Grand Prix
Winner: NATS
This prestigious award recognises the most outstanding entry among all this year’s category winners.
With a workforce that was just 29% female, NATS established a clear set of strategic goals to enable women to thrive in fulfilling careers and improve the lives of their partners and families. These included increasing the percentage of women in both the workforce and leadership roles, reducing its gender pay gap, improving the retention and sickness absence of female staff, and helping managers to support their teams.
However, the organisation identified a need for support for peri-menopausal and menopausal women, which was hindering its ambition to attract, retain and develop talented female employees. Menopause-related sickness, meanwhile, had resulted in a significant cost for the business; regulations stipulating that women had to wait two weeks when starting or changing medication and required a letter from their GP resulted in a cost of approximately £7,650 every time an individual started or adjusted an HRT prescription.
In order to truly effect change in a traditionally male-dominated industry where women’s health issues are often overlooked, however, NATS needed to influence the sector to ensure its changes were impactful and sustainable. It, therefore, became the first aviation organisation to introduce a menopause policy and support.
NATS also collaborated with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to successfully influence its revision of its licensing requirements. As a result of its presentation of clinical evidence on the side effects of HRT and its impact on aviation safety, the CAA reduced its unfit period from two weeks to 48 hours.
The results of NATS menopause plan are impressive. Since its introduction, it has seen 25 times more referrals or queries to occupational health around menopause, absence rates and lengths of absence for women aged over 35 have decreased, and female retention, the percentage of female employees and the percentage of women in leadership roles have all increased.
The judges said: “This was a great win for the individuals concerned, but also a great win for the business. A very clear economic and moral imperative for it. Its work has influenced the licensing guidance and standards across the aviation industry, so that’s altered the guidance benefiting female pilots and airlines across the across the sector. Its influence extended beyond its own business and out into the wider world, which seemed very impressive.”
The winner said: “We’re blown away to win, we put our heart and soul into this. It’s such an important topic and we wanted to improve life for women and employees’ partners. We’ve made an impact and it’s so lovely to be recognised by the judges for this. Changing the licensing requirements for air traffic controllers has been a significant amendment that has impacted the whole industry.”
Employee Benefits Professional of the Year
Winner: Jennifer Roberts, head of reward and wellbeing, Central Co-op
This category celebrates an in-house benefits, reward or HR professional who has made their mark on the industry.
Jen Roberts has been described as an exemplary leader, innovative thinker and trailblazer in the reward and benefits field.
The impact she has had through her 14-year career in the profession is clear to see, in the organisations she has worked for, as well as in the wider industry through her work with the Cabinet Office to promote the Living Wage, which was recognised by former Chancellor George Osborne.
During her time with Central Co-op, Jen has consistently demonstrated her leadership abilities and unwavering commitment to employee wellbeing. She was instrumental in the launch of the organisation’s Difference Maker culture, supporting the delivery of this new cultural framework, as well as launching a central engagement hub, which now forms the heart of Central Co-op’s employee engagement experience.
Since joining the organisation just three years ago, Jen has also introduced a four-day week/nine-day fortnight, enhanced its financial wellbeing provisions with the introduction of initiatives such as a credit union and salary advance programme, and been instrumental in introducing policies to support mental and physical wellbeing, to name but a few. Her work has been applauded for not only transforming Central Co-op but also influencing best practices across the reward and benefits profession.
Jen is widely respected as a thought leader, frequently sharing her expertise and experience by speaking at industry events. She is held in high regard by both colleagues and peers.
The judges said: “Jen seems to do it all with a smile and unstoppable energy. Her passion is what separates her from others. Jen’s impact goes beyond her immediate role, she makes a difference with each engagement and supportive endeavour, helping everyone around her in a meaningful way. Her strategy appears to be making a difference to as many people as possible through enhancing access and availability of their benefits, and teaching others the most effective way of doing it.”
The winner said: “I forever feel fortunate to have discovered the world of reward and benefits 14 years ago. In that time, I’ve made it my mission to make a difference to the employees that work in the organisations I’ve had the pleasure of working in. I’ve spent many hours in my career on the invisible side of reward and benefits, crunching numbers on incentive spreadsheets into the late hours of the day to meet a payroll deadline.
