5 reasons SMEs must embrace tech-based employee benefits

Small and medium sized businesses face increased employee demand and expectation for competitive benefits and rewards packages, but many are struggling with resource and budget to implement these perks.

James Malia, director of employee benefits, Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services, is advising small businesses to embrace the 21^st century solution of technology based HR tools, which have recently seen rapid advancement and huge competition, offering an affordable option to keep staff engaged and avoid low retention and motivation levels.

Affordability

Incentive, recognition and reward programmes are increasingly combined with technology based platforms, and with so many suppliers in this field, competitive prices are now the norm. Similarly, wider tech benefits such as free smartphones and tablets are becoming more cost effective.

Agility

These products can serve as many employees as needed, with several providers selling a fixed-rate offering, as opposed to pay-per-user, which suits businesses on the path to expansion. Equally, should an SME need to respond to a reduction in staff size, the schemes can be easily scaled down. Tech based benefits are therefore suited to the agile requirements of small businesses.

Assessment

Incentive and reward programmes that are computer or app based can have their uptake easily monitored, helping managers to see which employee benefits are working best and being used most frequently. This provides insight for a company’s future benefits packages, and can be used to help demonstrate ROI for an investment, and to justify a HR budget.

Appeal

Appealing to millennials and future generations is essential for business longevity. Tech based benefits will appeal to many incoming employees who will expect a certain level of technology. Alternatively, less tech-savvy employees can be offered training on these tools – helping to encourage business wide competence with technology.

Accessibility

Tech based employee benefits can be accessed anywhere due to their digital nature. SMEs often rely on remote workers or freelance employee’s, so the accessibility of tech based benefits is appealing.

Providing a benefits scheme which goes above and beyond shows how much a company values its employees, which will help with retention. By embracing technology-based benefits schemes, SMEs can increase loyalty amongst staff in the same way that larger corporations have done for years – without breaking the bank.