ìAll in all, weíve experienced major financial savings on the back of implementing the flexible benefits programmeî
Informa, publishers of ëmust-haveí business information, has implemented 4th Contactís online flexible benefits system for 1200 of its UK staff to provide clarity and choice for employees, standardise benefits after mergers and acquisitions, enable the HR team to reduce administration and to save costs. Employee take-up rate is as high as 90% after a comprehensive marketing programme.
Keith Brownlie, Group HR Director of Informa, sheds some light on the 4th Contact implementation, ìWe had a classic iceberg principle here; our employees knew their salary - the tip of the iceberg, but they didnít know about their pension, life cover and all those other things that people take for granted. They were submerged and it was frustrating for the business and the employees that they couldnít see their benefits package clearlyî.
Informa has grown significantly through mergers and acquisitions, inevitably creating an environment where employees have a hugely diverse range of benefits and pay schemes. Employees sitting side by side in an office wondered why they didnít have the same benefits as an immediate neighbour.
The company also wanted to take the administrative drudgery and cost out of the benefits role. Brownlie explains, ìOur benefits were being looked after by different people, so if an employee had any queries, theyíd inevitably have to ask a number of different HR people to get the answers they needed. It didnít make sense. The realisation is that 4th Contactís system will in time make our life in HR a lot easierî.
The online flexible benefits scheme provides employees with choices of pension, life cover, critical illness, private medical insurance, medical screening, dental insurance, travel insurance, gym membership, childcare vouchers and buying extra annual holiday.
ìBenefits cost the company a lot of money,î says Brownlie. ìNow they are online, we can go to the market, get better deals and purchase in bulk so we get economies of scale. All in all, weíve experienced major financial savings on the back of implementing the flexible benefits programme.î
Richard Blundell of 4th Contact says, ìInforma employees love the system and the take-up rates have been amazing. The company has taken a historically confusing benefits issue and turned it into a success story thatís helping motivation and providing benefit transparency for the first time.î
Publishing giant, Informa (now merged with Taylor & Francis), takes flexible benefits
to 1200 UK staff with 4th Contact