Helen Jackson, Director of Reward, Policy and Shared Services for the firm explains the background and successes of the ‘You Choose’ flexible benefits scheme.

*Benefits stats*

Benefits offered:

• DC pension scheme.




• Share Incentive Plan.




• Annual leave of up to 32 days.




• Retail/Leisure Vouchers.




• Personal Accident.




• Healthcare Cashplan.




• Private Medical Insurance.




• Childcare Vouchers.




• Holiday Vouchers.




• Dental Insurance.




• An affinity car scheme.

Most popular benefits: Holiday, Private Medical Insurance and the Share Incentive Plan.

Most unpopular benefit: Holiday Vouchers.

Benefits tip:

• Communication is key as is understanding the demography of your workforce. It is also important to have a range of benefits which appeal to people at different lifestyle stages and which offer added value to those that they can purchase direct.

*****

Prudential is a leading life and pensions provider to approximately seven million customers in the United Kingdom. As at 30 June 2006, it had approximately 6,929 full-time staff (5,669 in the UK and 1,260 in Mumbai) with offices located in London, Reading, Belfast, Dublin and Stirling, and a customer service centre in Mumbai.

Key to its employee reward plan is a suite of flexible benefits. Internally the scheme is referred to as ‘You Choose’ which strikes at the heart of what it is trying to achieve. There are two core benefits, however, that fall outside its remit.

The generous pension scheme is one such reward. Helen Jackson, Director of Reward, Policy and Shared Services for the firm explains how it works: “It’s a defined contribution plan with a company contribution of 12% if employees contribute 6% for new employees (6% plus an extra 1% of up to 6% depending on employee contribution.)”

The affinity car scheme is another. Employees at the firm can take advantage of offers including discounted, new cars and favourable finance rates.

But it’s the holiday, private medical insurance and share incentive plan that employees really desire. Reflecting on why these rewards top the popularity charts, Jackson says: “For the share incentive plan – I expect its popularity is because we give one free share per four purchased and on the private medical insurance because it is an innovative product offering (PruHealth) and because we had a number of the population who used to automatically qualify for this before the introduction of flex – now of course they can choose to take it or not.”

And whilst the generous holiday allowance scheme is clearly popular the holiday voucher scheme earns less points. Jackson says that competition in the marketplace from cheap online holidays to high-street rates may have determined the back-seat it takes to the more popular benefits on offer.

For the firm, the cornerstone of their benefits scheme is getting the communication channels rights and with a range of flexible benefits on offer, explaining the added value they bring is crucial to the success of the rewards plan.

Jackson also believes in the strength of having a scheme that appeals to all ages, types of workers and sexes: “It is also important to have a range of benefits which appeal to people at different lifestyle stages and which offer added value to those that they can purchase direct.”

And putting their money where the mouth appears to have paid off. Whilst the business hasn’t formally tested the link between its rewards and productivity rates, it has measured how much the employee’s value and understand their benefits. In 2006 they achieved a very high take-up rate of 93% highlighting the success they’ve achieved by putting choice at the heart of their policy.