“I’ve also been blessed to work with some amazing people who have created the space for me to grow in my career and who have supported me to drive relentless transformation in the reward and benefits space, always with the focus of how I can continue to make a difference to our colleagues at work. Working in reward and benefits is a privilege I never take for granted, it’s such a special and exciting industry to work in.”Runners up:
Selina Jones-May, former senior director, global benefits, global mobility and wellness, Lumentum
Adam Kirton, assistant director of workforce, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustSebastien Leroy, global and France health co-ordinator, Renault
Rising Star
Winner: Gemma Camwell, benefits manager UK and Ireland, GXO Logistics
This award celebrates an HR professional who has been in the industry no more than five years, but who has already had a considerable impact on the HR and business strategies of their organisation.
In this closely-fought category, the judges were impressed with Gemma’s dedication and breadth of her involvement in benefits across the organisation. They felt she often went above and beyond to deliver benefits to a difficult-to-reach workforce, for example, carrying out 41 employee roadshows, which Gemma also used as an opportunity to train line managers on how to support their staff in accessing the wellbeing services available to them.
Gemma often looks outside of her own role and team in order to build greater collaboration within HR and ensure benefits strategy aligns with wider business objectives. She also proactively seeks out opportunities to further her own professional development and skill set.
The judges said: “It’s joyful to see people who are so passionate and engaged in the benefits space. Gemma’s achievements showcase her ability to drive continuous improvement in many areas that affect many employees in a tangible way.”
The winner said: “It’s really nice to win this, I didn’t think I would at all. Doing so much in the benefits engagement space has really highlighted our profile and done a lot for our business. We have a lot of employees who are hard to reach and to be able to get in contact with them in the way we’ve managed to is good.”Runners up:
Chloe Merrick, Welcome Break
Katie Huffan, Next
Shruti Armstrong, University of SalfordHR or Benefits Team of the Year
Winner: Housing 21
This category celebrates an in-house or HR benefits team that has worked to deliver benefits that meet the HR and business strategies of their organisation.
After the not-for-profit housing association’s ambitious growth agenda resulted in its workforce increasing by 13% in 18 months, its people team implemented a significant change programme to ensure its offer continued to provide value to both employees and the organisation. This resulted in the rebranding of its HR team to people services to better reflect the organisation’s belief that it needs to look after its people first. Its people services team was also redesigned to better support employees throughout their careers with the organisation.
A key objective for the organisation was to enhance its employee experience by maximising its benefits offering. Its people services team, therefore, introduced a pensions salary sacrifice arrangement, auto-enrolled all 4,100 employees into a health cash plan, introduced a payroll modelling tool which enables staff to compare pay advices to better plan their finances and savings, and introduced a lifestyle benefits app free for employees, among other things.
The judges felt it was a strong, people-first approach, with the benefits provided making a tangible difference to employees’ lives.
The judges said: “With Housing 21’s ‘Person First’ approach and rebranding of its HR team, it is changing the perceptions of how the traditional HR team operates. Taking into consideration the needs of its staff demographics, Housing 21 provides benefits that make a real difference to its people, thanks to the diligence of its people team.”
The winner said: ”It feels absolutely incredible to have won this award. I’m so proud of my team who have worked incredibly hard to make the most amount of impact for our employees and therefore our residents.”
Highly commended:
GXO LogisticsRunners up:
Danaher Diagnostics
Pinsent Masons
Sponsored by:
Best Benefits to Support Menopause
Winner: NATS
This award recognises employers that have implemented an effective benefits strategy to help staff going through the menopause.
In a traditionally male-dominated industry, NATS identified that some managers were not particularly confident in providing support to employees experiencing menopause symptoms. Menopause-related sickness was also costing the business both operationally and financially; due to regulations, air traffic control officers had to wait two weeks when starting or changing medication, such as HRT, and required a letter from their GP.
To overcome these challenges, NATS implemented a comprehensive menopause strategy, becoming the first organisation in aviation to do so. This included a menopause policy and toolkit for employees and managers, and a company-funded menopause plan, which is also available to employees’ partners. In addition, it became a Period Positive organisation offering complementary sanitary products.
In order to reduce menopause-related absence, NATS collaborated with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to reduce the unfit period when starting new medication from two weeks to 48 hours. By starting HRT during rostered days off, therefore, air traffic control officers can continue to work.
The judges felt NATS’ approach was really innovative for its sector and it had achieved great success in terms of take up and usage.
