Centrica is planning to introduce total reward statements for all employees, along with a self-administered HR system. It is also making changes to its flexible benefits scheme to in a bid to boost take-up among its call centre staff.
Through flex, it plans to introduce a Visa Card onto which call centre staff can load their flex allowance, and discounted Centrica products.
Paul Simons, former head of reward for British Gas residential energy, said: “We are trying to integrate the flex programme into the other reward elements that we have. With flex we are trying to have options that link the two. The aim is to drive take-up in call centres.”
Call centre staff who earn points for selling products can currently convert these to a cash equivalent credited to a Visa Card. The credit can be redeemed at selected stores offering discounts.
Once the card is integrated into the flex scheme, eligible staff can credit their allowance to it, the equivalent of 3% of salary. At present, if staff do not make any selections through flex they can take only 89% of their allowance in cash.
“If they put that money on a card they can access discounts as well and can redeem that money at time it suits them,” Simons added. Only around 10,000 staff - those not in the final salary pension scheme - are entitled to a flex allowance.
Centrica also plans to make total reward statements available to all staff in the next few years, using a combination of new online statements and paper-based statements, which are currently only distributed to senior managers.
Both the flexible benefits system and online total reward statements are administered by Vebnet. They will be integrated into a self-administered HR system called My HR, operated by Hewitt Associates. This will let most staff update their personal details, and managers conduct pay reviews, online.
