Annie Hayes spoke to Helena Peacock, Penguin’s HR Director about why their benefits make this publisher an employer of choice.

*****

A love of books is a shared passion for workers at the Penguin Group, a publisher of more than 5,000 different titles in print at any one time. But it’s not just the opportunity to devour two of the free ‘pulp’ books (books returned by shops) per day or take advantage of the 60% discount on Penguin titles that keeps workers motivated, happy and retained.

Helena Peacock, HR Director for the organisation which has around 900 employees in the UK, puts the success of the reward strategy down to its fit with the needs of its workers.

Seventy-four per cent of staff working in the UK are female and many have young children to fit around career aspirations and working hours.

“Our flexible working policies are extremely popular. A lot of our maternity returners come back on a part-time basis and we also accommodate those that wish to work flexible hours, for example with early starts and finishes.”

The maternity package is in itself impressively generous. Working mums can take up to six months on full pay, followed by a further six months at the statutory unpaid level. While new fathers can also take the opportunity of taking up to 20 days paid paternity leave to bond with their newborns.

A childcare allowance is also up for grabs, arranged in accordance with salary bands. But it’s not just working mums that cash in. A career break scheme is open to all those with three or more years service offering six months unpaid leave with the right to return to the same or similar job.

Summer working is also very popular. To take advantage of the longer and warmer summer days Penguin staff are eligible to work longer hours from Monday to Thursday in order to take up to nine Friday afternoons off during the summer months. This like many of the other benefits is not service-related and is popular with all staff.

Not all of the publisher’s schemes are as popular, however. “We offer long-service awards for those that reach the ten, 15 and 20 years milestones. They get retail vouchers in the region of £50-75 but there isn’t a huge buzz about them,” admits Peacock who is heartened by the take-up and huge popularity of the other rewards on offer.

Despite the wealth and variety of benefits available at the Penguin Group, Peacock is not content to rest on her laurels just yet, “We’re always on the look out for new ideas. Working for a publisher you need creative people that are full of energy, passion and enthusiasm. It’s crucial that we ensure that there is a work/life balance element within the organisation to ensure that our workers are not too exhausted. That’s why schemes such as summer working are so successful.”

And backing this up is the Group’s support of its workers charitable efforts. An active Charity Committee awards up to £500 per employee for charity fundraising whilst each employee is allowed three days per year for volunteering.

Even with the generosity of flexible working, ample holidays, career breaks and time off for compassionate leave and charitable work staff still get sick and for those that do fall ill the company sick pay schemes pays out ten weeks full pay to those with between three and 12 months service and up to 42 weeks at full pay for those with six or more years service.

Peacock has ensured that Penguin is a genuinely attractive place to work, an organisation that caters for the demands placed upon its working parents and supports their personal and career goals through career breaks, flexible working and charitable support.

Penguin won both the Media Employer of the Year award and also the NSPCC Family Friendly Award in 2004.