The judges said: “NATS’ strategy to improve the menopause offering as a way to encourage more women into the business and into leadership roles is inspirational. Particularly in a male dominated industry, the move to implement the initiatives and benefits have been proven to improve awareness across the business and will help all employees outside of work as well as at work.”
The winner said: “We’ve worked hard to change the culture; the biggest thing is that there are now both men and women talking about the menopause. Culturally, that has been a massive shift in a male-dominated environment. Employees now feel able to talk about hot flushes on calls, which sounds simple, but this has changed the way we work and made it okay to talk about things that traditionally haven’t been spoken about in the organisation. We’ve making headway for women to stay in air traffic control and keeping them in senior leadership roles. Supporting women in difficult times of their lives is fundamental to keeping them in the business.”
Runner up:
Lloyds Banking Group
Best Benefits to Support Reproductive Health
Winner: Lloyds Banking Group
This category celebrates an employer that has an effective benefits strategy to help staff going through fertility treatment or pregnancy.
The judges felt Lloyds Banking Group’s approach was really well-thought through and empathetic.
In November 2024, the organisation became the first bank to be accredited as a Fertility Friendly Employer in recognition of the support it offers to its more than 60,000 employees. Its strategy, which also aims to break down stigma and taboos around fertility journeys, includes: awareness events and campaigns; a flexible-working policy, which includes paid time off to attend appointments; day-one entitlement to paid family leave; support networks; and a fertility and pregnancy loss hub. It also offers access to services such as an employee assistance programme (EAP).
Underpinning its strategy are its aims to minimize job losses, promote health and wellbeing, and ensure staff feel supported at all stages through their fertility journey.
The judges said: “Lloyds Banking group has a multi-pronged approach to its strategy, giving support where needed most at a time when families are going through an physically and emotionally demanding time. Its inclusive 360-degree approach makes Lloyds Bank a stand-out candidate in this category.”
The winner said: ” The work we do is really important; we’re a large organisation and the fertility journey can be really tough for many. This recognises the work we’ve done to put a lot of support in place for people when they really need it.”
Highly commended:
Tokio Marine HCCRunner up:
PepsiCo UK&I
Best Healthcare and Wellbeing Benefits - large employer
Winner: UK Power Networks
This award recognises the most effective healthcare and wellbeing strategy for employers with more than 1,500 staff.
UK Power Networks provides its employees with a variety of healthcare and wellbeing schemes, including occupational health services, wellbeing kiosks and health coaches, a 24/7 digital support app and an employee assistance programme. Its key objective is to ensure its employees have access to appropriate health services to support healthier lifestyles and prevent ill health.
The employer’s proactive approach to making resources more accessible and available led to reductions in sickness absence occurrences; trained mental health first aiders and health coach assessments completed.
The judges felt that UK Power Networks’ entry demonstrated a clear articulation of the employer’s strategy, which clearly linked to results. They were impressed with the well-thought-through and comprehensive benefits offering that has a particular focus on the impacts of critical life events, such as obesity, cancer and proactive health management.
The judges said: “This entry show a clear strategy, clear initiatives and great outcomes. The results showed an improvement in all targeted areas.”
The winner said: “It’s amazing to achieve this; we’ve put in a lot of hard work for our employees to feel like they are being supported to make changes, especially around all our evidence-based commitments to improve cardiovascular risks, reduce long- and short-term sickness absence.
“Health and safety is our number one priority; a lot of that is do with wellbeing, be that mental health, be that our [employee assistance programme], or our musculoskeletal programme, we don’t neglect that. Today is recognition that we are doing the right thing in those areas. We’re really proud to accept this award.”
Highly commended:
Syngenta
Runners up:
Lonza
National Grid
Sanofi
Tata Consultancy Services
UK Power Networks
University of Lincoln
Sponsored by:
Best Healthcare and Wellbeing Benefits - small employer
Winner: Fiecon
This winner is the most effective healthcare and wellbeing strategy for employers with fewer than 1,500 staff.
Fiecon offers its employees a multi-faceted healthcare and wellbeing package in recognition of the pressures they face in their daily lives. The initiatives focus on financial wellbeing, work-life balance, personal growth and job satisfaction, and holistic wellbeing support.
