How Flight Centre Uses Employee Benefits to Boost its EVP and Employees' Disposable Income

Transcript: "My name's Steven Elvin, and I work for the Flight Centre Travel Group, and I'm in the internal communications team. What that means for me is ensuring that I can get all of the information about our amazing business out to all of our people. The Flight Centre Travel Group is 40 brands, and one of the biggest challenges for us is it's actually a very demanding role to be a travel agent. And so we were looking at an opportunity to find a benefit that we could give them just to reward them for really being here. It was now an opportunity to say to our people you've got to discount across so many different sectors. Go forth and save."

"I was managing a benefits platform, just really ad hoc one-on-one with customers and retailers, and we were looking to basically pull that together in one resource, and particularly for the fact that we wanted it to be mobile as well. So the benefit that we got with the SmartSpending app, as well as having the backing of the people at Reward Gateway just made things for Flight Centre so much easier."

"So we've rolled out the myBenefits platform right across the Flight Centre Travel Group in and we're calling it myBenefits internally. And it was just an opportunity for us to put some really great discounts in the hands of our people across so many different products that they wouldn't normally have got through working for this company. So from day one, just being able to log on to a mobile app when you're standing at the checkout, getting your shopping done. It was just a no-brainer really to be able to say to our people, "here is the best benefit you're going to get this year." And it was actually really quite surprising to me how many of our people took up the charge. They have claimed their accounts. They've logged on to the platform. They've downloaded the app, and they're spending up big."

Monica, Senior Leader, Flight Centre: "Obviously, everyone loves to save, and it's all the brands that we know and love, and it's an extra extra discount on everything.
It is just fantastic to have that at your fingertips on your phone, and you have everything there. So you can have something from Woolworths, from your groceries, Caltex, Mimco, Catch, so that was very exciting for me."

Hollie, Business Improvement Manager, Flight Centre: "It's important for me to have an employees' discount program because it's another pillar within the offerings that Flight Centre gives. They've got, Healthwise and Moneywise, so it's quite nice to have something for your back pocket. So I use the mobile app, with my benefits, because when I'm out and about, it's constantly in my bag or my pocket. My husband will be asking or telling me, what he's wanting to purchase, and I'll stop him in his tracks to go where are you buying it from, and then I can quickly, purchase the e-voucher and then send that to him. And so then I know that we're getting the discount straight away."

Steven Elvin: "I think what stood out about Reward Gateway for us was the one-stop shopping essentially, and that was no pun intended just for the fact that it's a shopping opportunity. But it was about having a team behind you that had done it all before and knew exactly what people were looking for, and also making things so accessible that our people can shop on the go. But it was really about ensuring that our people had an opportunity to save money at every turn."

"For me, what it's like working with Reward Gateway is actually rewarding for myself. I have told our account manager Kate so many times that I'm so used to doing everything myself. And she would come to me with flyers and ideas and all of this creative artwork that I can use that I'm used to doing myself on a daily basis. And it was fantastic because it actually did take a lot of pressure off me. All that I then needed to focus on was getting our people involved. And so it has been absolutely astounding just to see how much is planned out in front of you. And it's really open and it's really positive. The feedback that I'm able to give is actually received really well, and so I just don't have any problems approaching the people at Reward Gateway because I know I'm going to get what I need."

In 2024, Steven Elvin joined us on-stage at Reward Gateway Live: 2024 HR Trends where he shared his thoughts on a range of topics, including supporting employee financial wellbeing and the power of peer-to-peer recognition. Check out the clips below: 

Transcript: "I think I'm actually in a really lucky place with Flight Centre, to be honest. Yes, you can't give people pay rises just when they want them. Obviously, we have SmartSpending with Reward Gateway, so keeping a little bit more money in everybody's pockets simply by using that app. And being a little bit clever about how you might go about saving money."

"I challenge everybody in Flight Centre to come at me if they cannot find a product that they're looking for, and I will track it down. Catch is my best friend. So, you know, there's always something there, and Amazon. But, you know, I really do want them to value the opportunities that are presented to them. And I'd already spoken about Moneywise, so outside of that financial education piece, we have a team of money mentors. So they'll sit down with me twice a year and just look at my spending habits and tell me why I shouldn't have that many subscriptions and, you know, start to rein those in a little bit. You know, go to the movies on a Monday when it's cheaper. Little things like that, but, you know, we're very lucky that they're there and they're able to support our people on a global scale, which is fantastic."

"And for the most part, the communication of that, while it plays out across our intranet, is word-of-mouth and people who are benefiting from those services. And, you know, people championing the sale that they made, especially when they know, you know, JB Hi-Fi are on sale and you get an extra 5% off or you get 10% off thanks to OPSM, and then you do a double dip because you can get a further 10% off with SmartSpending. You're all over it. Oh, I love it. And, you know, making people make better money choices is just part of what I do on a daily basis."

Transcript: "You know, you might miss moments that matter. You sort of can't control them all and you don't really know at your heart what matters to somebody. So the thing that I love about our place with the Reward Gateway platform is that it allows people to celebrate each other at that peer-to-peer level, and we're looking at those, and then bringing them in to go, okay, well, this is probably something that we need that potentially fills a gap. So it does go both ways, and it's not just about pulse surveys and all of that sort of stuff. It's listening to your people."

Discover all the insights from our Reward Gateway Live: 2024 HR Trends panel by accessing the full session here: Bringing an Attractive EVP to Life for a Multigenerational Workforce.