The international engineering consultancy operates in around 24 offices around the world and so keeping employees up to date and aware of their benefits package is challenging.
With engineers on site, for example, working on ancient sand palaces in Riyadh, the organisation has developed a global intranet with a mobile version, so that employees can receive business updates wherever they may be.
Sean Morris, reward manager, says: “We try and use [the global intranet] in the main for some of the more larger, corporate initiatives, for example the pay review and bonus, and the annual appraisal. We also have regional business updates that will be tailored and produced by the region.”
Working in a global organisation means that benefits are tailored to the region or office, and so communications are passed on through a mixture of a global cascade alongside detailed information through the regional business updates.
In addition, BuroHappold Engineering has regional HR business partners in global offices to help communicate and cascade messages.
The organisation recognises that language is also a challenge when communicating benefits. “We know that one size doesn’t fit all so we have to do what’s best for each particular region,” explains Morris. “With our pay review letters, for example, we make sure that a lot of those communications are produced well in advance and arrange for them to be translated locally.”
Deciding on the best medium for a particular country or region can always be challenging, but BuroHappold Engineering uses feedback from staff surveys to find out if anything can be improved. A few years ago, it held roadshows around its UK offices to increase perception of benefits and found this to be very successful, but recognises that communications need to be kept fresh in order to keep employees engaged. “We realised that we have to do something different, often, to keep the profile [of benefits] high.”
