City and Guilds studies flex communications

City and Guilds uses the communication strategy it wraps around its flexible benefits enrolment windows to drive staff engagement with flex.

The vocational qualifications provider has three enrolment windows each year; the main one is in November, with the other two in March and July. 

Staff feedback has shown City and Guilds that, at present, employees are interested in tangible benefits that give an immediate value, so the organisation has focused its communications on the lifestyle benefits available through its flex scheme. 

The employer found that the discount dining card Tastecard was particularly popular when it was introduced last year, so it focused its communications for November’s enrolment window around that benefit.

City and Guilds runs tailored email campaigns to announce when its enrolment windows open. It can target communications to staff that may not have logged in yet, or who have logged in but have made no choices.

The organisation also runs a wellbeing day ahead of each enrolment window, and invites benefits providers to showcase their products and services to staff at its main London office. 

Chris Coyne, head of reward and HR services at City and Guilds, whose current flex brand is in its third year, says: “The brand is quite well known and established, so we haven’t got the challenge of raising awareness, it’s just a case of driving engagement.

“We want employees to recognise the value of total reward, so it’s about them appreciating that they’ve got more than just their base salary and some standard benefits they might get anywhere. It’s about them recognising the choice.

“That is all about our philosophy of empowering [employees] and giving them choice where we can.”