黑料网

Benefits are often still talked about as if they鈥檙e a list of options tucked away on an HR portal. But that view is becoming outdated fast. At their best, benefits do far more than fill out a reward package. They can improve wellbeing, support high performance, and give organizations a tangible way to show what they stand for. They help turn purpose into something people can actually see and feel.

That was the focus of the 鈥淧utting people first鈥� session at our 2025 Launchpad event. The conversation was led by our Chief Strategy Officer, Adam Mason, and the panel included Katie Duxbury, Head of Pay & Benefits at Bupa, and Renu Birla, Senior Reward & Benefits Advisor at Severn Trent. Together, they explored how benefits strategies are evolving 鈥� and why the most effective programs are built around accessibility, flexibility, and relevance.

Benefits as a reflection of what matters

As Adam Mason described, benefits are one of the clearest ways an organization can demonstrate what it truly values. They鈥檙e not just a mechanism for supporting employees. They鈥檙e also a signal. A signal of what the business cares about, what kind of culture it wants to build, and how seriously it takes the idea of putting people first.

That鈥檚 why the conversation moved quickly beyond the traditional definition of benefits. Instead of focusing only on contractual offerings, both Bupa and Severn Trent shared how they are thinking more broadly 鈥� about wellbeing, life challenges, choice, and how benefits fit into the realities of modern work.

Bupa: making benefits feel personal and accessible

For Bupa , a major turning point came in 2022 with a renewed focus on customer journeys under a new CEO. That shift prompted an important internal question: if Bupa wanted employees to advocate for its products, how many employees actually had access to them?

The answer was surprisingly low. Only around 40% of employees had access to Bupa products. That gap mattered, particularly because many of the employees delivering care on the front line didn鈥檛 feel the existing offer had been designed with them in mind. Bupa responded by listening closely to employees, running surveys, and designing a package around real-life needs 鈥� such as getting quick healthcare support when a child is ill or accessing help with everyday pressures.

But even after doing the research and designing what seemed like the right solution, uptake was lower than expected. The reason turned out not to be the offer itself, but how people perceived it.

Some employees saw healthcare benefits and assumed they were 鈥渇or office people,鈥� not for them. In other words, Bupa was facing an inclusion challenge as much as a benefits challenge. That insight changed the strategy’s direction. It became less about simply offering a benefit and more about putting it directly into people鈥檚 hands in a way that felt clearly relevant and personal.

For a workforce of around 11,000 people in care homes and 7,000 in dental practices, many of whom are not desk-based and don’t use company systems all day, that meant rethinking access entirely. Email and posters in staff rooms were not enough. Benefits had to be visible, available 24/7, and presented in a way that felt personalized. If a benefit appeared in someone鈥檚 app, it needed to feel unmistakably theirs.

Another strong theme across Bupa鈥檚 story was flexibility. Katie described how the team has been exploring new models, including wallet-based approaches, to create more personalized experiences and solve problems that traditional pay mechanisms often can鈥檛. As Katie put it, the aim is to give people agency without overreaching 鈥� to empower employees with more choice, not overwhelm them with complexity.

Severn Trent: embedding wellbeing into business strategy

Severn Trent鈥檚 journey began from a slightly different starting point but reached a similar conclusion. For Severn Trent, wellbeing isn鈥檛 a standalone initiative 鈥� it鈥檚 a business outcome.

The organization鈥檚 view is that how employees are treated has a direct impact on safety, resilience, performance, and ultimately the trust communities place in the business. That matters in a company responsible for one of life鈥檚 essentials: water.

With a workforce that ranges from head office employees to rangers, van and tanker drivers, treatment center teams, and visitor center staff, the challenge is not just offering support 鈥� it鈥檚 making that support visible, relevant, and easy to access.

That鈥檚 why Severn Trent focused on building a joined-up experience 鈥� implementing a benefits platform designed as a one-stop shop for total reward, bringing together core benefits, recognition, pay slips, and wellbeing support in one place.

Communication matters as much as the offer itself

One of the clearest messages from the session was that even the strongest benefits package has limited value if people don鈥檛 know about it at the right time. Both speakers stressed that communication has to be ongoing, multi-channel, and grounded in how people actually work.

At Severn Trent, this means using everything from webinars and roadshows to on-site services and internal podcasts. For example, rather than simply offering free physio and expecting operational employees to find time to book and attend appointments, the company brought physio therapists directly to the site. Similar thinking has shaped how other services are delivered too: making support easier to access in the flow of life, rather than harder.

Bupa has taken a similarly practical approach, especially for its unwired workforce. The focus is on reducing friction, making access simple, and ensuring benefits feel relevant in the moments that matter. This is where technology becomes an enabler. Not because the tech itself is the goal, but because it helps amplify relevance, accessibility, and personalization.

鈥淥ur wellbeing team spends most of their time on the road, visiting employees across the country 鈥� but because not everyone is there at the same time, we鈥檙e opening our diaries on our employee experience platform so people can book time with us directly. That’s been really popular.鈥�
Katie Duxbury, Head of Pay & Benefits at Bupa

The impact: greater awareness, stronger inclusion, better engagement

What happens when benefits are made easier to access, understand, and more relevant to real life? At Bupa, the answer is clear. More people know about the benefits package now.

鈥淲e鈥檝e seen a 22% increase in awareness of our benefits package, which is amazing. And over 80% of employees are either happy or very happy with their benefits 鈥� that鈥檚 phenomenal. When we started, around 52% of people said the benefits were just okay.鈥�
Katie Duxbury, Head of Pay & Benefits at Bupa

But the impact goes beyond survey scores. Katie described a noticeable shift in sentiment among frontline workers. Instead of assuming benefits were not for them, employees are now actively asking questions and seeking support. That shift matters, particularly in roles where people deliver clinical care, administer medication, support vulnerable individuals, or make important care decisions. Bupa wants those employees at their best 鈥� not distracted by unresolved life pressures or struggling to access support.

Severn Trent has seen similar momentum, including steady increases in take-up despite a difficult economic climate. The company has also continued to invest in core security benefits 鈥� including group life insurance, group income protection, pension, share save, employee assistance support, virtual GP access, and eldercare.

鈥淲e ensure that these foundations are already in place and funded, giving people peace of mind. When life challenges arise, they know they can access that support.鈥�
Renu Birla, Senior Reward & Benefits Advisor, Severn Trent

A more human view of benefits

Perhaps the most important takeaway from the conversation was this: employees don鈥檛 experience benefits in silos.

鈥淪omeone said earlier this morning that employees don鈥檛 see benefits as separate. They see them as a combined offering. That insight has really shaped how we approach our communication strategy.鈥�
Renu Birla, Senior Reward & Benefits Advisor at Severn Trent

That means the benefits strategy must become more human, reflecting different life stages, working patterns, pressures, and definitions of value. It must reach employees whether they鈥檙e at a desk, on the road, in a care home, or working a night shift. And it has to help people not just during annual enrolment, but in the moments when support matters most.

Watch the Launchpad session on demand

Benefits are no longer just a list. They鈥檙e an experience. A communication tool. A culture signal. And increasingly, a way to help people perform at their best by feeling fully supported.
Want to watch Katie and Renu鈥檚 session in full? You can access the on-demand recording here.