How to help employees understand the value of benefits? Start by defining what ‘value’ really means

What is the value of your reward and benefits package? It sounds like a simple enough question. But according to employees, the answer is persistently unclear. And even HR/Reward Leaders (presumably while pacing rooms and slamming doors in frustration) seem to agree.

In fact, ‘helping me understand the value of all the rewards and benefits I receive’ is the number one area for improvement in benefits provision, according to the Benifex Big Benefits Report 2025/26 – a survey of 3,450 interviews with employees and HR/Reward leaders worldwide.

From workers across all sectors and geographies comes the same message, loud and clear: help me understand the value. Help me understand.

But what does value really mean? Sure, there’s financial value: what do these benefits cost, how much would I be spending to have them elsewhere, etc. A benefits administration platform allows employees at the very least to see, take in, and interact with their offering in a simplified way – with numbers attached. You can build on this with a total reward statement – a personalized visualisation pulling in real-time salary, bonuses, stock options, core benefits and more, to provide a vivid picture of a single employee’s remuneration.

But that’s only the full story if the value of a benefit is explained purely by what it costs. It doesn’t on its own explain, for example, how voluntary benefit choices compare favourably with the open market. Nor does it highlight the more intangible value of benefits that provide peace of mind, comfort in hard times, or support for loved ones.

To truly help employees understand value requires not just the presence of benefits, not just the provision of a platform, but properly planned, creative communication, too.

With human-centred storytelling and testimonials, you can draw out far richer meaning behind benefits like Life, Critical Illness or Medical insurances that pull directly from real life in a way that genuinely builds understanding and appreciation – and ultimately shapes behaviour. Behaviour like logging in and making benefit selections, but also behaviour like fully engaging with work, or choosing not to leave for a competitor.

Because there are many elements of your employer offer – your EVP – that can’t be done justice by a simple numerical value. The feeling of being financially secure, of being cared about, of being given choice and flexibility. Feeling like you don’t have to switch employer if you want to start a family, or as you head towards menopause. As an employee, these considerations might not be top of mind right now, but knowing that support will be there when the time comes has a huge impact on wellbeing.

Yet research shows there remains a ‘value void’ in employee benefits – a gap between how highly HR/Reward leaders rate their schemes, and how warmly their employees actually perceive them. Only education can bridge the gap.

By using strategically planned, varied, regular and high-quality communication throughout the year to spotlight the impact not only of transactional benefits, but also wider policies and offers, you build deeper understanding across teams and life stages.

That drives value for employers, too – helping you to maximise your overall return on investment in benefits by boosting awareness, usage and value perception, as well as supercharging tax savings through voluntary selections.

But it’s more than that. You also communicate something important about your culture. By intentionally connecting campaign messages back to a central strategic narrative and a set of core values, you help your organisation say: ‘We care about these things – and this is how we demonstrate it every day’. Employees – who, research shows, now value trust and cultural alignment more highly than ever before – feel they’re working for the kind of organisation they want to be a part of long-term. That doesn’t only power immediate outcomes for Reward teams. It boosts wider employee engagement, retention, performance and productivity.

And that’s the kind of value that can see doors stop getting slammed, and start being opened.