The employer designed a self-service portal for employees to access resources that support their wellbeing. It offers hybrid and flexible working; treatment pathways for fertility, pregnancy, menopause and prostate health; a health cash plan, and a reward and recognition platform that provides gifts and resources for managing stress and mindfulness, as well as discounts on items such as gym memberships.
Results showed an increase in alignment with the organisation’s values, cost savings to the employer through switching healthcare providers, and significant savings per employee through its reward platform.
The judges were impressed with the excellent outcomes demonstrated in this entry and commented that bringing everything into one place on the benefits platform made engagement with employees easy.
The judges said: “This is a very comprehensive and detailed submission that showed a clear strategy. Its innovative initiatives have been well-received by employees.”
Runner up:
Games Global
Sponsored by:
Best Public Sector Benefits
Winner: Ministry of Justice
This category recognises the steps a public sector employer has taken to implement a successful benefits package or initiative for its employees.
After recognising that benefits are vital to attracting, retaining and motivating its staff, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) implemented a unified benefits platform for its 103,000 employees. It was faced with the cost-of-living crisis and the financial pressures affecting staff; and also managing a workforce spread across the MOJ and HM Prison and Probation service. After reviewing its benefits, the MOJ introduced salary sacrifice arrangements to help employees during the cost-of-living crisis; and transitioned to a single service platform to improve communications and streamline processes.
As a result, the MOJ reported increased engagement with its employee benefits and large savings made by employees and the employer through its reward and lifestyle programmes, as well as its salary sacrifice schemes.
The judges noted strong results that showed a real impact on morale, retention and engagement.
The judges said: “The strategy showed clear planning and approach, especially around communications.”
The winner said: “We’re very proud to win after all the work we’ve put in. The whole team has worked so hard to do everything and get it all implemented. A couple of years ago we had multiple contracts and different methods of communications for benefits, so we’ve moved to one supplier. By doing this, all of our employees can now access their benefits from one platform and it’s been a great success.”
Runner up:
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustBest Mental Health Strategy
Winner: Welcome Break
This award recognises employers that have made a concerted effort to address employee stress and mental ill-health in the workplace.
Welcome Break has taken measures to embed mental health support into its workplace culture. To achieve this, it introduced mental health first aiders; a wellbeing centre and employee assistance programme; a wellbeing and inclusion calendar; and training, development and leadership engagement.
Such initiatives have provided direct mental health support in the form of resources, tools and guidance in a dedicated area of the wellbeing centre. Qualified mental health first aiders have the ability to spot team members and customers who are struggling with their mental health, and provide support. Welcome Break has also addressed indirect factors of mental health by introducing a financial wellbeing platform that offers employees flexible pay advances, savings tools and financial coaching.
The employer reported an improvement in the wellbeing metric of its annual engagement survey, while 28% of visitors to its wellbeing centre were specifically seeking mental health resources such as stress management and meditation tools. It also noted a significant reduction in staff turnover, which, in turn, delivered cost savings to the business.
The judges were impressed with the proactive approach in return-to-work support, along with its focus on the financial wellbeing platform.
The judges said: “This is a well-set out submission that detailed some innovative benefits and demonstrated impressive results.”
The winner said: “We feel really humbled by this award in terms of how much work has gone into supporting employees with all aspects of their wellbeing, and in particular, their mental health. We introduced mental health first aiders into the business to start, and increased the number of them from 10 to 50. Our mental health provision is equally as important as support for physical or financial wellbeing. It’s not a nice to do, it’s a strategic intent. At board level, we have talked about how having people who are mentally well at work, and being able to support that, drives our business efficiently.”
Runners up:
Jet Plant Hire
Superdrug
Best Supplier to Work For
Winner: Bupa
This award recognises an organisation that uses its benefits package to position itself as an attractive employer, beyond merely offering its own products and services to its workforce.
Bupa had noted that its employee groups did not have equal access to healthcare benefits, so undertook a transformation project to give all staff access to healthcare and support, and create a streamlined benefits experience.
To do this, Bupa created a new healthcare product to support its employees, which is an employer-funded tax-free benefit which offers services including GP access, physiotherapy, mental health support and wellbeing resources.
It also introduced a flex fund to allow employees to select the benefits that matter most to them, and gives them the option to share or gift benefits, such as cancer checks and menopause support, to dependants or family members.
It implemented a new benefits platform which centralises all of the organisation’s benefits, information and policies to improve the benefits selection experience.
