How Clermont Hotel Group reduced employee turnover by 30%

• Employee turnover rate cut from 80% to 56%
• £24,000 saved through Discounts over nine months
• 93% active user rate 
• £7,000 spent in Rewards in one year
• Holiday Trading saved employees £33,000 and the organisation £78,000 in National Insurance contributions

Watch our latest video series - In Conversation with Clermont Hotel Group

What they needed:

When the Clermont Hotel Group rebranded, it wanted to re-energise employees and attract new talent in a sector that traditionally experiences high turnover rates. A major part of that work needed to focus on embedding its new values – Bold, Adaptable and Real – and kickstarting a new culture of appreciation. In addition, the company wanted to signpost cost of living support and make sure its people used Discounts to save money on day-to-day spending.

There was an issue, however. Although the group had been a Reward Gateway customer for many years, previous lack of promotion meant that only around half its people used the platform. A lack of awareness was partly responsible for this amongst a workforce with a wide variety of roles ranging from event managers to part-time kitchen porters. The challenge was to boost awareness of the benefits and rewards on offer and create a new sense of belonging.

The group’s Engagement and Communication team also wanted to redesign the platform to make the presentation of its offering more accessible and compelling – and have the flexibility to make changes whenever it needed to.

How we helped:

The Reward Gateway team worked closely with Clermont Hotel Group to redesign the platform and relaunch it as ‘The Bar’, an acronym for the values of Bold, Adaptable and Real. Via simple tiles, employees can now easily access the range of wellbeing, recognition and discount programmes the company offers and see how they relate to those values. Additional tiles address the cost of living and flag the help available for utility bills and other areas. Further highlights on offer include Holiday Trading – the popular benefit that allows eligible employees to trade in holiday allowance for cash or exchange cash for extra days of holiday. New additions have also included Instant Rewards, delivered via e-Gift cards, that colleagues can use to recognise people for a job well done, again related to the values.

To promote the revamped hub, Clermont Hotel Group held a company-wide launch event. It also took a roadshow to all its hotels. This helped to make sure the message got through to as many employees as possible, regardless of the nature of their role or their access to email. Support from the Reward Gateway communications team means that the group keeps up a regular drumbeat of messages that help to drive ongoing awareness and engagement.

Reward Gateway have really helped us with the rebrand – everyone is super supportive, and the platform is so simple to use we can usually self-serve if we need to make tweaks.

What they achieved:

The launch of The Bar has transformed employee engagement at Clermont Hotel Group: In the last year it has contributed to staff turnover falling by 30%. Improvements in engagement rates have been impressive. Before launch, just 700 employees had signed up out of 1,300. Today over 1,500 people within an expanded workforce of 1,600 have engaged and are active users, representing 93% of all employees.

 Employees are saving money too, receiving valuable help with the cost of living. Since the relaunch, employees have spent over £330,000 through The Bar and have achieved savings of over £24,000. In addition, Holiday Trading has saved employees £33,000 and the business £78,000 in National Insurance contributions.

The Engagement & Communication team is happy that it has a rewards and benefits hub that is easy for employees to use. It’s equally easy for the team to review spending and also adapt the platform as needs change. It also values the support it can access if bigger changes are required.