Cut costs, not culture: smarter benefits for smarter budgets

As HR professionals, we can now build more granular worker profiles, encapsulating their daily needs, longer term professional ambition and changing attitudes to risk. So, as employers, we need the flexibility to design a package of benefits that scales and stretches to work within the company's budget, and also provides the right level of flex for our workers. That might mean helping their take-home pay go a little further on the high street, or enabling access to products and services that might not otherwise be on their radar.

Why do benefits matter?

• 50% of UK employees would consider leaving a job for better benefits
• Absenteeism costs UK employers £92 billion annually
• Financial, mental, and physical stress all reduce productivity

Source: Personal Group 2025

Personal Group's Hapi app helps both the employer and the employee:

• For the employer - it allows HR to group together a combination of employer-paid, employee-paid, voluntary and salary sacrifice benefits. It also helps busy HR professionals measure usage and engagement over time and drive change through regular, targeted communications.
• For employees - Hapi allows everyone to quickly and easily access their benefits wherever and whenever through their smartphone, boosting usage, appreciation and equality.

"The platform's comprehensive offerings have been incredibly valuable to our staff, allowing them to access a range of invaluable benefits with ease and efficiency," said Paul Jones-Nolan, Group Head of People at San Carlo.

Supporting employee wellbeing boosts morale, cuts absenteeism, and helps deliver return on investment from the benefits we provide. Hapi offers trusted tools like 24/7 GP access, an EAP, CBT, and menopause support, making it easy to care for your people and your business:

• Employee Assistance Programme (employer paid)
• Discounted Gym Memberships (employer paid)
• Food Allergy and Intolerance Testing (employee paid through the discount platform)
• Online GP (employer paid)

Money worries impact focus and attendance. Nearly half of employees stress about finances weekly and many lack basic protections. Hapi helps you support financial security, boosting productivity and reducing stress-related absence: - Salary loans (salary sacrifice)

• Salary advance (salary sacrifice)
• Financial Coaching (employer paid)
• A range of Insurances (employee and employer paid)
• Mortgage advice (employer paid)
• Whistleblowing (employer paid)

Help your employees stretch their pay further. Salary sacrifice and discount schemes are a great starting place for any financial wellness strategy.

• Retail/grocery discounts
• Cycle to work (salary sacrifice)
• EV/Car leasing (salary sacrifice)
• Travel vouchers (employee paid)
• Travel discounts (employee paid)
• Pet insurance (employee paid)
• New and refurbished Tech (salary sacrifice)

To find out more about our employee benefits platform, or to book a Hapi demo, please contact andrew.walker@personalgroup.com