Bupa subsequently noted an improvement in its staff attrition rates and sickness absence, and a high percentage of employees have signed up to the new benefits platform.
The judges were impressed with Bupa’s creation of new benefits to meet the needs of its employees.
The judges said: “Bupa clearly strives to achieve innovation and excellence by creating its own healthcare benefit in the absence of an existing perfect fit for their employees. It clearly identified an area it wished to improve, with evidence-based reasoning and ambitious targets. The objectives of the organisation are clear and have been very clearly targeted.”
The winner said: ”It was really important for us to put healthcare in the hands of everybody, not just certain business units. The fact that we have met that goal and getting fantastic feedback from all of our people – that it’s really making a difference to their lives and that of their families – is quite gratifying that we’ve managed to do that.”
Runners up:
Barnett Waddingham
Benifex
BHN
Bluecrest Wellness
Health Assured
Octopus Electric Vehicles
Reward Gateway | Edenred
The Electric Car Scheme
XPS
Best Use of Benefits Technology
Winner: Flutter Entertainment
In this category, the judges were looking for an employer that has best utilised and adapted technology to suit its benefits package, its business aims and the needs of its employees.
In this close-run category, the judges were impressed with Flutter Entertainment’s determination to roll out and communicate a new benefits platform globally despite challenging circumstances.
Following a merger in 2020, Flutter Entertainment brought multiple brands across the world together under one group. Post-merger, however, there was no mandate to harmonise benefits in countries where there were multiple employing entities and multiple benefits offerings.
This did not deter Flutter’s group benefits team, which set itself the aims of: delivering value to the business through benefits, creating an exceptional, consistent experience for employees globally, demonstrating the value of everything Flutter does to support staff, streamlining and automating back-end processes to reduce manual workload for teams, and driving benefits engagement with a goal of achieving 60% across every location.
To achieve this, it introduced a central benefits platform, which could manage the complexities associated with multiple employing entities and benefits offerings within individual locations, while still providing a high-quality employee experience.
The team faced additional challenges in needing to ‘sell’ the technology into local leadership teams because the structure of the organisation meant opting into the platform was voluntary. When engaging with local teams, therefore, Flutter’s central benefits team ensured they understood the challenges each faced in order to demonstrate how the platform could help to overcome these.
Despite the complexities involved, the organisation has achieved impressive results. Two-thirds of its 15,000 employees have been onboarded onto the platform, with plans to do so for more this year. Using the platform to consolidate and centrally deploy several new benefits, meanwhile, has resulted in significant cost savings.
The judges said: “Impressive entry. Great use of technology across multiple global locations. Seriously impressive results in terms of the money saved due to the increased engagement in national insurance-saving benefits.”
The winner said: “All the time, thinking and effort that we have put into the strategy and how we roll out this tech globally, has really paid off. [This award] brings to the fore all the time and effort that goes into the creation of the benefits strategy, and the fact that we have a technology platform that can deliver a really great colleague experience when they engage with benefits more broadly.”
Highly commended:
Charles Tyrwhitt
Runners up:
CarwowCentral Co-op
Sponsored by:
Best Use of Benefits to Support Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Winner: Virgin Group
This award recognises the measures an employer has taken to support inclusion and diversity among its workforce.
Virgin Group identified that changing employee demographics meant elements of its benefits and strategy were no longer best suited to its workforce. Its benefits were weighted towards tenure, higher earners and UK majority demographics; caring had overtaken parental responsibilities and the number of younger, female lower earners was increasing.
It therefore made the decision to overhaul its offering, tailoring its package to better meet the needs of its workforce. This included a number of innovative measures including: the introduction of new grants and loans to make healthcare more inclusive, for example, with transition support and family-forming treatments; the introduction of loved ones leave to enable employees to take time to look after loved ones full-time through a major life transition; introducing benefits that staff said mattered to them; and democratising benefits spend by giving all employees £900 to spend.
Throughout the process, Virgin Group was as transparent as possible with staff, sharing details such as budget, usage statistics, and creating a dialogue in order to gain true insights. In addition, it held its first-ever hackathon with its BelongIn network to enable it to gain feedback on the organisation’s plans, which it then tweaked accordingly. The judges were highly impressed with this level of employee involvement.
The results were impressive. For example, at the beginning of 2025, 94% of staff were directly engaging with benefits selections, compared to 25% in 2023/24.
