Spend where people actually engage: a CFO/HR guide to utilisation-led benefits

When budgets come under scrutiny, benefits spend is one of the most important places to look. Not only because it can reveal opportunities to save, but because it can show where support is actually resonating with employees.

For HR and Finance teams, this is a chance to solve two problems at once: reduce wasted spend and build a benefits strategy people are more likely to use.

Too often, benefits reviews begin with one question: What can we cut?

A better place to start is: what do employees actually engage with, what do they value, and what are we paying for that is barely being used?

That is where utilisation data matters. It helps employers understand whether benefits are relevant, accessible and connected to the outcomes the business cares about. 

The goal is not to chase participation for its own sake. It is to understand where investment is working hard, where support needs to be improved, and where spending may need to be redirected.

In a tighter cost environment, benefits cannot simply exist on paper. They need to reach people in ways that fit real life.

Why utilisation matters

Utilisation is a very strong signal of whether benefits spending is reaching employees in a meaningful way.

For HR, low uptake may mean employees are not getting the support they need. For Finance, it may mean the business is paying for benefits that are not meaningfully influencing engagement, retention or wellbeing outcomes.

The Wellhub Work-Life Wellness report found that only 44% of employees agree that wellness is truly ingrained in their company’s culture. That means more than half of the workforce does not feel their organisation actively encourages them to prioritise their wellbeing.

This matters because benefits spend should be assessed on use, relevance and potential business impact, not availability alone.

A benefit can look strong on paper and still fail in practice if employees do not understand it, cannot access it easily, or do not see how it fits their needs. 

At the same time, low utilisation does not always mean a benefit has no value. Some benefits are designed for smaller, higher-need groups, such as post-partum support, bereavement support or specialist counselling. In those cases, lower usage may be expected, but still offers immense value.

The key is to understand the role each benefit plays.

A widely available wellbeing benefit with low engagement may point to poor communication, poor access or poor fit. A specialist benefit with low usage may still be essential if it supports employees during periods of high need.

Utilisation helps employers make better decisions: protect what works, improve what is fixable and reallocate spend where value is limited.

This matters because many organisations are not yet measuring benefits against clear goals. CIPD found that among employers with objectives behind their workplace benefits package, around one in seven do not assess their benefits against those objectives. Among those that do conduct reviews, only a third say their benefits fully meet their objectives.

If goals are not being met,the team may not be working as hard as it should, and spending is going to waste.

The hidden cost of low uptake

Low utilisation does not always mean low need. Often, it means employees face barriers that prevent them from engaging.

When benefits go unused, employers can end up paying twice: once for underused support, and againthrough the hidden costs of unmet employee needs.

Those costs can show up through:

• Disengagement
• Absences
• Poor morale
• Reduced productivity
• Higher turnover 

Gallup found that in the UK, only 10% of employees are engaged at work, compared with a European regional average of 12% and a global average of 20%.

For employers, that is not just a culture issue. It is a business issue. Low engagement can affect performance, retention and the employee experience. When benefits are available but not being used, it is worth asking whether employees are genuinely supported or whether the support is too difficult to access, too fragmented or poorly understood.

Low uptake may not be about the benefit itself. It may be because:

• Employees do not know what is available or how to access it.
• Benefits do not cater to different work patterns, locations, schedules or life stages.
• Programmes are too fragmented, leaving employees unsure where to start.
• Employees do not feel they have permission to use support during the working week.
• People worry that using certain benefits could be judged negatively.

Poor utilisation can also reduce trust. If employees see wellbeing support being promoted, but cannot realistically use it, the benefit may feel performative rather than practical. 

For employers, the question is not simply whether support exists. It is whether employees can and do use it.

How to benchmark benefits utilisation properly

Benchmarking utilisation means looking beyond a single participation number.

Employers need to understand who is using benefits, how often, for what purpose and what barriers still remain. A one-off activation figure may show initial awareness, but it does not show whether employees return, find value or build the benefit into their routines.

A useful starting point is to segment benefits into clear categories, such as:

• Everyday wellbeing
• Preventative support
• Lifestyle support
• Specialist support

Each category should have different expectations. A fitness or wellbeing platform should not be benchmarked in the same way as crisis counselling or bereavement support. Some benefits are designed for frequent use. Others are there for specific life events or periods of acute need.

Employers should also review usage by employee group, including:

• Location
• Work model
• Tenure
• Role type
• Shift pattern
• Seniority

This helps reveal whether support is reaching the whole workforce or only certain groups. For example, office-based employees may engage more easily with a benefit than shift workers if access depends on fixed working hours. Hybrid employees may need different routes into support than deskless teams.

Repeat engagement is especially important. First-time activation can show curiosity, while return usage can suggest relevance.

To build a clearer picture, compare utilisation with employee feedback, absence trends, retention data and engagement scores. This helps HR and Finance see whether benefits are simply being accessed or whether they are connected to wider workforce outcomes.

Useful benchmark questions include:

• What percentage of eligible employees have activated the benefit?
• How many return after the first use?
• Which employee groups are underrepresented?
• Does usage align with stated employee needs?
• Is low uptake due to low relevance, low awareness or practical barriers?
• Does the benefit support outcomes our business cares about?

The difference between activity metrics and impact metrics

Usage matters, but it is not the full story. A strong measurement approach connects utilisation to outcomes over time. CFOs rarely need perfect attribution, instead needing confidence that spending is connected to business priorities. HR teams need evidence that benefits are helping employees in practical ways.

That means distinguishing between activity metrics and impact metrics.

