Employers need to use all forms of competitive advantage to boost recruitment and help retain existing staff. The view that a well constructed flexible benefit programme can confer on the image of an employer of being innovative and empowering, is one of the major factors driving the popularity of such programmes. The ability to assist employers in controlling the cost of benefit provision has also been a major attraction to Finance Directors.

There are a number of other powerful drivers for change from the traditional 'one size fits all' benefit package. The fragmentation of families means that a benefit package designed for a married couple with 2.4 children is now only suitable for a minority. Structural changes within industries, resulting in mergers of firms with very different reward packages, demand a more flexible approach to benefit integration. Not least, competitive pressures force employers to get the maximum return in terms of employee appreciation from their expenditure on benefits.

Advantages of flex:

• A competitive edge when recruiting
• Improved employee retention
• Ease of harmonising benefits following mergers
• A range of benefits that match the needs of your employees
• A strengthened corporate culture
• Greater employee appreciation of the true value of their benefits package.