The judges said: “Amazing ideas and approach to targeting its actual workforce; loved the concept of adjusting for tenure to target broader group. This is innovative and also a bold move - the plan clearly rolls up to align to business values and goals. What is inspiring is the energy and delivery of a huge degree of change.”
The winner said: “This is a real testament to the work of everyone that was involved; the project really focused on engaging all of our people to get as many views as possible which has helped us get to where we have to make it as inclusive as possible. Virgin’s brand is all about being inclusive, it’s who we are. It’s really important that our people feel the same sense of magic that our customers get to every day.”Runners up:
Housing 21
Lidl GB
PepsiCo UK&I
Best Financial Wellbeing Strategy - large employer
Winner: Housing 21
In this category, the judges were looking for an organisation with more than 1,500 employees which had made effective use of financial education and workplace savings.
In this closely-fought category, the judges were impressed with the self-funding model introduced by Housing 21, which enabled the organisation to fulfil its strategy of removing barriers to long-term saving and healthcare during a period of cost-of-living challenges.
To achieve this, the organisation introduced a pensions salary sacrifice arrangement, which generated savings of £400,000 in employer national insurance (NI) and £150,000 in employee NI contributions. Housing 21 reinvested these savings in employees, introducing an employer-funded health cash plan. It also embarked on delivering a financial education programme to help support employees with pensions and retirement planning, as well as good money management.
It also introduced initiatives such as extended maternity, paternity and adoption pay above market medians and a payroll modelling tool which allows employees to compare pay advices in order to better plan their finances and savings.
The judges were impressed with how Housing 21 created an environment in which it could take action and had clearly worked to future proof its strategy. They felt its strategy was clearly tailored to the unique needs of the organisation despite not having a huge budget.
The judges said: “Housing 21 has literally knocked it out of the park with its wellbeing strategy and initiatives. It has carefully crafted a meaningful strategy and then executed it with incredible results.”
The winner said: ”It’s amazing to win, we’re super proud. Housing 21 really invests in our employees and this is testament to the work that the team and the wider organisation has put into this area. We have really invested in our financial wellbeing strategy by looking at the demographics of our organisation and identifying that it’s a challenging time for our people. We’ve looked at our employment offer and how we can better reinvest into our employees and help them to manage their money in the best way possible.”
Highly commended:
ArrivaRunners up:
Asda
Babcock
Central Co-op
Experian
Next
PepsiCo UK&I
Serco
Superdrug
Welcome Break
Sponsored by:
Best financial wellbeing strategy - small employer
Winner: Thrive Learning
In this category, the judges were looking for an organisation with fewer than 1,500 employees which had made effective use of financial education and workplace savings.
The judges described Thrive Learning as a small organisation that had made some tangible improvements. Its financial wellbeing strategy supports staff in three main ways: via a pensions salary sacrifice arrangement; personalised financial coaching sessions, and access to a money management platform, which includes resources, tools and goal-setting features to enhance employees’ financial literacy and decision making.
The organisation was praised for its data-driven insights, which it uses to make improvements each year.
The judges also liked its auto-escalation Pension Builder tool, which uses behavioural science to get employees to increase their pension contributions over time to the recommended 12-15%.
The judges said: “For such a small employer, I am impressed by its dedication to improving its workforce’s financial wellbeing. The submission has been backed up by some brilliant results.”
The winner said: “We try and do as much as possible for our staff; we’re all about looking after our staff. We try to get as many benefits as we can in place. We’re saving money, our employees are saving more into their pension and so it’s a win-win.”
Runner up:
Kraft Heinz
Sponsored by:
Best Pensions Strategy
Winner: Deloitte
This award recognises an employer that has developed a pensions strategy that best meets the needs of its workforce.
In a closely-fought category, Deloitte’s entry stood out. It had a clear strategy of unifying pensions across the organisation in less than 12 months from a complex starting point of eight separate categories of scheme and 120 individual codes. It was also starting from a base of low employee engagement with pensions, which it wanted to increase.
To achieve its aims, the organisation set clear targets, including replacing complex, inaccessible pensions guidance documentation with personalised, easily accessible guidance, and increasing the number of employees contributing 8% or higher.
Its approach to providing pensions guidance was particularly creative; Deloitte worked with its pensions provider to produce AI-generated, personalised benefit statement videos for all users. These address individuals by name, give current and prospective balances, and suggest a variety of retirement scenarios.
