November 5, 2026
Beyond Salary: What Our Benefits Research Means for Executives
by
Craig Malcolm
Most New Zealand organisations are spending money on benefits their people don't value, don't understand, and don't know the worth of. That's the uncomfortable headline from our latest research, Beyond Salary, which surveyed 1,003 New Zealanders in white-collar roles.
Pay budgets are tight, the cost of living hasn't eased, and boards are asking hard questions about every line of spend. For executives, non cash benefits isn't an HR footnote. It's a lever on retention, engagement and cost that most leadership teams aren't pulling properly.
The numbers that should make Executives sit up
Pay has fallen behind the cost of living: 62%
Benefits matter more than three years ago (vs 4% who say less): 37%
Benefits are genuinely well matched to them: 19%
Benefits are very easy to understand and use: 33%
Would be less committed if extra leave were removed (only 22% are offered it): 40%
Have never been told what their benefits are worth: 67%
Put simply: people feel squeezed, they're looking harder at the total package, and most employers aren't meeting them there. Only one in five says their benefits genuinely fit. Two in three have never been told what those benefits are worth.
That last number is the one I keep coming back to. You can't get credit for value you've never communicated.
What it means for the organisation
You're probably paying for value you're not getting. If 81% of people don't see their benefits as a genuine fit, a large slice of that spend is landing with no effect. That's a cost-efficiency problem, not just an engagement one.
Your employee value proposition is weaker than you think. When pay can't keep pace, the rest of the package must work harder. With 37% saying benefits matter more than they did three years ago, a generic offering is now a competitive gap, not a neutral one.
Retention risk is hiding in plain sight. People who feel their pay is slipping, and can't see the value of anything else, are easier to tempt away. A competitor doesn't need to outbid you on salary if they simply explain their package better.
Time is the new currency, and most of you are only at parity. The two benefits people rate most when weighing up a new role are both about time. Around two thirds of employers already offer flexible working, so it keeps you in the game rather than putting you ahead. Extra annual leave is different: only 22% are offered it, yet 40% would be less committed if it were taken away. A fifth week costs around 2% of salary and, unlike a pay rise, doesn't compound into every future increase.
The cheapest wins are being ignored. Everyday cost relief is the second most wanted category. Salary-sacrifice schemes for public transport, bikes and e-bikes have been FBT-exempt since April 2023, yet only 8% of people are offered one. Of those who are, 22% call it the benefit they value most. Few gaps in the research are wider.
Some benefits shouldn't be judged on uptake. Only about 8% of people offered income protection have ever claimed, yet two thirds say it gives them strong peace of mind. Cut it on usage data and you remove something people quietly rely on.
Smaller organisations face a different problem. Under fifty staff, the issue isn't which benefits you offer but how few: the average person there gets a third as many as someone in a large organisation.
What it means for leaders and their teams
Benefits are often treated as an HR or reward issue. In practice, the people best placed to close the gap are line leaders, because they're the ones having the conversations.
Only a third of employees find their benefits very easy to understand and use. That means most of your managers are fielding questions they can't answer or are not being asked at all. Either way, the value stays invisible.
The fix isn't a glossier intranet page. It's equipping leaders to talk about the whole package in one-to-ones, performance reviews and offer conversations. And it's listening: the teams closest to the work usually know which benefits land and which ones gather dust. I’d supplement this with periodic communications to staff, reminding them of what their can access, where to find it and examples of the value others have gained in their use.
What it means for executives themselves
Here's the finding every leadership team should hear: executive managers are more than twice as likely as specialists to say their benefits are well matched, at 34% against 16%. They're also twice as likely to find them easy to use.
In other words, if you're senior, you're the least representative person to judge whether your package works. The view from the top is rosier than the view from the team. Test it with your specialists and team leaders, not the leadership table.
On the hiring side, what we see in executive search lines up with it. Senior candidates weigh the whole package, and the non-cash elements often decide a close call: flexibility, development, wellbeing support, and how the role fits the rest of their life.
Yet I mostly see that executive offers are still routinely presented as a base salary and a bonus percentage, with everything else in an attachment nobody reads. When two offers are close on cash, the organisation that clearly articulates the full value of its package tends to win.
There's a leadership point here too. Executives set the tone. If you can't explain what your own package is worth, or why your organisation offers what it does, your teams won't be able to either.
Six moves for this quarter
- Put a dollar figure on it. Issue an annual total-benefits statement and publish a one page listing every benefit, who's eligible, and the single step to use it. The money's already spent; your people just can't see it.
- Bring benefits into the pay conversation. Put them on the agenda at salary review, and go in knowing which two or three your team rates most.
- Close the gap on time. Treat flexible working as table stakes and extra leave as the differentiator. Name both in job ads and offer letters, not just internal policy.
- Take the cheap wins. Look at salary-sacrifice schemes for transport, bikes and e-bikes. Low cost to you, highly valued by those who get them.
- Judge each benefit on the right measure. Use uptake for everyday perks like parking and food; use peace of mind for insurance and income protection.
- Ask the right people, and benchmark the right rivals. Ask specialists and team leaders which benefits they use, which they'd miss, and which they didn't know they had. Then compare against the employers you actually lose candidates to.
The bottom line
In a tight market, the organisations that win won't necessarily be the ones paying the most. They'll be the ones whose people can see, understand and value everything they're offered.
That's your job as a leader. For most organisations, the quickest gains don't need new spend: they need clearer communication about what's already on the table.
If you'd like to talk through what the findings mean for your leadership team or your next senior hire, get in touch.