Activity metrics show what employees accessed. These may include:

• Activation
• Repeat use
• Frequency
• Drop-off points
• Preferred benefit categories

Impact metrics show what may be changing as a result. These may include:

• Absence trends
• Engagement
• Retention
• Employee satisfaction
• Perceived support

The aim is tobuild a credible evidence trail, not claim that one benefit directly caused every outcome. Wellbeing, engagement and performance are influenced by many factors, including workload, management, pay, culture and personal circumstances.

But when utilisation data is reviewed alongside business indicators, employers can start to see patterns. They can understand whether investment is reaching employees, whether support is aligned to need and whether changes may be required.

This is where HR and Finance can find common ground. HR can show how benefits support the employee experience, while finance can see whether spend is being used with intention.

What low usage is really telling you

Low usage is a diagnostic signal, and it should trigger an investigation, but not an automatic cut.

If employers remove underused benefits without understanding why uptake is low, they may cut support employees want but cannot access properly.

Low usage can point to several different issues:

1. Low awareness: Employees are unaware that the benefit exists.
2. Low understanding: Employees know it exists, but do not understand how it helps them.
3. Low accessibility: The benefit is difficult to access, only available at the wrong times, or not suited to hybrid, deskless or shift-based workers.
4. Low relevance: The benefit does not reflect employee needs or preferences.
5. Low trust: Employees worry about judgment, confidentiality or whether they are allowed to use it.
6. Low cultural permission: Leaders promote wellbeing, but workloads and norms make participation unrealistic.

That last point is often overlooked. A mindfulness session may be available, but if it runs during a weekly team meeting, uptake will naturally be low. A wellbeing platform may exist, but if employees work different shifts or locations and cannot engage easily, the issue is design, not motivation.

Low usage should prompt better questions:

• Is the benefit poorly communicated?
• Is it too hard to access?
• Does it fit the workforce?
• Do managers support its use?
• Does the culture make participation feel possible?

Cutting before answering those questions can remove value that was never given a fair chance to land.

How to fix low benefits usage

Improving utilisation usually requires better design, clearer communication and stronger cultural permission. A practical starting point is to audit the current benefits ecosystem. 

Many organisations have built their benefits offering over time, adding new providers, tools and platforms in response to specific needs. That can create overlap, confusion and underused support

An audit should ask:

• Which benefits overlap?
• Which tools are hard to access?
• Which providers are solving similar problems?
• Which benefits are well used?
• Which are underused, and why?
• Where are employees still unsupported?

Employee input matters here. Usage data can show what is happening, but employee feedback can explain why. Ask people what they need, what they use and what stops them from engaging. Here are 120 sample questions to get you started.

From there, employers can take practical steps:

• Simplify access by reducing disconnected platforms and entry points.
• Communicate benefits repeatedly, not just at launch or during open enrolment.
• Use plain language that explains who each benefit is for and when to use it.
• Train managers to normalise participation and signpost support appropriately.
• Refresh benefits regularly based on usage data and employee feedback.
• Remove unnecessary friction from the employee experience.

Communication is especially important. Employees are unlikely to remember every benefit available to them after one launch email. Benefits need to be explained consistently, in moments when they are relevant, and through channels employees already use.

At Wellhub, we believe effective wellbeing programmes are designed with employee input, offer flexibility, reflect different lifestyles and are communicated clearly and consistently.

Why flexibility and choice drive engagement

Employees are more likely to use benefits when the support feels relevant to their life, schedule and needs.

That matters because wellbeing needs vary. One employee may want fitness support, while another may need help with mental health, nutrition, sleep, recovery or everyday stress. Those needs also change over time.

A flexible benefits strategy gives employees more ways to engage without forcing everyone down the same path.

For employees, flexibility means:

• Support that fits different routines, work patterns and life stages.
• Choice across fitness, mental health, nutrition, sleep and everyday wellbeing.
• Access that works for hybrid, remote, deskless and shift-based teams.
• Options they can use before challenges escalate.

For employers, flexibility means:

• Better reach across different workforce groups.
• Less reliance on benefits that only work for some employees.
• Fewer disconnected providers and duplicated tools.
• A clearer view of what people actually use.

This is where a single flexible platform can help. It gives employees more routes into support while helping employers reduce unnecessary complexity.

For CFOs, this can support smarter spend and less duplication. For HR, it can improve relevance, access and engagement. Wellhub brings multiple wellbeing needs into one platform, helping employers offer meaningful choice without adding unnecessary complexity.

Utilisation-led benefits with Wellhub

Wellhub helps employers move from fragmented, underused benefits to flexible wellbeing support employees can access in ways that fit their lives.

For HR teams, this means:

• Simpler wellbeing communication
• Easier benefits management
• More relevant support across different employee needs
• A benefits strategy that can adapt as the workforce changes

For Finance teams, this means:

• A clearer view of engagement
• Less duplication across providers
• A stronger foundation for reviewing spend
• More confidence that benefits investment is being used intentionally

Wellhub can also support different budgets and workforce needs, helping employers build a benefits strategy that is practical, scalable and easier to measure over time.

The Wellhub Work-Life Wellness report found that67% of Wellhub members agree they can take time for wellbeing when needed, compared with 37% without Wellhub. It also found that 64% of Wellhub members believe their HR department genuinely cares about their wellbeing, compared with fewer than three in ten employees without Wellhub.

In a tighter cost environment, employers cannot afford benefits that simply sit unused. Utilisation-led benefits help HR and Finance protect what works, fix what is underused for the wrong reasons and reallocate spend where it can have a more meaningful impact.

Build a benefits strategy that works harder with Wellhub.