Employee Benefits Live 2024: In order to build a whole person health, it is important to tailor support to meet a wide and diverse workforce, according to New Look.
Natalie Bertelsen-Macey, head of pay and reward at the clothing retailer, gave a presentation on the first day of Employee Benefits Live 2024 (Tuesday 8 October), titled Building ‘whole person’ health: Integrating culture, leadership and benefits to improve wellbeing.
The session explored how to establish a solid wellbeing at work environment and how to create a climate in which employees can thrive. Bertelsen-Macey explained that it is important to know employees, how to have a conversation with them and encourage listening.
“Listening to what employees say and regularly evaluating the impact of reward on them helps. We hosted a financial-related roadshow this year to educate staff on financial benefits we offer and how they can use them, allowing them to engage with the support as and when they need it,” she said.
Often a balancing act is required when offering appropriate wellbeing support while also managing a variety of budgets that can sometimes be on the lower side.
Bertelsen-Macey stated that it can be useful to monetise the impact of financial wellbeing benefits on an organisation and calculate the cost of providing support to maintain a stable workforce.
“It also helps to highlight why it is important to find out the cost of absenteeism within a workforce, for example, when designing benefits. This can prove why support is needed and tell employers how to avoid additional and potentially unnecessary costs,” she added.
The session also covered how New Look embeds culture and values within its organisation. It bakes them into staff appraisals, looking at what they did to succeed and tying recognition to its values, by offering rewards based on which one has been achieved.
Bertelsen-Macey finished by detailing how New Look communicates its benefits and support to its employees. The organisation has simplified access to its reward platform to make it easier for staff to find support, while it also collaborated with its internal communications team to launch new benefits with a marketing approach.
