As spokesperson for GRiD, the trade body for the group risk industry (employer-sponsored life assurance, income protection and critical illness protection benefits) I often get asked to comment on group risk products in detail. That’s all very well, but what really brings their value to life for employers is seeing how they’re used in practice. So I want to share how one company has used group risk products to great effect.
The company is FinTrU, a Belfast-based firm with 234 staff that offers outsourced legal, compliance and regulatory services for the financial services sector. Working in an increasingly competitive market they wanted to attract and retain the best staff and decided to completely upgrade their benefits package in order to do so.
They have used group risk protection as the bedrock for a comprehensive upgrade of their employee benefits. Group risk products are relatively inexpensive and the benefits are far reaching, particularly when the added extras such as access to Employee Assistance Programmes are considered, so it’s important they’re not overlooked in favour of more immediate staff rewards.
FinTrU also knew that to get the most value from them, they needed to be communicated well and utilisation needs to be maximised. The inherent value in group risk products is vast, not just for employees, but for line managers and the business too.
Health and wellbeing a priority
Holistic health and wellbeing was at the core of the company’s strategy, so it was important that the group risk benefits could support this. As FinTrU’s Executive Director of Human Resources, Sinead Carville, explained,“Looking after the health and wellbeing of our staff is absolutely core to us. Having a comprehensive reward package that demonstrates how we look after our staff is a real differentiator, and as a relatively new name and a fast-growing company, this helps us compete with more established employers. We took in to account our demographic and now offer a package tailored to their specific needs and wants – a significant proportion of which is being delivered via group risk protection. We’ve have had great feedback from existing staff and prospective employees alike.”
FinTrU worked with specialist adviser Incorporate Benefits LLP to select benefits that would cover the entire spectrum of health and wellbeing. Group risk products were introduced to play a core role in supporting their staff with early intervention, supporting those unable to work, as well as helping get them back to work more quickly, and working alongside other healthcare benefits.
The full suite of benefits comprises:
- life insurance
- income protection
- sick pay insurance
- private medical insurance (PMI)
- a cash plan
John Kerr, the Managing Director of Incorporate Benefits, said: “As a company working with some of the world’s largest Investment Banks, FinTrU is accustomed to turning conventional thinking on its head and it became clear that they wanted to take this approach with their employee benefits too. Not only is it important to attract and retain the best talent in order to innovate, but the company wanted to ensure their reward package genuinely supported the health and wellbeing of its employees.
“When a company is completely overhauling its benefits package, it’s vital to ensure the benefits are streamlined and where possible to avoid duplication. In this case several of the group risk products provided an EAP and so we took the decision to direct all staff to one selected provider for the equity of staff and to ensure successful reporting and management of the scheme for HR.”
Communication
To get value from any benefits, and to ensure that staff know about them, understand them and, most importantly, utilise them, it’s essential that they’re communicated well.
FinTrU did a great job in communicating them. At the launch of the new benefits package, the company conducted presentations to help engagement and communicate the various benefits of each scheme and how and when to use them.
FinTrU also ran a month of incentivised health and wellbeing challenges to get all staff on board with the new benefits and increase engagement. As benefits were launched in the month of February, they devised the “Febulous Challenge”. As part of this, staff were encouraged to ‘Take 5’ and be active but with a competitive twist. Prizes were awarded at the end of the month to those who actively participated in the initiative. The month saw teams come together to concoct increasingly creative challenges while others took to the gym, the park, the yoga mat and even the ice rink. Everyone was encouraged to share photographs on an internal social networking site to showcase their endeavours. The majority – 212 out of 234 – of staff took part.
Some benefit highlights:
Sick Pay Insurance – provides replacement income to employees on a short-term basis (up to a year – thereafter they’re covered by the long-term income protection policy), this also comes with an EAP
- Income protection also includes Best Doctors, Treatment Sourcing and Business Care (advice for HR)
- The cash plan includes dental, optical cash back for all employees plus access to private consultation, diagnostics and therapy, also a private GP line.
- PMI – includes comprehensive cover for inpatient, outpatient and cancer cover
More action less talk
Many companies talk about using employee benefits to attract and retain the best talent. Not all companies are good at turning this into action. This is a great example of a company using employee benefits to help them compete for staff. Group risk benefits in particular can play a central role in a company’s health and wellbeing strategy. Staff can be supported financially, emotionally and practically. This might include financial payouts if they’re unable to work because of ill-health through to counselling if they need support emotionally. The benefits are far-reaching, and FinTrU has shown how they have been aligned with their strategy not only to look after their staff but also to grow in a competitive market place: supporting their overall business as well as their staff.
