Beyond the Perks: Maximising Value from your Workplace Benefits
The HR World Insights Session, in partnership with Penfold
Most organisations invest significantly in employee benefits. But are their people actually getting the full value from them?
Too often, benefits become part of the background: employees know they exist, but don’t fully understand, appreciate or engage with them. That means businesses can be spending money on benefits without seeing the corresponding impact on employee experience, engagement or loyalty.
In this Insights Session, we’ll explore how HR leaders can turn employee benefits from a provision into a core strategic component of the employee experience.
Using practical examples, we’ll look at what makes a benefit genuinely valuable, why communication and engagement matter just as much as the benefit itself, and how employers can increase the value their people, and their organisation, get from what they already provide.
What you'll learn
By the end of the session, you’ll have practical insight into:
- Why good benefits can still underperform and where value gets lost between provision and employee perception.
- How to increase employee engagement with benefits through better communication, education and positioning.
- How to think more strategically about workplace pensions moving beyond compliance towards engagement, loyalty and long-term value.
- How to assess whether your benefits are delivering ROI for both your people and the organisation.
Who should attend?
HR, People and Reward leaders who want to get more from their existing benefits provision, improve employee engagement and ensure the investment they make in their people is genuinely valued.
If you’re investing in employee benefits, the question isn’t simply “What do we offer?” It’s “Are we getting the value from it that we should?”
Join us to find out.
Abby Simmons is a Workplace Pensions Specialist at Penfold, the workplace pension that’s genuinely a benefit. With over a decade of experience in the benefits and rewards sector, Abby works closely with people leaders to help them offer a pension their teams value and engage with, supporting employees’ long-term financial wellbeing.
Follow Abby Simmons on LinkedIn
Caroline Woolland is HR Director at The King’s Fund, the health and social care think tank, and an Associate Non-Executive Director at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust. With a career that began in radio, Caroline has navigated the HR job market across a range of sectors – including television, architecture, and social housing – gaining deep insight into how the profession is evolving. Her current work spans strategic people leadership, organisational change, and EDI, giving her a unique perspective on the skills and mindsets HR professionals need to thrive in today’s shifting landscape.
Follow Caroline Woodland on LinkedIn
Roxanne’s journey into payroll began unexpectedly in 2014. She had originally applied for a completely different role but after some career advice redirected her path, she stepped into a position as a payroll administrator. It didn’t take long for her to realise she had found her calling.
Over more than a decade working in a busy bureau environment, she progressed from administrator to payroll manager, embracing the pace of change and developing a genuine passion for legislation and research. That enthusiasm naturally led to her current role as a Policy and Research Officer, where she supports the industry by navigating emerging changes and turning complex updates into clear, accessible guidance that people can understand and apply.
Follow Roxanne Slevin on LinkedIn
