EXCLUSIVE: Countrywide has introduced a new employee discount scheme for its 12,000 members of staff, as well as their close family members.
Its Under One Roof initiative offers employees a range of discounts on property services that Countrywide offers to its customers, including estate agency fees, surveys, conveyance, mortgage advice and tenancy or landlord fees.
The scheme aims to increase employee engagement, including with the products and services Countrywide offers customers.
The voluntary benefits scheme was implemented at the beginning of February 2016, and there have been 53 applications from staff for 83 services thus far.
To communicate the scheme, the organisation ran a teaser email and poster campaign. This was followed by further email and intranet updates at the scheme's launch.
Countrywide also utilised existing communication channels to highlight the discount initiative, such as its internal newsletter and updates in meetings.
Representatives from each of Countrywide’s main business units have also acted as scheme advocates to communicate Under One Roof to staff.
An ongoing communications strategy has been developed, which will include employee testimonies about their experiences with the package so far.
Neil Goodwin, head of reward at Countrywide, said: “We wanted to increase employees’ understanding of the products and services we offer [to customers]. Improving these offers has been a priority; aligning benefits to business strategy is very powerful from my experience and it increases brand advocacy as well as leading to incremental sales.
“If we are to become the number one choice for our customers we first have to be the number one choice for our employees. Buying a property or renting is normally the biggest expenditure in people’s lives, therefore at Countrywide we’re well positioned to be able to offer significant support with this. This in turn should lead to greater employee engagement and loyalty.”
