Steve Herbert, head of benefits strategy at Jelf Employee Benefits writes in the Daily Telegraph that Unum’s blueprint reminds all companies that caring for their staff is a key component to a successful business.

"On an intuitive level this makes sense. An employee that feels well rewarded and supported by their employer is likely to be more engaged with their job – and there is plenty of evidence to equate employee engagement with improved bottom-line performance.

So why are some UK employers still not getting the balance right? Several larger organisations will point to the employee benefits they offer as evidence that they are a caring company.

But in many cases these benefits have not been well communicated to staff and this results in limited usage, meaning that the benefits package is undervalued or even ignored by the workforce it is intended to help.

Hence it’s never enough to simply offer great benefits and employment practices, such as flexible working, you need to make sure that employees understand and value what is being offered to them.