Nick Court, reward manager at brewing firm Carlsberg, believes that actively meeting staff is what makes benefits professionals understand what employees want and need in terms of total reward.
He says: ”Total reward is more than just pay, it is a combination of pay, benefits, culture, learning and development.”
Total reward at Carlsberg specifically includes: retail discounts, defined contribution (DC) pensions, a monthly Carlsberg product allowance, a company car scheme, holiday trading, discounted gym memberships, childcare vouchers, a cycle-to-work scheme, discounts at some partner hotels and a physiotherapy scheme, amongst other benefits.
“Explaining what benefits staff have in person is much more effective [than some other forms of communication],” he says. ”Total reward is not just pay and reward; it’s also made up of the workplace’s culture and the look and feel of everything.”
Carlsberg, which employs more than 40,000 staff globally, also issues annual total reward statements (TRS) to demonstrate what employees are entitled to in terms of benefits.
Court also believes the best way to inform staff what total reward is through a wide range of communication, which includes face-to-face communications, direct emails, text messages, TV screens, a quarterly magazine and weekly news articles on email, the intranet and posters.
He says: “When I joined Carlsberg in June 2014, I’d say employees weren’t aware of what total reward was. Since we relaunched our flexible benefits package online in April 2015, everything is in once place and easier for employees to understand.”