Employee Benefits

Employee benefits duties can either form part of a generalist HR role, or be a HR specialism in itself.

In the modern workplace, with competition for the top talent at a peak in the banking and finance industry, it’s not necessarily just a good salary that will motivate and help to keep hold of a company’s top performers!

Feeling the benefit…

So it’s not uncommon to see a wide range of potential extra benefits listed with specifications for banking and finance roles. And this sector in particular can offer some rather tasty packages! Benefits can include things such as the company’s pension scheme (which involves the employee and company paying into a pension fund to help build the employee’s financial security for retirement), life assurance or private healthcare, a company car, loans for travel season tickets, pay bonuses, child care support or discounted/free gym membership.

Working in employee benefits

A HR professional in a company is usually in charge of making employees aware of the benefits on offer to them. They often head negotiations with new and existing employees about the benefits they will receive and any changes to their benefits package. The aim is to ensure the employee feels happy and valued with the benefits they receive, and that it fits within the company’s budget.

It’s all about intuition

HR will liaise with the company’s pension and benefits suppliers to outline the business and employees’ needs and negotiate the most suitable, cost-effective deal for the job. They therefore have to be intuitive to what employees want, engage with them on a daily basis and be able to listen carefully and understand their feedback or complaints, and balance this effectively with what the company can afford. Top notch mediation and communication skills are essential!

Experienced HR professionals can even branch out into Employee benefits consultancy, helping to shape the most suitable employee benefit packages for client companies.

Employee benefits will form a part of a HR graduate role or graduate scheme in banking and finance. HR specialists can earn anything between £30,000 to £100,000 as they gather experience, with the highest paid jobs generally based in the City.