EXCLUSIVE: Carlsberg UK has undertaken a full strategic review of its employee benefits, resulting in it relaunching its flexible and voluntary benefits schemes, and consolidating its company car provision.
The brewery organisation, which employs more than 40,000 people globally, launched the review in order to simplify its benefits administration and to boost take up across its package.
It began by simplifying its company car provision at the end of 2014. Previously, it operated two company car policies for employees, which were run by six different providers. Following its review, the organisation moved to a streamlined offering run by a single provider, GE Capital.
The move has resulted in reduced administration for the organisation, delivering an 80% reduction in employee queries about their car provision.
Nick Court, compensation and benefits manager at Carlsberg UK, said: “I was getting calls from employees who did not know who to call when they had a problem.
“Part of the process was to outsource the benefit to help simplify the process of not only making a selection and order for a car but for employees to have a clearer understanding of who to go to when they have a problem.”
In addition, Carlsberg UK went out to tender for its voluntary benefits and flexible benefits schemes. Following this process, it selected provider Gee7 for both plans.
Carlsberg has subsequently relaunched its voluntary benefits scheme, which includes a new branded online benefits portal. Since the relaunch, the organisation has focused on been on generating staff awareness, engagement and take-up, to boost the 13% take up received under its previous scheme.
To support this aim, Carlsberg UK improved its communications to reach all employees who are based in and out of offices.
Court said: “We did not have a portal and our communications needed to improve. We went back to basics and did one-to-one communications within our call centres, put up posters and did roadshows to reach every employee where possible.
“I wanted to get the message out there and simplify it to get employees acknowledging the savings they could make.
“We also hope that when we launch flexible benefits in April, that the communications can have the same impact.”
Carlsberg UK will continue to work to improve its communications throughout 2015.
It will also put a greater focus on the health and wellbeing of its employees, which includes working to improve their financial wellbeing. This aim has been triggered by the pension reforms due to come into effect from April.
Court added: “While we have simplified the process of some of our benefits, we will continue to do so as part of the long-term plan to make things simple and we may look to outsourcing the offering.
“But this year we will continue to improve the communication strategy because of all the pension changes. Not only that, it has been the trigger for us as an organisation to look at the financial wellbeing of our staff this year.
“From there on after, 2016 will be about the growth of our benefits at the organisation, using the savings made from tax and national insurance contributions to improve the offering.”
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