Unpacking 4 examples of compelling Employee Value Propositions

An inside look at EVP ideas from a post-COVID-19 lens

According to a recent survey of global HR leaders and employees, we found that employees who said their company has handled COVID-19 well indicated they believe this is a result of their employer:

42% having the right workplace tools and technologies in place 

38% maintaining regular communication 

35% taking steps to ensure employee wellbeing 

Source: Reward Gateway survey, 2020 

Today, business leaders have to look at their overall EVP through the lens of the changing needs of employees shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now the EVP must focus on inspiring and supporting employees with initiatives and technology that can help make a meaningful impact on your employees’ day-to-day lives, in and outside of work. What does all this mean for HR managers? 

To attract and keep the best talent at your company, you need to think beyond the salary and consider how your company can create an environment and a culture where employees can thrive, no matter where or how they are working. 

To stand out to the best candidates, you must share your organisation’s compelling story that highlights the unique combination of support, benefits and perks, as well as the organisation’s purpose, mission and values. This will help to define the characteristics and overall appeal of working for your organisation above others.

Many of the leading employers are providing employee benefits that are both unique and surprising, relevant to their organisation and meaningful to the employees they want to attract. 

Here are four innovative ways our clients support their employees:

1. Make your employees’ salary go further with employee discounts

An employee discounts scheme is a great way to extend your employees’ income without the expense of a company-wide pay rise. The programme provides vouchers, instant discounts and Cashback to hundreds of top retailers, from groceries to fashion to travel.

Atos was looking to evolve its company benefits, alongside recognition, to engage its nearly 10,000 employees. While Atos offered a wide range of benefits such as private medical, charity giving and income protection, engagement with and awareness of these benefits was low.

The organisation needs to create a central hub for all benefits, so that they were easily accessible, while making sure that they were relevant to its diverse demographic of workers. 

Working with Reward Gateway, Atos launched the ‘Prosper’ platform, which combined discounts, benefits, wellbeing and recognition in one centralised location. Following the introduction of the platform, the organisation has seen an average annual savings of £1,000 per employee, an engagement rate of 75% with the platform and a 5 out of 5 rating for the total benefits package from employees.

2. Put the spotlight on mental, physical and financial health with employee wellbeing solutions

From a plug-and-play solution to a fully tailored, branded wellbeing platform, our employee wellbeing solution can support your organisation wherever you are in your wellbeing journey to develop an offering that's personal, proactive and inclusive. Some of our offerings include a Wellbeing Centre, Employee Assistance Programme schemes and a Healthcare Cash Plan.

Macmillan Cancer Support has focussed on employee wellbeing as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19, where hundreds of its nurses and healthcare professionals were facing disrupted work routines, uncertainty and employee burnout because of elevated workloads. 

During these challenging times, the company wanted to focus on keeping employees connected to one another and the business, shine the spotlight on mental health and provide extra support. With the introduction of ‘Top Banana,’ Macmillan’s all-in-one employee engagement platform, the team has seen fast results. More than 25% of employees have engaged with the new platform during the pandemic, with 30% of employees using the Wellbeing Centre resources.

3. Support employees’ goals with unique salary sacrifice offerings

Salary sacrifice schemes are powerful employee benefits that can help your workforce’s wallets. Our programmes are fully customisable, employer-branded and integrated into a one-stop-shop employee benefits platform for an enhanced employee experience. Offerings include Cycle to Work, Holiday Trading, Car Benefit and SmartTech™, which helps employees get the latest technology with instant access to free financing on tons of technology products. 

Babcock International Group reinvented its benefits strategy with a centralised, consistent employee experience to improve its overall EVP for its multi-generational, dispersed workforce, many of whom don’t use computers in their day-to-day role. 

With its new employee engagement platform, ‘BIG,’ Babcock now has a broad offering, including discounts, holiday trading, childcare vouchers, EAP and a healthcare cash plan – there’s something for everyone now at Babcock. The platform has successfully achieved 53% engagement from 10k+ employees, and employees have spent more than £3.6m through the discounts programme.

4. Create a culture of appreciation with recognition and reward technology

With the proper reward and recognition programme, you can introduce monetary bonuses to your people through manager- or peer-led reward nomination programmes for an extra boost to recognise hard work. We offer a full suite of R&R tools, including nomination, automated awards, peer-to-peer digital recognition and more, which can make employees feel seen and valued, especially during an increased remote working environment. 

Kettle Foods needed a reward and recognition platform that would engage all 430+ members of staff across its spread out locations. Previously, the organisation used an outdated reward system that didn’t include all employees and only focussed on a monthly or quarterly reward, rather than continuous reward and recognition. 

With the new platform, ‘Kettle Kitchen,’ senior managers are now empowered to reward employees with a personalised message and an award of up to £30 for a job well done, boosting morale and engagement. The eCards have also helped to create a strong culture of appreciation across the company.

Since the introduction of Kettle Kitchen, the company has seen nearly 83% of employees sending and receiving rewards or recognition, and has achieved 93% uptake on the centralised platform.

Creating an EVP that works for your entire organisation can be a challenge, but it’s an important part of inspiring and supporting today’s workforce. The right EVP must allow for flexibility and customisation, so you can evolve to meet your workforce’s needs.

If you’re interested in learning more about our employee engagement tools, get in touch with us and we’ll help you stand out as an employer of choice.