Workplace benefits are a core part of your remuneration package. Offering advanced benefits, including life assurance or matched pension contributions, could help you attract the best talent and improve staff retention.

However, if you offer benefits that employees don’t find useful, the advantages won’t be as pronounced. That’s why it’s important to consider what kinds of perks your employees value most. Naturally, this depends on your team and their priorities, but recent data gives us some good insights.

A 2025 study from Drewberry Insurance asked respondents which perks were a priority.

Here are the most important workplace benefits, ranked by employees.

1. Flexible working hours (42%)

Everybody has their own responsibilities outside of work, which is why flexible hours ranked top of the list, with 42% of respondents saying it was a priority.

Allowing your employees to be flexible with their working hours makes it easier for them to manage family responsibilities and maintain their schedules. In turn, this could reduce their stress levels and help them remain present at work, so flexibility benefits everybody.

You may have core hours in which all employees are required to work, but outside of these times, they can choose their own schedules.

2. Reduced working week (39%)

As work-life balance becomes increasingly important, more businesses are experimenting with a reduced working week.

According to UKRI, 61 companies took part in a trial between June and December 2022, allowing employees to reduce their working hours by 20% without cutting their pay.

After the trial period, 90% of employees said they wanted to continue with a four-day week.

Additionally, surveys showed:

• More than two-thirds of employees reported lower levels of burnout
• 39% were less stressed
• 40% reported fewer sleep difficulties.

The research also reported the following benefits for employers:

• A 65% reduction in sick days
• A 57% fall in employees leaving the business
• An average increase in revenue of 1.4% (among the 23 companies able to provide data).

As more companies adopt a reduced working week, employers that don’t could struggle to attract and retain the best employees.

3. Enhanced pension contributions (37%)

Although changing attitudes towards work mean that reduced hours and flexibility are priorities, traditional benefits such as pensions are still important to employees.

Of those surveyed, 37% said that enhanced pension contributions were the benefit they most wanted to see from their employer.

As the cost of living rises, your employees may be more concerned than ever about their ability to afford retirement.

Read more: Why your employees may be unprepared for retirement and how you could help

Matching pension contributions and reviewing the amount you’re willing to pay could be transformative for your employees. Our team can support you with this.

Beyond this, you may also want to invest in pension education for your staff to help them get the most out of their pensions. The ZIO app has many resources and calculators to help your employees review their current position and make informed decisions about their retirement savings.

We can also deliver pension education sessions to your team if required.

The data suggests that employees may overlook the importance of protection benefits

Understanding what your employees value most is important when designing your benefits package. As you can see, pensions are still as important as ever, while modern working practices and work-life balance are also key.

However, the research also shows that employees might undervalue other vital benefits, such as protection.

Offering protection can help your employees and their families remain financially stable should they become seriously ill or even pass away unexpectedly.

Despite this, only 18% said they wanted their employer to offer critical illness cover and life insurance, while 13% thought income protection was important.

Unfortunately, this could mean that even if you offer a safety net to your staff, they might not recognise its value, so you won’t see the advantages for employee retention.

Additionally, if employees overlook your protection offering, they may not know how to take advantage of it should they need support when they fall ill.

Consequently, you may need to communicate your benefits package and the value of protection more clearly to your staff.

Get in touch

We can work with you to create a benefits package that suits your employees and provides the crucial financial protection they need. Our team is also available to help you educate employees about your benefits package.

You can email grouprisk@rfsl.co.uk to learn more about our services today. Alternatively, call 01534 502000 in Jersey or 01481 747940 in Guernsey to discuss how we could support your business.

Please note

This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at individuals only.

All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.

Note that life insurance and financial protection plans typically have no cash in value at any time and cover will cease at the end of the term. If premiums stop, then cover will lapse.

Cover is subject to terms and conditions and may have exclusions. Definitions of illnesses vary from product provider and will be explained within the policy documentation.

Rossborough Financial Services Limited is regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission under the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 and licensed by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission.