Outdoor and Cycle Concepts (O&CC) is the organisation behind retail stores Snow and Rock, Cotswold Outdoors and Runners Need. With about 1,400 retail staff aged between 16 and 90 spread across 79 stores and 300 head office staff, O&CC offers a range of voluntary benefits, many through provided by Perkbox Vivup.
Steph Tye, internal communications manager at O&CC, says: “We try to make people aware of their total reward package. People are so much savvier about their benefits these days and want to know they are getting what they are worth.”
In a competitive labour market making sure all staff know what benefits they are entitled to and how they can get the most out of them is vital. Tye says her team are constantly shouting about the Perkbox-provided platform, keeping people up-to-date about benefits on offer. O&CC’s communications strategy includes producing brochures for every employee, segmented by 14 different job grades, so everyone knows what they are entitled to. Information is shared via fortnightly townhalls, emails and its e-learning academy.
“We tailor everything and use a set of avatars to make sure people only receive relevant information,” says Tye. “We don’t bombard people. We want messaging about benefits to stand out, not fade into the background.”
Supermarket discounts are particularly popular given the current economic climate. Tye admits to getting some funny looks in her local supermarket, where she films videos showing how much money she is saving in real-time. “People think I’m mad, but I’m showing it really only takes 90 seconds,” she adds.
The team runs an annual benefits survey, talking about what is on offer and asking what employees would like added. This uncovers popular themes, with health and fitness and family coming out strongly. For example, employees have begun asking for will-writing services. But the survey also shows which benefits people are not aware of. “We look at where we could add things, but it’s also about highlighting awareness of what we’ve already got available,” says Tye. “A lot of the time, that’s half the battle: there are things on offer within their package, but they haven’t realised.”
