All Case studies articles – Page 80

  • Case Studies

    GSK outlines perks for staff via financial education

    2007-10-01T00:00:01Z

    GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has put in place a programme of financial education so that staff understand their benefits.Julie Skidmore, financial and education manager, says: "We are looking to get a good return on the investment we put in [in terms of recruitment, retention and motivation]. But, on the flipside of that, ...

  • Case Studies

    Alliance & Leicester runs financial education seminars

    2007-10-01T00:00:01Z

    Alliance & Leicester (A&L) began running financial education seminars on its share plans after the bank floated in 2000 to ensure that staff understood their potential exposure to tax liabilities and the stock market.Paul Askew, share plans manager at A&L, says: "We saw a stockpiling of shares and having far ...

  • Case Studies

    Employer Profile: Vodafone

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Vodafone operates in the cut-throat telecoms sector and as it broadens its range of services, it needs more flexibility around perks, says Debbie LovewellThe mobile phone industry is a hotbed of competition. Consumers now face an almost daily barrage of information on cost-saving deals or the latest handsets as retailers ...

  • Case Studies

    Niche Hotels combats high staff turnover with recognition and reward

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    The leisure sector has earned a reputation for high levels of staff turnover, and when Niche Hotels, a collection of four boutique hotels in Cardiff, the Cotswolds, London and Newcastle, was set up, it was something that co-founder and sales and marketing director Alison Corlett was determined to avoid.She says: ...

  • Case Studies

    BuyingTeam installed software for its flex scheme and did its own communications

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    When procurement services firm BuyingTeam considered implementing flexible benefits, it began speaking to various consultants and advisers. Ultimately, however, it took the decision to go it alone and install a software solution from Staffcare. Leah Fairman, HR manager, explains: "What the consultants appeared to offer - primarily PR for the ...

  • Case Studies

    Stephen Moir extends his skills beyond HR

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Stephen Moir, director of people and policy at Cambridgeshire County Council, has built his profile internally by taking on more general management tasks outside HR and externally, via his position as vice president of the Public Sector People Managers' Association (PPMA).As well as being responsible for HR at the council, ...

  • Case Studies

    Nationwide Building Society has a comprehensive flexible benefits scheme

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Nationwide Building Society has a comprehensive flexible benefits scheme from which 19,164 staff can select perks.Prior to Nationwide’s takeover of Portman Building Society, around 50% of employees actively selected flexible benefits through the firm’s Choices scheme.The plan has 15 options including environmentally-friendly initiatives such as a carbon offsetting option and ...

  • Case Studies

    Siemens works hard to communicate its flexible benefits to staff

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Siemens places a great deal of importance on how its four-year-old flexible benefits scheme is communicated. Gavin Hayward, head of compensation and benefits at Siemens in the UK, explains: “We have a project team that works on internal communications, and we use some external publicity organisations to help with creating ...

  • Case Studies

    Standard Life launched flexible benefits to maximise return on investment

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Flotation was the major driver behind Standard Life’s move to flew as it sought to maximise its return on investment through improved recruitment and retention, says Kirstie RedfordBack in 2004, Standard Life went through some big changes, not least a significant strategic review, which led to a repositioning of the ...

  • Case Studies

    ING Direct launched flexible benefits on a cost-neutral basis

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    ING Direct launched a flexible benefits scheme on 1 January this year, with the aim of running it on a cost-neutral basis after start-up costs. Human resources director, Jennie Monon, explains: "We wanted to increase choice without increasing cost." The company's flexible benefits pot was created by enabling staff to ...

  • Case Studies

    Acxiom manages absence effectively

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Acxiom plan for early warning to help it manage absence more effectively - and benefit from a bonus worth 5% of its annual premium - it implemented Legal & General's early notification scheme in 2006. This requires it to report at least 80% of its long-term absences by the sixth ...

  • Case Studies

    Westminster City Council's EAP has impacted its absence rates

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Although Westminster City Council cannot attribute a fall in absence rates entirely to its employee assistance programme, it believes the 24-hour helpline has had an impact.Since the EAP was introduced in May 2006, sickness absence rates have fallen from an average of 10 to eight-and-a-half days.While Trevor Webster, strategic HR ...

  • Case Studies

    AA offers its senior managers flexible benefits

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Senior managers at the AA have been offered access to flex as part of their reward package for the last six years.Previously, the AA was a division of Centrica, but when the AA was sold by the utility company to two private equity firms, the HR team took a fresh ...

  • Case Studies

    KPMG has 16 options in its flexible benefits scheme

    2007-09-30T23:00:00Z

    Financial consultancy firm, KPMG UK, has 16 options in its flexible benefits scheme, but the most popular is life assurance, followed by the pension and medical insurance.The next most popular benefit is holiday trading so staff can buy or sell leave provided they are left with between 20 and 30 ...

  • Case Studies

    Saatchi & Saatchi previously ran a phantom share scheme

    2007-09-02T23:00:00Z

    Saatchi & Saatchi ran a phantom share option scheme from the late 1990s to 2002.The advertising giant was then in the process of implementing a savings-related share option scheme for its employees, but found that the complexities of securities laws or exchange controls in some parts of the Far East ...

  • Case Studies

    Employer profile: Hewlett-Packard

    2007-09-02T23:00:00Z

    Hewlett-Packard needs to remain competitive in a fast-moving industry so applies flexibility within its global total reward strategy, says Debbie LovewellHewlett-Packard (HP) and Shrek may not seem like the most likely pairing, yet, it is the former’s technology that enabled the third installment of the movie series to be brought ...

  • Case Studies

    Childcare vouchers at PWC impact post-maternity leave retention rates

    2007-09-01T00:00:01Z

    The introduction of childcare vouchers at PricewaterhouseCoopers has had an impact on post-maternity leave retention rates, which soared from 40% in the mid-90s to 92% in 1998 when the scheme was launched, before falling to 89% in 2005.Women returning to work after maternity leave are now offered 12 months' worth ...

  • Case Studies

    British American Tobacco offers financial education to those in share schemes

    2007-09-01T00:00:01Z

    British American Tobacco (BAT) offers financial education to those employees participating in its share schemes who are based at its London headquarters.Particular emphasis was placed on the sharesave scheme when it matured in 2006, as the share price had significantly increased in value. The HR department recognised that it needed ...

  • Case Studies

    Employer Profile: National Express

    2007-08-05T23:00:00Z

    National Express was previously hampered by retention issues, but creative use of perks has helped staff stay on board, says Kate DonovanWhen scheduled coach operator National Express discovered its staff turnover had hit 50%, it became apparent that its lack of employee benefits was clearly taking its toll. Prior to ...

  • Case Studies

    Toshiba improves employee health and wellbeing

    2007-08-05T23:00:00Z

    Toshiba introduced a wellness week last year, as part of a series of initiatives designed to improve employee health and wellbeing.Susan Stevens, head of HR at Toshiba, explains: "We wanted to pull together all the themes we had introduced and reinforce the message that we valued our employees' health and ...