Will anyone still talk about your organisation’s benefits package in 100 years’ time? Are any benefits so memorable or groundbreaking that they will remain a talking point for years to come, with successors extolling their merits long after they were introduced?
As part of our half term activities, earlier this week my husband and I took our children to visit Cadbury World in Bourneville. As a family of chocolate lovers, we thought this would be a great opportunity to learn more about the workings of a chocolate factory and maybe sample some treats along the way. One thing I wasn’t expecting to hear within a presentation about the organisation’s history was how it established its first employee benefits and a strong people-centric culture more than 100 years ago. As an employer that was clearly ahead of its time in this area, this was presented as something the organisation remains proud of today – and rightly so.
Alongside the well-known housing and town Cadbury built for its workforce in the late 1800s, it explained how it introduced benefits such as a pension scheme, sick pay and funded schooling for employees up until the age of 18, as well as numerous other perks for its workforce.
While the nature of employee benefits and workforce needs will inevitably change over time – after all, how many employers now build housing for their workforce – offering a strong benefits package can be a key building block in cultivating employee loyalty, motivation and productivity. This was evident throughout the exhibits focusing on Cadbury’s workforce through its history.
While most employers do not have such a public space in which to display the role of employee benefits throughout their organisation’s history, reward and benefits can be promoted externally in order to help build the employer brand and, consequently, boost recruitment and retention.
So, which benefits will your organisation be remembered for?
Debbie Lovewell-Tuck
Editor
@DebbieLovewell
