Recreation company lands among best place to work and best work-life balance, thanks to unique employee discounts 

What they needed

Having unique benefits is important to Kindred (at the time, called Unibet) as it gives a distinctive message in a marketplace that is extremely competitive. As well as being a hook for key talent, unique benefits also help Kindred to retain the very best people. The main challenge faced when offering unique benefits is making them as relevant as possible to a large cross-section of employees. With a team of 1,100 based in 13 countries, a mix of locally relevant and distinctive options are required.

It’s also crucial that these unique benefits align with Kindred’s values and actively enhance their culture. To ensure this was the case, a global benefit alignment exercise was undertaken to ensure standardisation across their geographic footprint. As part of this work, gaps were identified within local markets where new and unique benefits could enhance the overall employee experience.

How we helped

Kindred asks that all of their employees tell them what benefits they want to see in the annual Great Place to Work Survey. After listening to the feedback, Kindred rolled out the following benefits:

Across the global business, a £200 wellbeing allowance was made available to everyone which can be used to pay for anything that supports a healthy lifestyle – whether a yoga class, gym membership or however the employee chooses to stay healthy. Expert speaker sessions were set up with exclusive insight into hot topics to support learning and development. Marriage leave was introduced, giving two additional days leave to anyone who gets married, as well as CSR leave which encourages employees to take three days of paid leave to support a charitable cause of their choice.

In Kindred’s London office, they built their own coffee shop complete with hot drinks, pastries, and juices which are heavily subsidised. All new employees receive £50 credit to spend in the cafe as well. Automatic adjustable desks were installed in 60% of the London office too, giving employees the option to stand or sit during the day.

In Stockholm, Unibet altered parental leave to give new parents enhanced pay during their first 4-6 months of parental leave. Massages are on offer there as well, and employees can unwind in a dedicated chill out massage room. The employees in Kindred’s Malta office are famous for their partying and so the company gave them a dedicated events committee which would help organise parties and special social events.

What do you need after all of that excitement? Well, every Friday, Kindred pay for a company to come into their Malta office and make fresh juices for the team, supporting a healthy working environment.

What they achieved

BoB has generated lots of buzz and people were asking, "who's Bob?" which helped the organisation generate excitement. Probrand has increased the awareness and uptake of employee benefits, including employee discounts and salary sacrifice schemes such as Cycle to Work and Childcare Vouchers through strategic communications throughout the hub. The company has improved employee feedback, employee spend and improved their EVP to continue attracting, retaining and engaging top talent in their industry.