The judges were impressed with how Deloitte’s strategy had a significant impact on the organisation and really tried to future proof its approach.
The judges said: “Super impressive. Deloitte had a clear vision of what it wanted to achieve and delivered it through a creative AI solution which has paid off the initial investment. A great outcome.”
The winner said: ”[This award] will make a massive difference to our team; they’ve worked so hard. For the organisation, we have gone from a very different world to where we are now. We can help people get the outcome they need; this is really driving outcomes for our staff, and everyone is benefitting.”
Highly commended:
Leonardo UKRunner up:
BUUK InfrastructureBest Benefits Communications
Winner: Refresco UK
This award celebrates employers that have demonstrated an effective and innovative approach to benefits communications.
Through its benefits communication strategy, the drinks manufacturer had clear objectives in order to successfully achieve its goal of creating sustainable communications. The high coverage of its benefits roadshow, which it took around the UK to all of its sites, resulted in a doubling of its employee satisfaction rate.
The judges thought it had a very engaging benefits communication strategy that reflected Refresco UK as an organisation, while that its multi-faceted approach to enable it to reach all staff regardless of location helped to solve its disconnection problem. They believed the programme had clear and measurable objectives, which went behind the launch into enrolment and new joiners. They felt the employer’s use of face-to-face meetings was innovative and liked that it had tailored the tone and narrative used for different employee groups with different needs.
The judges said: “It had a good overhaul of benefits and transformation, and its programme had clear and measurable objectives that created sustainable communications.”
The winner said: “We worked hard to make the communications something that was really good for our employees and we worked hard with our provider as well. We set up completely new benefits for our employees and took them out on the road to our factories around the UK to talk about what benefits would be available to people and how to get the best out of them. We spoke to 1,200 employees in two weeks face to face. The results were great, we had a massive take up and it increased our engagement.”
Highly commended:
GXO Logistics
Runners up:
BBC
Experian
Lidl
L’Oréal
Next
Robert Bosch / Robert Bosch UK Holdings
Royal Mail Group
University of Birmingham
Best Alignment of Benefits to Business Strategy
Winner: Housing 21
This award will celebrate an organisation that demonstrates how its benefits strategy is aligned with its broader business strategy.
Housing 21 had a clear business strategy around benefits that has positively impacted staff turnover. The organisation aimed to provide a solid salary sacrifice scheme introduction, as well as a wide range of employee benefits, which has had a good impact on turnover. It reinvested savings from salary sacrifice into a health cash plan, which fuelled future changes and modernised its approach. It also reviewed its maternity and paternity pay.
The judges liked its reinvestment of salary sacrifice funds to support employees in other ways. They thought Housing 21 had achieve a good survey response rate and high engagement levels. They felt its cost-neutral work has driven a lot of change and that it worked well with the resources it had.
The judges said: “Housing 21’s reinvestment of salary sacrifice funds to support its employees in other ways was strong, and it was also very innovative in its significant range of benefits.”
The winner said: “It’s an amazing achievement and recognition of all the work we’ve done to inform our employment offer. We introduced a pensions salary sacrifice scheme and reinvested the savings into healthcare for all of our employees so they can proactively manage their wellbeing.”
Highly commended:
IVC EvidensiaRunners up:
Aventum
Flutter Entertainment
LawFront
Northwood Hygiene Products
PepsiCo UK&I
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
University of Salford
Best Benefits to Support Work-life Balance
Winner: Larking Gowen
This award recognises strategies that offer greater flexibility to support employees in managing their lives outside of work, as well as their own wellbeing and wider workplace experience.
Larking Gowen has introduced a number of schemes to help its employees achieve a work-life balance, including annualised hours contracts, paid time off for volunteering, hybrid working as standard and paid time off for study and for medical appointments. It also introduced a life event policy to support staff at significant times in their lives.
The organisation wants to ensure that employees understand they are valued, and so all schemes are available to everyone, and the work, and the way they work, is tailored to individuals.
Its policies resulted in improved scores in its employee surveys and attrition rates.
The judges called the annualised hours approach a brave, but innovative and different strategy.
The judges said: “The people-led approach is impressive; the entry showed that the employer recognises it is key to empower colleagues to show that they matter.”
