The Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland represents “a melting pot of industries”, according to payroll and benefits manager Nayla Orr. Across its 850 acre site, the 1300-strong workforce covers everything from spa and leisure facilities to hospitality and culinary services, to an equestrian centre, golf courses and shooting centre, not to mention back office operations.
That diversity applies to people too: Gleneagles employs people aged from 16 to 70-years-old. This has to inform how the organisation communicates about its benefits offering. “Some of our employees are technophobes and don’t even have a smartphone,” Orr says. “Others are on their phones all day. It’s about getting the message out to everyone and making sure it’s relevant across the business.”
Central to Gleneagles’ benefits offering is its employee reward and discounts platform, provided by Perkbox. Rather than relying on standardised messaging, Orr does day-in-the-life style posts on the employee experience platform, Blink, using video, photos and written communication to bring to life how she gets value from Perbox.
“I’ll talk about getting my free coffee in the morning, buying my daughter and her friend cinema tickets, saving money on my Aldi shop, maybe using the wellness app to help me sleep,” she says. “People love it. Fliers can be generic and people don’t get drawn in, but they interact with these posts a lot. It gets a conversation going.”
Orr also takes a personal approach to ensuring the less tech savvy do not miss out. “I’ll visit our seamstress, who is in her 70s, for example, and show her what she can do on her phone,” she explains. ”Our strapline is to make sure our people feel as valued as our guests, so if someone needs one-on-one [help], we will do that. You can’t assume everyone is able to use apps or is even comfortable with them.”
Such efforts have led to a 99% activation rate and employees saving over £200,000 with Perkbox in the last year alone.
