that offering employee engagement services makes the business a more attractive place to work and 3 in 4 hospitality employees said they were happier in their role because of employee engagement services.  In fact, offering certain benefits can have the power to encourage employees to switch jobs; 83% said their company offering a specific health and wellbeing benefit contributed to them deciding to switch jobs.

But despite high numbers of hospitality employers offering employee engagement services, the research found that many employees find them difficult to understand and access; 72% said they would use employee engagement services more if they were easier to access. The majority would find it easier if they were all accessible in one place, like an app (82%.)

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Key findings from the research

  • Employee engagement services make a business a more attractive place to work and there is an expectation for businesses to offer services which look after employees’ physical and mental wellbeing as well as their financial wellbeing.
  • Employers need to do a better job of communicating employee engagement services not just when advertising, but to current employees too.
  • Employees would use employee engagement services more if they were easier to access, most employees have them but find them difficult to understand and access.
  • Health and wellbeing benefits have the power to encourage employees to switch jobs with 83% of people saying the offer of a specific health and wellbeing benefit contributed to them deciding to switch jobs.
  • Online access to pay slips, receiving pay earlier than payday and an online chat to sort out issues with pay are the most sought-after financial benefits employees look for.
→Download the new Research Paper here

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When it comes to health and lifestyle the most popular benefits among hospitality employees are gym discounts, flexible shifts, healthy eating programmes and medical healthcare –  this is particularly popular among older employees. And when asked about financial benefits, 24/7 online access to pay documents, the ability to receive their pay earlier than payday and an online chat service to query/sort out issues with their pay slip came top.

This research has highlighted how employers may have employee benefits in place but if they’re not easy to access or communicated effectively, they’re not having an impact – potentially adding to the problem rather than helping to resolve it.

 

Do you need help bringing services together all in one place?

We provide employers across all sectors with a cost-effective end-to-end service for payroll, pensions and employee engagement services. If your workforce could benefit from their pay, pension and employee benefits all in one place, book your no-obligation demo of My SMART-e here.

Did you know? We provide all our clients with an employee engagement support payment and a dedicated employee engagement manager. Contact us today to find out more about how we can help you to reduce costs, attract and retain employees, increase productivity and ensure compliance.

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  • Amrik Birdi
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Spring Budget 2023: What do the pension announcements mean for you and your employees?

Spring Budget 2023: What do the pension announcements mean for you and your employees? 1920 1413 Amrik Birdi

In the run-up to the Spring Budget, there were expectations that this could be the most significant budget for pensions since the freedom and choice reforms announced in the Budget 2014 – and the Chancellor certainly didn’t disappoint in that regard.

The announcements made by the Chancellor in the Spring Budget will have far-reaching implications for high earners. We break down the key announcements below and explain what they mean for employers and their workforce.

  • Pension Annual Allowance will increase from £40k to £60k – the pension annual allowance (AA) is the total amount of money that can be paid into the pension in any tax year without the member/employee incurring a tax charge. This includes both Employer and Employee contributions. It was either £40,000 or 100% of total earnings – whichever is lower. But it’s now going up to a maximum of £60,000 on 6 April 2023. 
  • Tapered Annual Allowance will increase from £4k to £10k – certain higher earners may be impacted by a tapered annual allowance, which gradually reduces the amount you can save into a pension plan each tax year depending on your earnings. The Chancellor has now confirmed that the tapering won’t reduce the allowance to any lower than £10,000 (previously set to £4,000).
  • Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA) will increase from £4k to £10k – when an individual starts to drawdown or cash in the taxable part of their pension, MPAA is triggered. This means the individual will see their annual allowance reduced from £40,000 to £4,000 each tax year. The MPAA is now going up from £4,000 to £10,000 – making it easier for people to keep working and saving once they’ve started taking money from their pension.  
  • Lifetime allowance (LTA) will be removed entirely  – LTA is the total savings you can build up in all your pensions in your lifetime. Previously, the LTA limit was set to £1,073,100. This meant those who exceeded this limit would be liable to a tax charge of up to 55% on the amount over the allowance. The Chancellor announced that the lifetime allowance would be removed completely, and no one would face a lifetime allowance tax charge from 6 April 2023.

An important consideration for employers

Each of these changes on their own would see many people positively impacted when it comes to pension savings:

  • The Pensions Annual Allowance and Tapered Annual Allowance boost will benefit many higher-paid workers.
  • The increase to the Money Purchase Annual Allowance will directly benefit many people who’ve had to dip into their pension due to the cost-of-living crisis whilst still working, allowing them to contribute more into their pension to refill their pension pot without fear of a tax charge.
  • Abolishing the Lifetime Allowance opens doors to use pensions to pass on unlimited amounts of wealth, tax efficiently, to the next generation.

Employers will need to consider how the announcements could impact employee behaviour as they look to maximise the benefits of these changes and their employee benefits offerings. This could include (but is not limited to):

  • dealing with re-enrolment requests
  • managing employee requests to increase contributions, including ad hoc payments into their pension plans.
  • reviewing life insurance arrangements
  • reviewing benefits employers have offered to higher earners, particularly those higher earners previously impacted by the Lifetime and/or Annual Allowance.

As employees grapple with how to maximise savings in the new system, employers could benefit from greater support in balancing the opportunities and risks and ensuring their valued workforce have access to the support needed to understand the changes and its implications to get the best outcomes.

Need some help navigating these pension announcements?

Pensions can be complex; however,  our business growth experts can support you and your employees.

For more information about unburdening your business from payroll and pension compliance visit our SMART Employment page and read more about supporting your employees’ financial wellbeing, emotional wellbeing and physical wellbeing.

Amrik Birdi, Pension Consultant at Growth Partners

blankAmrik has a wealth of knowledge in pensions having joined Growth Partners from KPMG where he was responsible for advising companies and trustees on independent DC provider procurement exercises, DC investment strategy review, DC pensions strategy review, automatic enrolment compliance, and meeting ongoing governance requirements. Amrik spent three years before this as a Pensions Guidance Specialist at Pensions Wise helping members understand their pension and retirement options, empowering them to take control of their retirement journey. With a Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning and Certificate in DC Governance, combined with a Degree in Economics, Amrik is a fully qualified pensions consultant and able to offer strategic support to our clients on their options for workplace pension schemes and auto-enrolment.

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