Employee Benefits
In Focus

Moneyway shows SMEs how to make benefits matter

Moneyway is a small bank based in Solihull that helps people pay their bills and organise their finances. A key challenge for the business – which employs just 180 people – is to maintain the positive employer brand that encourages people to want to work with them, rather than many of the other major employers in Solihull. With most employees receiving an average salary of £14k, the business recognises it needs a strong and attractive rewards and benefits package that nurtures this positive culture and retains and engages talent within the business.

To engage their people, drive performance and nurture the positive culture that exists within the organisation, Moneyway recognised it needed a strong and attractive rewards and benefits package. Here, Mark Carman, marketing and sales director of Motivano, outlines the creative approach Moneyway took to change the perception of benefits within the business and generate maximum impact from their minimum budget.

The reality of employee benefits at Moneyway

Moneyway employees currently receive a holiday allowance, as well as performance bonuses, through a core employee benefits scheme. However, budgetary pressures mean that the organisation is not able to extend this core offering. In response, the business needed to develop a strong voluntary and flexible benefit offering.

In 2008, only 40% of employees signed up for the benefits on offer, so to increase engagement this figure needed to be driven up. The organisation identified that employees under 30 years of age were the main group that was disengaged with reward and benefits; for these people the thought of sacrificing some of their £14k salary was something they hadn't considered and weren’t prepared to do.

Recruiting FlexiBen to the business

Moneyway’s solution to engage these younger employees was a smart and flexible blend of technology and creativity. Rather than utilising the skill and experience of the HR team, consultants or line managers to expound the virtues of the voluntary and flexible benefits on offer, the business undertook a more ingenious approach and recruited FlexiBen to the business.

FlexiBen was quickly adopted as the friendly face of the benefits scheme and interacted openly with employees through social media channels including Facebook and Twitter, as well as more traditional, offline media to ensure more mature employees were also engaged. He was also cleverly woven into the Moneyway MyWay Flexible Benefits branding developed in partnership with Motivano, ensuring that even when in the hosted flexible benefits platform, employees felt they were still working within a Moneyway site.

The reaction to FlexiBen within the business has been exceptional. Employees behave as though he is real and, as such, within weeks of the launch a strong cross-section of the employee base was engaged with him. For example, FlexiBen is now ‘friends’ with one third of the workforce on Facebook and takes this opportunity to keep employees updated on current offers and events and encourages individuals to have a conversation about benefits, as well as more general and social topics.

Extending engagement innovations

Alongside FlexiBen, the support of Moneyway’s CEO, Gary Jennison, has been invaluable when it comes to engaging employees with the benefits programme. He has created his own blog and encourages employees to engage in banter with him about any issue, including benefits that they want to discuss.

The creative and open approach to benefits communication and engagement has also seen the introduction of ‘Flexperts’ to Moneyway. This team, identified with badges and supported by the HR team, supports and advises employees during the flexible benefits selection period. This scheme ensures there is a benefits champion in every department to support colleagues and suggest ideas that will boost benefits take-up.

Printed material about the benefits programme has also been refreshed. Rather than an expensive, short-shelf-life benefits booklet, since 2009 employees have received a succinct leaflet about the benefits on offer, alongside a personalised ‘business card’ to help people remember their username and password for the benefits intranet.

Tactical and business success

The impact of the programme has been significant. Take-up rates of voluntary benefits have increased by 50% from 2008 to 2009 and when it comes to specific benefits, there has been a 92% increase in the take up of childcare vouchers and a 33% increase in employees choosing to purchase additional holiday.

The return on investment of employee benefits can be measured through the low cost way in which it was implemented. The total budget for the FlexiBen communication initiative, for example, was just £200, but the business actually made money on the scheme via National Insurance savings from childcare vouchers. This saving has since been reinvested within the business.

“Although the take-up rates are significant, the introduction of FlexiBen to the business has been more about encouraging people to sign up for specific employee benefits; it’s about reinforcing the message that Moneyway is a fun place where people, particularly young people, want to work,” comments Moneyways’ Anne McKenning.

“When it comes to recruitment, the new approach to employee benefits has changed the way potential recruits regard the company. When we talk about benefits and the fun scheme we have, people’s eyes light up and they’re energised about what we’re doing,” comments Anne.

“We can openly acknowledge that the benefits on offer to Moneyway employees do not save individuals a vast amount of money. However, the creative and innovative way we have promoted the scheme makes our people feel valued and our approach has had a positive impact on staff opinion and engagement,” she adds.

Next Steps

Get in touch to find out how we can help your business.

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