Weetabix Food Company: Benefits Platform and Employee Preferences

Case Study: Weetabix Food Company - Tailoring benefits platform to employee preferences

In February 2017, cereal manufacturer Weetabix Food Company launched a combined flexible and voluntary benefits platform, to align with the needs of its 1,000 UK-based employees.

The platform, provided by Edenred, was designed to engage and retain Weetabix’s varied workforce, as well as to attract new staff.

Stuart Branch, group HR and IT director, says: “We see benefits as one of the integral parts of an employee package, rather than just concentrating on pay. We believe that people look at the wider benefits in total, and in particular, employees want to tailor their benefits to suit their individual needs.

“What we’ve done is put in flexible benefits, creating an opportunity for employees to feel a sense of individuality at work and choose their total compensation package as individuals.”

Basing benefits on employee feedback

Prior to making any changes to its benefits provision, Weetabix first wanted to ensure that its new offering would be affordable and beneficial for all employees. With a high volume of its staff based on the factory floor, it was essential that the organization gained feedback from everyone, no matter their level of seniority.

Weetabix conducts an organization-wide survey every September, and in 2016 it discovered through this that employees were particularly interested in salary sacrifice and voluntary benefits, which would allow them to save money and spread costs that they might not normally be able to afford.

As well as taking on board feedback from current employees, Weetabix also wanted to add benefits that would set it apart from competitors. To consider this wider picture, the organization therefore also took into account feedback from leaver surveys.

“A few years ago, most of the questions [in the leaver survey] were around benefits,” Branch explains. “Employees didn’t think that what we offered [was] anywhere near the [number of] benefits that other competitors in the market offered.

“Attraction and retention are connected, and when we were trying to get the best talent, we needed to be mindful of this. Through the recruitment process, [we got] an idea of what expectations people have when they are looking at joining an organization.”

As a result of this research, Weetabix partnered with Edenred to create the new benefits platform, which would give its employees more choice and develop a greater level of employee engagement.

Loving benefits

The new employee benefits platform was planned for a Valentine’s Day launch, playing on the theme of love. Although the timing of the launch was coincidental, and was more in line with the new tax year, it proved an effective way to create pique employees’ interest in choosing their flexible benefits.

The Valentine’s Day launch enabled the HR team to develop a ‘loving your benefits’ theme. The organization personalized its communications by giving each member of staff a Valentine’s Day card on the day of the launch, which included their password and access code to the new online benefits portal.

Pre-launch, there was an online 14-day countdown to remind employees to register for their benefits. Employees were targeted with personalized emails to nudge them into making choices.

“We were able to target people specifically,” explains Branch. “People who had logged in and hadn’t made their choices yet, those who had been in and made the changes but saved them for later, and those who haven’t logged in at all yet. Everyone had a personalized email to encourage them to log on and make their benefit choices.”

The HR team and a few of the organization’s benefit providers also set up desks in the on-site canteen to help employees with their choices or show them how to use the new portal.

Staff taking centre stage

To further engage and connect with employees, Weetabix used its own staff within the promotional materials for the newly launched benefits platform. The organization hoped this would encourage employees to relate more readily to the flexible benefits now on offer and show that it appreciates that staff have interests and commitments outside of the workplace.

“We’ve got pictures of one of our HR team who is sitting down in work, but then superimposed is a cartoon with her toddler and building blocks, and another employee crouching down in a work environment, and then a superimposed cartoon of him putting a chain on his bike. The first one is all about childcare vouchers and the second is about the bike-to-work scheme,” explains Branch.

Employees also play a central role in the organization’s Weetastars recognition scheme. Everyone who works at Weetabix can nominate a colleague who they feel has gone the extra mile. Winners are selected quarterly and annually, and are given financial rewards, as well as appearing on boards and screens around the Weetabix headquarters.

“The role of benefits is an integral part of our total rewards philosophy, which is, in turn, part of our people strategy, which is about making Weetabix a great place to work,” says Branch. “We believe that reward and [benefits] are integral in order to make [Weetabix] a place that employees want to work and develop their career.”

Measuring successes

Weetabix is reaping the rewards of its new benefits strategy, with almost two-thirds (63%) of employees taking up flexible benefits during the period post-launch. This figure has remained steady since.

Anecdotal employee feedback has also been positive, according to Branch, and in the past 12 months only minor changes have been made to the strategy.

“If I was going to pick the one benefit that’s had the most positive feedback, then it’s trading up or trading down holiday,” says Branch. “Depending on what journey our employees are on, they are either cash rich and time poor or vice versa. This is something that allows people to tailor what they want.”

The cycle-to-work scheme is also proving popular, with an increasing number of employees either cycling to work or using the salary sacrifice to trade up and buy a new bike. Childcare vouchers have also seen a rise of 50%, and employees are saving as much as £400 with discounts on purchases through the shopping saving incentives.

A summer hours initiative has also received a positive response. Employees who work in commercial and support functions are encouraged to finish at 2pm on a Friday, so they can go home and spend extra time in the garden, on their hobbies or with their families.

Branch explains that the most important financial element of the strategy has been flexible pay, with employees finding it beneficial in different ways. “For example, professionals whose partners also have private medical [insurance] may find they are paying for it twice, so one is wasted. They can opt out just as easily as they can add a partner. It’s a great way to trade up or trade down.”

What the future holds

In an evolving world, Weetabix wants to ensure it continues to tailor its flexible benefits strategy to offer what existing employees want, and to attract new talent.

“The world has moved on and right now there are things like payment protection, for example, that is important to a number of employees, as well as the opportunity to consolidate your debt,” notes Branch. “Another popular benefit is gym membership, but the question is, is the brand important? Do our employees want the likes of a David Lloyd or Virgin membership or is everyone more interested in the local, most convenient gym?”

Branch concludes: “It’s a journey that will probably continue. We are working very hard on creating a sense that we’re in it together, as well as of fairness and equality for everyone.”

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