Research Reveals Critical Gaps in Data Maturity Negatively Impacting Benefits Decisions-Making
2 April 2025 – Howden Employee Benefits today publishes its Benefits Design Survey 2025, conducted in partnership with Reward & Employee Benefits Association (REBA). The research reveals that one-third of proposed benefit changes have been rejected by management teams due to insufficient data, demonstrating the scrutiny being placed on investment in benefits.
The survey uncovers critical gaps in data maturity surrounding benefits programmes, limiting the ability to engage stakeholders, make data-driven decisions and measure the ROI of their approaches and plans.
The survey, which includes input from 360 respondents representing nearly two million employees, highlights the growing pressure on reward professionals to respond to external influences and employee demand, whilst showing that they are spending budgets wisely and for maximum business impact.
The research also demonstrates the significant challenges reward teams face in gathering the required data and having the skills and tools in-house to govern their programmes and report performance upwards. Overall, it is a demonstration of how, in such uncertain times, reward teams have much further to go in the better use of data.
The Lack of Data and the Rejection of Proposals for Change
Over 80% of respondents made significant changes to their benefits over the past year, with employee health and wellbeing emerging as the primary driver, demonstrating the increasing employee demand for access to employer-sponsored services, together with increasing pressure on workplace culture and productivity.
That said, over one-third of proposals were rejected due to a lack of data demonstrating that the proposals would achieve the desired outcomes. Without improvements in data capture and analysis – over 80% of respondents said they believe future projects are at risk of rejection without a clear and compelling business case.
Matthew Gregson, Executive Director at Howden Employee Benefits, comments: “This year’s research evidences the clear imperative for reward professionals to embrace the use of data in both governing their programmes, engaging decision-makers and driving change. Without it, benefits and wellbeing programmes may well stagnate, not keeping pace with the expectations of employees or needs of the organisation.”
Data maturity: The gap between the need for and use of data today
Although most forms of data were recognised as important to the running of benefits programmes, too few teams are collecting and using that data, and even fewer reporting upwards on the performance of their programmes on a regular basis.
In fact, the only two data points that were used by the majority are benefits costs (by 67%) and employee satisfaction (by 62%). Other data points, such as absence rates (by 42%), healthcare claims (by 35%) and wellbeing scores (by 23%) are all being reported far less.
The Spotlight on Benefits Decision-Making
In addition to ongoing reporting of benefits programmes, the research looked at the use of data in affecting change. The first major point of note is where decisions are being made, with pensions changes almost 3 times as likely as wellbeing changes to go up to Board level for approval. There may be two different inferences from this – one relating to the difference in the size of the change, as changes to pensions are often complex and expensive, but the other being in the lack of Board-level engagement with wellbeing, due to a lack of compelling data.
The next is in the type of data used to drive decision-making. With pensions, the use of benchmarking (used by 85% of those proposing changes) is more than twice as likely as member outcomes (38%) or ROI modelling (29%) to gain approval. The concern is that decision-making is being influenced by one metric only – competitiveness. By comparison, when it comes to the different pillars of wellbeing, employee opinion is used significantly more than claims and other metrics to determine the recommendations.
Matthew Gregson explains: “Although it is recognised that there are significant barriers to getting and analysing quality data, it is clear that today not enough of the right data is used to validate recommendations that are being put in front of the Board and other decision-makers. Reward teams need to focus in on the specific problems they are trying to solve and working hard to obtain data that can demonstrate a much clearer link between the proposals they are making and the outcomes they want to drive.”
Barriers to Data Quality
Recognising the position that most reward teams find themselves in when it comes to data, the research also explored the barriers teams need to overcome to improve their data maturity. And the results were illuminating, in terms of the approach that should be taken to improve data maturity.
- 59% struggle with data availability and usability;
- 51% face difficulties in gathering external benchmarking data; and
- 48% lack the tools and 24% the skills to analyse and interpret the data.
For larger employers, there will likely be the budgets and the need to bring those solutions in-house and up-skill reward teams or work in partnership with data teams in the business to improve data maturity. But for mid- and SME organisations, the reality is that they will be increasingly reliant on their benefit advisers and insurers to take them on that journey. This is where the market needs to respond with data, research and tools to empower HR & Reward teams.
Debi O’Donovan, Director at Reward & Employee Benefits Association comments “Despite being seemingly awash with sources of data , there are still significant gaps in the analysed data insights that employers really need. However, as employee benefits continue to be used more strategically within businesses, these insights gaps will close. Especially as employers work with consultants and providers to improve analytics.”
Matthew Gregson concludes “I can’t remember a more pivotal time in reward strategy, due to so many internal and external challenges facing employers. And with economic uncertainty and employer costs increasing, additional budget to solve problems and enhance offerings will not come easily. This is where this year’s research provides a clear imperative and blueprint for reward professionals to really embrace the use of data to govern their programmes, engage senior stakeholders and enable better decision-making, backed up, once initiatives are delivered, with the metrics that prove the continued value of investment in benefits and wellbeing to drive business.”
For more information and to download a copy of the research, visit: https://www.howdengroup.com/uk-en/employee-benefits/reba-benefits-design-research-2025
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About Howden
Howden is a global insurance intermediary group with employee ownership at its heart. Founded in 1994, it provides insurance broking, reinsurance broking and underwriting services and solutions to clients ranging from individuals to the largest multinational companies.
The group operates in 55 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, the USA, Australia and New Zealand, employing 22,000 people and handling $45bn of premium on behalf of clients.
For more information, please visit www.howdengroup.com and www.howdengroupholdings.com
About REBA
The Reward & Employee Benefits Association (REBA) is a thriving community of HR professionals dedicated to pursuing best practice in reward and benefits. Synonymous with excellence, REBA informs and empowers its members to grow their networks, advance their knowledge, source and connect with market-leading vendors, and be prepared.
REBA’s research taps into its diverse network to provide insights into the strategies that a broad range of organisations are implementing.
For more information, please visit www.reba.global
