Paid holiday and pensions are most popular employee benefits

If you're thinking about extending the benefits offering in your organisation, it's important to make sure the benefits you choose are valued by your staff.

While there's no substitute for actually asking your employees what benefits and perks they would find valuable and motivating, a recent study by Aviva offers a good starting point.

Over 2,000 UK employees were surveyed by Censuswide on behalf of Aviva to learn which workplace benefits they would most appreciate -- and those they are less interested in.

'Traditional' benefits like holiday allowance, pensions and critical illness cover trumped quirkier options like being allowed to take your dog into the office, the insurance company found.

Out of a wide range of workplace benefits, 43% of the employees surveyed said they were least interested in being allowed to take their dog into the workplace. More than a third (34%) also said they weren't interested in office entertainment like films, video games and table football. More than one in four people (26%) even said workplace social events like summer and Christmas parties were among the benefits they were least interested in.

Time off was seen as the most preferred benefit, with 44% interested in having 22-35 days of paid leave each year. Another 41% opted for a company pension scheme and 39% chose flexible working. Paid sick leave and/or critical illness cover followed closely behind on 38%, and a quarter of respondents (25%) said they were interested in bonuses and/or profit and share schemes.

"Workplace benefits have really come under the spotlight in recent years as employers and employees realise that while salary is important, there's more that can be offered," commented Colin Williams, managing director of workplace benefits at Aviva.

"But while we hear of companies across the world experimenting with a range of benefits, some more unusual than others, it's encouraging to see that employees still value the more traditional benefits.

"Offering holiday, a decent pension and access to flexible working are clearly important to employees. These types of benefits can help create the foundations of a resilient workforce and a resilient business."