Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have won “Most Effective International Benefits Strategy” at the Employee Benefits Awards 2009, for the global implementation of their flexible benefits plan “RBSelect”. †
RBS, who were entered for the award by Thomsons Online Benefits, beat off stiff competition from HSBC and Baker Hughes to take the coveted prize at the only event in the UK that is dedicated to celebrating the work that employers undertake in the area of employee benefits. The judges concluded that RBS’s global benefits strategy is “well ahead of the rest of the market”.
RBS want to be the first financial services organisation to implement a flexible total rewards strategy globally. They feel that flexible benefits have a critical role in increasing employee engagement and in helping to integrate new businesses (such as ABN AMRO).
RBSelect is based on a consistent global strategy and benefits structure that is adapted to reflect the local needs of each country. The global implementation of RBSelect is underpinned by the Thomsons Online Benefits online platform: Perquisite which enables an almost paperless application process, as well as total reward statements and extensive information and tools to help with benefits selection. Thomsons also developed a global communications toolkit to ensure each local launch was supported with clear communications. This contains components like Z-cards, posters and letters for launch and new joiners which can be adapted on a country-by-country basis.
Trevor Blackman, Director, Group Remuneration and Benefits at RBS comments: “RBS are committed to the principle of employees creating added value through benefits choice. But doing this globally presents many challenges.”
Chris Bruce, Managing Director at Thomsons Online Benefits comments: “We are delighted that RBS have won this award. RBSelect is already the largest flexible benefits scheme in Asia and we have seen impressive take up rates of up to 84 per cent. We look forward to continuing the global roll out of RBSelect across the world this year as a key part of their employee engagement strategy.”†