The winner said: “We’ve had a lot of engagement with the team to understand what’s important to them. We’ve done a number of initiatives to try and support people to balance what’s important to them outside of work and do the best they can at work. Our annualised hours policy has had a big impact and encourages honest conversations between staff and managers to make sure the needs of the business and employees are met, so people can work in the most efficient and effective way, while still living their lives. Flexibility is built into everything we do and at all levels.”
Runners up:
Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust
Lincoln College Group
Lloyds Banking Group
PepsiCo UK&I
Robert Bosch / Robert Bosch UK Holdings
Sopra Steria
Sponsored by:
Best Flexible Benefits Plan
Winner: Flagstone Group
In this category, the judges were looking for a successful strategy that has effectively delivered benefits through a flexible benefits plan.
Flagstone launched a new flexible benefits platform with the aims of enhancing employee wellbeing; attracting and retaining high-performing employees; and to foster inclusivity and engagement.
The flex scheme was designed to meet the diverse needs of Flagstone’s employees, as well as embedding the organisation’s core values into the programme.
Benefits include enhanced family leave, at-home reproductive health and menopause testing kits, and, for neurodiverse employees, one-to-one coaching, ADHD strength-finder tools and Loop earplugs. All employees also have access to therapy sessions.
Employees can customise their benefits choices with an annual flexi pot on the platform.
Flagstone saw improvements in employee engagement, satisfaction and participation.
The judge were impressed that the scheme includes innovative benefits, for example, to support neurodiverse employees, and that it is clearly aligned to the broader strategy.
The judges said: “This entry showed a really sound strategy that demonstrated the importance of wellbeing and engagement. It integrated the core values of the organisation into the design of the scheme.”
Highly commended:
EncircRunners up:
BUUK Infrastructure
Leonardo UK
PepsiCo UK&I
Langley Trust
Best Motivation or Recognition Scheme
Winner: Rio Tinto
This award recognises a successful motivation strategy that uses incentives or motivational rewards to help drive employee performance, engagement or retention.
The mining corporation took on the task of centralising 50 motivation and recognition schemes into one, and succeeded with what was a difficult task across its 34 operating countries. It acknowledged service anniversaries and included detailed points on what was being recognised, which resulted in high engagement levels among its workforce.
The judges thought it had very strong branding that aligned with its employer brand. They were impressed with the significant reduction in staff turnover, and increases in productivity, usage and engagement, that resulted from the project. They thought Rio Tinto had a solid unified offering that had successfully been adapted to local customs, cultures and literary levels to an impressive level.
The judges said: “Rio Tinto had an impressive transformation and business strategy that reduced 50 schemes into one global scheme. Its adaptability of the product, which included consideration of cultures, language and literacy rates, was highly effective, as seen in the drop in turnover during the relevant period.”
The winner said: “Seeing the reach that we’ve had with the programme, and some of the ways that our employees have embraced it, expressed our values and behaviours in action, celebrated service milestones; it’s just amazing. And we’re keeping the programme evolving all the time. We’ve got a globally consistent, locally relevant platform now that everyone can engage with.”
Runners up:
Exclusive Collection
London Gatwick Airport
Best Voluntary Benefits
Winner: Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
This category recognises an organisation that has either launched or revamped its use of staff-paid, voluntary benefits or staff deals.
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) faced the challenge of providing staff with voluntary benefits but with no budget or resources. Its strategy involved data analysis of benefits, an annual benefits survey, staff roadshows and a virtual suggestion box. OUH went through a benefits revamp and launched a centralised benefits portal, tailored to meet the specific needs of more than 15,000 healthcare, administrative and support staff.
Without a budget for benefits, OUH used funds generated from salary sacrifice arrangements to fund free hot breakfasts, period product dispensers, free car parking and financial education. It also built strong relationships with local suppliers to offer exclusive benefits and discounts to staff.
The judges were impressed with the positive reinvestment of savings into benefits like free breakfasts and sanitary products.
The judges said: “This is a great holistic solution that put their employees at the heart of what they were doing. It showed a very innovative approach.”
The winner said: ” It’s an amazing privilege to have won this award. It shows with hard work and dedication and really putting people at the heart of what we do, we can achieve great things.”
Highly commended:
Jet2Runners up:
DP World
Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust
St James’ Place
Simbec-Orion
- Useful Links
- Employee Benefits Live
- Employee Benefits Awards
