Senior managers at the AA have been offered access to flex as part of their reward package for the last six years.
Previously, the AA was a division of Centrica, but when the AA was sold by the utility company to two private equity firms, the HR team took a fresh look at how it offered flexible benefits to staff.
The AA went back to basics in identifying what its 550 managers (out of a total employee population of 6,500) wanted from flex with a series of one-to-one briefings and feedback sessions. Based on its findings, the firm, whose businesses include a national driving school and roadside insurance company, decided to re-launch its flexible benefits package focusing on two areas: wellbeing (health and relaxation benefits) and peace of mind (financial benefits).
Benefex was also appointed as the AA’s new flex provider, replacing Mercer, which provided Centrica’s old scheme
The scheme was moved online, so reducing administrative costs, and Benefex was tasked with devising new creative imagery and ways of communicating the scheme to staff.
The AA kept the scheme’s previous name, FlexSA, as managers were familiar with the brand. But a new strapline, ‘You’ve got AA Choice’, was added along with a colour scheme, which ties into the AA’s external corporate branding.
All these changes had a positive impact on take up. Hazel Lee, HR business manager for policy and reward at the AA, says: “When we transferred from Centrica, take-up was approximately 60%, but when we refreshed the scheme, take-up went up to 95%. We’re in our second year now and it’s gone up to 98%.”