Last week, I had the privilege of running our first Employee Benefits Connect event in New York.
As I listened to the fabulous line up of speakers from leading US companies, it struck me how many mentioned the need to link benefits strategies with their company’s core values.
While this isn’t an entirely new thought, it is not an aspect I have heard mentioned among UK benefits managers recently.
In fact, I wonder how many of us are a little cynical at the idea of having a list of core values?
Maybe it is time to rethink and embrace these little gems again.
For example, at the Employee Benefits Connect event, Sally Luck, HR director – corporate services and wellness at Hallmark Cards, explained how her company integrated its core brand values into the employee wellness programme.
Hallmark Card’s brand values include: ‘life-affirming’, ‘emotionally relevant’ and ‘genuine’ so these underpin its wellbeing initiatives. “We focus on culture and environment to help staff make the right choices,” said Luck.
At the same event, Katie Nedl, head of global benefits at BlackRock, talked us through how a major BlackRock strategy to help clients create a better financial future inspired her to create a programme that did the same for BlackRock employees in the US.
Again, this demonstrated how a leading employer has woven its core values into its reward strategy. “We’re not spending any more money, but we are offering more value,” said Nedl of the new financial education programme for staff.
Right, now I am off to dig out and dust off our company values to see how well they fit with our reward strategy.
Debi O’Donovan??
Editor??
Employee Benefits
Twitter: @DebiODonovan