Insurance firm Catlin has launched online total reward statements in the US and extended its sharesave scheme to employees in Malaysia.
The company launched the US statements at the beginning of August, following the UK launch in April 2010. It is now working on rolling statements out in Europe later this year.
It decided to introduce total reward statements to communicate the value of employees’ total package better, and to give staff a better understanding of the details of their benefits. It communicated the launch with presentations, emails and desk drops.
Charlotte Abbasi, head of compensation and benefits at Catlin, said: “Until recently, we have tended to look at all the pieces very disparately, so people look at their salaries, or their bonus, their [share] options and all the benefits on top of that. We are trying to move to a more total compensation approach, where people understand and measure their total compensation, not just the different pieces. That allows us to manage the communication and delivery of our compensation in a much better way.”
Meanwhile, the firm’s offer period for its sharesave scheme opened for its Malaysian employees in mid-August. Through sharesave, employees can save for a three-year period, after which they have the option to purchase shares at a price set at the initial offer period, which includes a 20% discount.
Last year the scheme was extended to Bermuda, Canada, Germany and Singapore, where it has already proved attractive to employees. Figures for 2009 show take-up of 70% of staff in Singapore and Bermuda, 50% in Germany, 30% in Canada and over 50% in the UK. The stock purchase plan in the US has a take-up of about 60%.
Abbasi added: “We have such a strong, positive culture here and want to make sure that does not get lost as we grow. Things like sharesave give us a mechanism to wrap people into Catlin and feel part of the organisation, even if they are working in Kuala Lumpur or Calgary.”
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