Siemens places a great deal of importance on how its four-year-old flexible benefits scheme is communicated.
Gavin Hayward, head of compensation and benefits at Siemens in the UK, explains: “We have a project team that works on internal communications, and we use some external publicity organisations to help with creating promotions, photos and campaigns.”
The team comes up with a new theme and variety of media to communicate the scheme each year. For the 2007 enrolment year, its campaign focused on employees’ out-of-work activities and demonstrated how their choice of flexible benefits could support their hobbies, such as the HR executive who took out personal accident insurance with 24-hour global cover to support her travels around the world.
In addition to the communication of the scheme, Siemens has also adjusted the design of My Choice to match its employees’ demands. “For our IT-literate workforces we’re moving to online registration, as we’ve noticed 99% of employees in these groups choose to register online,” says Hayward.
Siemens also adds new benefits where it makes sense to do so, such as cashless spending at its on-site canteens, while also maximising existing benefits, such as discounts on retail vouchers.
Employee take-up of the scheme continues to rise: from 19% in the initial pilot to 70% in 2006 and 74% this year.
