OVER the years I have met a wide range of business owners and boards of directors who run companies with an annual turnover ranging from £100,000 to many millions of pounds, with just a handful of staff locally to many thousands of employees in locations across the globe.

Most involved in running a business accept that their business success depends on having the right people in place to help run and drive the business forward in what is an ever-changing market place.

“I pay my people to turn up to work. What more do I have to do?”

Thankfully I hear this comment far less frequently than 20 years ago. Many SME businesses now realise that recruiting, motivating and retaining valued employees can be achieved in many more varied and cost effective ways other than simply throwing substantial pay awards at staff to retain those who threaten to leave a business taking their intellectual capital, knowledge and experience of your business with them.

Most of you will be aware that all employers will need to establish and offer pension arrangements that meet the needs of Automatic Enrolment - you might have seen that interesting fluffy “workie” pension monster advert on the TV delivered by The Pensions Regulator?

Indeed, most large employers have already been required to comply by now and even new employers will need to have a scheme in place no later than early 2018, meaning every employer across the nation will soon have to enrol their eligible staff into a pension scheme by law.

So now we have both pay and a pension that must be paid for our employees as a minimum. The quality of the latter can vary greatly and what might have worked at the point of introduction may no longer meet your business need and in many cases should be reviewed.

Jason Crowther, is Senior Employee Benefit Consultant at D E Ford Insurance Brokers. Commercial and Charity Insurance specialists. (PIB Group Ltd).