Shipping and logistics organisation uses salary sacrifice benefits to engage 78% of mainly offline workforce

What they needed

DB Cargo UK wanted to provide its employees with benefits that would be genuinely useful in their everyday lives, both for them and their families. Some of the existing benefits, such as dental cover, weren’t getting the desired interest from their workforce and, in particular, the company’s male employees. The introduction of employee discounts through the DB Cargo UK Family Rewards platform provided a way to help salaries go further. But DB Cargo UK wanted to give their employees even more.

Adding Cycle to Work and Childcare Voucher initiatives to the Family Rewards platform was seen as the ideal way to extend the offering.

With colleagues being based across the UK, a percentage of the workforce being offline and only a modest budget, rolling out information about the programme raised various challenges, which the HR team creatively overcame.

How we helped

"DB Cargo Family Rewards" was a carefully selected name, chosen to promote how the benefits available are for the whole family, not only the individual employee. DB Cargo UK wanted the programme to appeal to employees and their partners and family members, who could also make use of the vouchers.

Communications were carefully written, explaining this wider message. Letters were sent directly to employee’s home addresses to have a bigger impact and encourage conversation and awareness amongst their families.

Both Cycle to Work and Childcare Vouchers were promoted through all DB Cargo UK’s communication channels. This included text messages sent to offline employees, emails, and a feature in the company’s internal magazine – all letting employees know when the windows to apply to were open. A further text or email was sent to employees a week before the deadline as a reminder and to create urgency.

A big bonus for employees, including the offline workforce, is that they can apply for their salary sacrifice options on any device and at any time, through the SmartHub® powered programme. DB Cargo UK also had the foresight to keep details of the 24/7/365 Helpdesk number on all communications so that the less tech savvy could still take up their benefits. 

What they achieved

There is a current engagement level of 78% in the programme, which for such a wide spread demographic is a testament to the work put in by the HR team at DB Cargo UK. Success, of course, doesn't only have to be measured this way and DB Cargo UK is proud to say that feedback has shown around 3% of their workforce feel they are healthier and better supported as a result of the products available. On top of this, by offering both Cycle to Work and Childcare Vouchers from a single platform there has been a big increase in engagement and spend on discounts.