The Eastern Western Motor Group has rolled out a voluntary benefits scheme for its 832 employees in order to consolidate its previous standalone offering.
Since the scheme was introduced in June, it has been taken up by 602 staff with a first quarter spend of more than £100,000.
The scheme, which is branded Cashpoint and is provided by Asperity Employee Benefits, consolidates the organisation’s benefits offerings into one online portal. Kim Gilfillan, HR manager, said: “By moving everything to one provider it makes administration very easy for us now.”
The firm’s long-standing benefits such as retail discounts, childcare vouchers and healthcare perks have been integrated onto the site, while it has introduced a cycle-to-work scheme for the first time. The car dealership also offers discounts on parts servicing and the purchase of vehicles.
“Our strategy was to improve employee engagement and with the credit crunch it was very important to make everybody’s pounds stretch out a little bit further,” explained Gilfillan.
“We also wanted to raise the profile of the HR team. Over the last 18 months, the HR team has had to deliver quite a lot of bad news and it was important for us to go back and deliver some good news.”
The scheme, which can be accessed at work or at home, also caters to staff that do not have access to a computer by offering a telephone helpline. “It is about trying to capture everybody and not making an assumption that certain age groups or people that have PCs are going to use the system,” adds Gilfillan.
The new scheme was communicated to staff via roadshows at the organisation’s branches. According to Gilfillan, the launch was the easy part of rolling out the scheme. “It is maintaining the use of the site and trying to engage with staff who have not already come on and registered to ensure the site remains an integral part of our total reward package.”
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