This is according to One4All Rewards' Push The Button report, which found that 29% of UK workers cannot make use of the rewards and benefits provided by their employer, with the figure rising the younger the employee.
For those in the 45- to 54-year-old age range, 18% are not eligible for the incentives their company offers, while in the 55-plus age group only 15% cannot make full use of the rewards available. The report's authors said these findings suggest many businesses are using rewards and benefits as ‘top ups’ to salaries higher up the corporate food chain.
The report’s findings suggest employers may be missing a trick in terms of incentivising young workers. This is because it also found that those in the 25 to 34 age group were more likely than any other to work harder and improve the quality of their work in order to earn a reward, with 88% claiming they would do this.
By contrast, only 72% in the 45- to 54-year-old age group would improve their work for a reward, and only 59% of those aged 55 and over would work harder for more benefits.
Declan Byrne, managing director at One4all Rewards, said that employers are wrongly focusing on older, more senior workers as they perhaps have more expectations around benefits. “Actually the data suggests that budgets set aside for these will work much harder when spread across more junior members of the workforce, who will increase their efforts significantly in order to be able to unlock them,” he added.
“The ideal scenario to inspire motivation in workers is offering benefits and incentives across the board, but in smaller businesses or those where budget won’t stretch that far it is important that these schemes work as hard as they can, and deliver tangible results for employers.”
