When asked which staff benefit they would like to remove if they could, almost a quarter of company directors opted for all of them.
In a telephone poll in May, undertaken by fleet management specialist Lloyds TSB Autolease, 200 directors were asked: “If you could start your employee reward scheme afresh which is the one benefit that you would cut back?”
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They were given nine options and the one that got the most votes, at 23%, was “I wouldn’t offer any benefits”. Other options they would cut ranked:
- Company cars – 14%
- Bonuses – 11%
- Leisure perks, such as gyms – 8%
- Healthcare – 7%
- Pensions – 5%
- Childcare – 2%
- Holiday entitlements – 2%
Lloyds TSB Autolease corporate sales director Claudia Rose said: “These findings reinforce the view that HR departments are coming under enormous pressure to justify the role of benefits packages. In our view HR managers should have more of a say on far-reaching business decisions to ensure that blanket cost-cutting measures are not taken without due consideration to operational performance, morale, future recruitment and even brand reputation.”
