A new piece of research has found that nearly all businesses are planning to either maintain or boost investments in employee benefits over the next two years.

The survey, carried out by CIPD and LCP, found that of the 568 HR practitioners asked, 81% intend to maintain current levels of employee benefit spend whilst 16% are planning to increase budgets in this area.

Employee benefits, which range from pensions and company cars to Christmas parties and professional development schemes, are on the most part additional benefits offered by an employer for their staff’s benefit, on top of the legally required such as auto-enrolment pensions and paid leave.

Senior reward and performance advisor at the CIPD, Charles Cotton commented of the survey results that: “Despite the recent economic and political uncertainty, employers are committed to investing in their employees and their future.

“It’s encouraging to see the benefits that have been earmarked for further spend in the near future related to people development and well-being. Spending in these areas can help to improve employee, and ultimately, corporate performance.”

And whilst it’s positive that the vast majority of businesses are committed to at least maintaining their current commitments to employee benefits, for an HR geek such as myself, it’s a little disappointing that just 16% of those surveyed said they’re likely to increase investment in the perks and benefits schemes they offer their workforce.

Businesses should be focused on getting the maximum return from their people, and one of the most cost-effective ways of achieving this is through creating a highly engaged and motivated culture and really investing time and a proportion of HR budget into employee rewards and, in particular, social employee engagement schemes.

Yet the survey did also uncover one of the reasons why HR departments are unlikely to see increased budgets, and it comes down to visibility and the lacking ability to calculate returns on HR investment.

In fact, 74% of respondents said they don’t currently review their spend on benefits and are unable to analyse the return on that investment, and that’s despite two-thirds saying the primary purpose of the current schemes in place was to positively benefit recruitment and staff retention.

In fact, more employers than you’d expect to said themselves that they’re not the best at promoting internally the benefits on offer to employees, 16% in fact, with one in five saying the benefits on offer aren’t easily accessible.

So whilst there still may be some way to go for organisations to truly understand the effect the work of their HR departments are having on the profitability and smooth running of a business, it is undoubtedly positive from a people perspective that budgets are to be retained and even increased in a smattering of places.

And it’s also encouraging where that extra investment will likely be channelled.

Responders said they are most likely to increase investment into professional development, a key motivator for the younger generations within the workforce. That was followed by health and wellbeing, also positive given the increased attention to and awareness of the serious implications of workplace stress and employee burnout.

Is your business planning to invest more in employee benefits over the next couple of years? Let me know and into what areas in the comments below.