Listen: In this episode of the Employee Benefits podcast, Rob Mottram, head of reward and human capital management (HCM) systems, discusses the reward strategy at household products manufacturer McBride, the role that benefits play in the employee experience and the challenges involved in having multiple benefit structures for a global workforce.

For Mottram, an important factor of a reward strategy is to ensure that there is a comprehensive choice of benefits that are valued at any employee lifestage. He cites the example of an employee assistance programme (EAP) which might not see high usage levels, but it is hugely important for those that do use it.

McBride is nearing the end of its digital transformation project; a huge undertaking to streamline its benefits, HR and payroll systems. Mottram explains how the new system will give employees more control of their benefit choices.

At a glance 

McBride is a manufacturer of household cleaning and laundry products, with over 3,600 employees globally working across 13 countries.

As a manufacturing business, it has a significant number of operations roles, including those in production, engineering, health and safety, quality control, supply chain and planning. It also has roles in logistics, customer service, product development and commercial, as well as the traditional support functions such as HR, finance, IT, transformation and legal.

The average age of staff is 45 years, and the average length of service is 12.4 years.

 

Primary business objectives that impact on benefits for the coming year:

A key objective is to ensure that McBride is a great place to work and it wants to make sure its benefits support this. Whether it is reviewing benefits from a global standpoint or implementing country-specific initiatives, McBride will be looking to its benefits package to support this objective.

 

Career history 

Rob Mottram, McBride

Rob Mottram joined McBride in September 2022, having previously held the position of reward manager at Ornua,. Prior to this, he was a pensions consultant working for KPMG and Mercer.

Mottram says: “Three highlights related to benefits for me would be: launching McBride’s electric vehicle (EV) scheme, which required a complete change to the way we approach our fleet. Company cars are an emotive topic so it was great to be able to deliver a benefit that is really appreciated by our [employees].

“Also, setting up a benefits package for McBride’s new office in Germany. This was quite a challenge to start from absolutely nothing; we needed to ensure that our benefits were in line with those offered by the market, plus compliant with local legislation, and communicated effectively to the relevant [employees]. It was a team effort across several [employees] in the HR team and successfully delivered to help launch our new office.

“Looking back to my previous role at Ornua, we undertook a benefits review and either implemented or improved eight benefits, at an average cost of £50 per colleague. Benefits such as an employee discount scheme saw great take-up, and improvements to our maternity and paternity pay were also welcomed by colleagues.”