When food and drinks manufacturer PepsiCo looked to relaunch its flexible benefits scheme in 2015, it was keen to introduce a new benefit and so undertook a series of questionnaires and focus groups with employees.
Kajal Mistry, total rewards officer, says: “It had been two years since a new benefit had been introduced so we wanted to select one that would be popular with employees and generate some excitement and engagement.”
One of the top requests was for leisure travel insurance, and this was implemented with the option of extending cover to family members, as well as employees.
Alongside this, working with consultant Like Minds, PepsiCo set about redesigning the flexible benefits website, with the aim of reflecting the five pillars of the global organisation’s total reward strategy: pay; health and insurance; healthy living; retirement; and work-life balance, and promoted this through a variety of channels, including emails, e-cards and plasma screen televisions, along with messages that appeared on the screens of employees’ desk phones.
The employer decided to maintain its previous approach of having a four-week enrolment window during April and May. “It fits in well from a business perspective and it’s also just before the summer starts so employees can also think about the benefits that could support their work-life balance with school holidays such as childcare vouchers, and cycle-to-work vouchers with brighter mornings and evenings,” Mistry adds.
The relaunch has already seen a 56% increase in employees accessing the website, and levels of take-up have either increased or remained the same in 13 out of the 15 pre-existing benefits.
