www.employeebenefits.co.uk October 2014 I £6.95 ALIGNING REWARD WITH BUSINESS STRATEGY Healthy advice Cafcass focuses on employee wellbeing Stress busting Special report on work-life balance Motivation report The advantages of an engaged workforce TIME TRIALS How benefi ts managers can reduce workloads to gain more breathing space EB_1014 01 11/09/2014 12:51 Specsavers_FP_EB_1014_002.ps 2 08/09/2014 10:23 @ www.employeebenefi ts.co.uk CONTENTS IN THIS ISSUE LEADER Briefi ng 5 Tax and legislation 6 Employee Benefi ts Awards 9 Time is precious, so Interactive 10 The big question 13 make the most of it Health screening in numbers 15 Cover story 18 How can HR and benefi ts Time is the most precious commodity we have. We can waste it, kill it, professionals win time by save it, spend it and lose it. And if we try hard, we can make it. reducing their workloads? Making time during busy working days can be tricky, as so many tasks Pensions 25 (and emails) pile up demanding our attention. But without time set aside to think creatively, to The new fl exible retirement options step back and consider strategy, to stop and do things differently, we get bogged down. We are Pensions 28 often too busy to improve ourselves, our jobs, our departments or our businesses. Strategies to prepare for next year’s changes In our cover story, Breaking the time barrier (page 18), we explore how benefi ts managers can save time in their working day. Suppliers are only too keen to step in to help (of course) and when Pensions 33 they have greater expertise, it can help to make better use of precious time and money. The changes’ effect on default investments Time is also one of the most valuable benefi ts we can offer staff. Allowing employees to leave Flexible benefi ts 35 work early or come in late after a busy period costs nothing, but shows appreciation. Buying extra The pros and cons of multiple windows holiday days is always popular. Flexible working and staggered hours, Voluntary benefi ts 39 used with thought, can make all sides happier. We are often too Align with wider benefi ts strategy This isn’t a benefi t that is easy to quantify and too much red tape busy to improve Healthcare 43 and rigidity can stifl e it. But with good line management and trust on ourselves, our Take care with medical data on staff all sides, it has worth beyond all other reward. See more ideas in our jobs, our fl exible working article, Finding a balance, on page 53. Special report: Work-life balance 46 Of course, something I hope all readers will do when they manage departments or I How to tackle workplace stress I The new tax-free childcare scheme to free up some time is to enter the annual Employee Benefi ts our businesses I Flexible working can help staff wellbeing Awards. Our call for entries launches in October and you can start I New rules on shared parental leave thinking about which categories to enter. The full list is on page 9. Over the years, we have watched winners and fi nalists get a real career boost or broader Total reward 58 Employee value propositions need revamp recognition, either within their organisations or by being headhunted to new pastures. So whether you enter for yourself, your team or your organisation, it is a great opportunity to step back and Group risk 61 see how well you have done. Which ailments cause the most claims? Now that is something worth spending time on. Employer profi le 62 Cafcass focuses on employee wellbeing Debi O’Donovan, Editor Motivation 65 Follow on Twitter @DebiODonovan I Motivation in numbers I Sending the right messages I A strategy to drive productivity I Celebrating top life events I Measuring effective motivation Buyer’s guides 79 Editor Debi O’Donovan [email protected] Deputy editor Debbie Lovewell-Tuck Social media I Share incentive plans [email protected] Associate editor Clare Bettelley clare.bettelley@centaur. I Group personal pensions co.uk Reporters Robert Crawford [email protected], James Dyble Art editor Mark Richardson, [email protected] Sub editor Bob Wells Contributors Sam Barrett, Confessions 82 Alison Coleman, Helen Hall, Nick Martindale, Nick Paton, Rebecca Patton, Fiona Shields, Nicola Follow us on Twitter.com for Contact directory 83 Sullivan, Justine Tate Commercial director Suzanne Saunders [email protected] breaking news: Business development managers Barry Davidson [email protected], Nikita Wolski twitter.com/employeebenefi t Key service providers [email protected] Event director Juliette Losardo [email protected] Account manager Richard York [email protected] Event manager Lyndsey Urquhart Centaur HR portfolio director Beth Pedersen [email protected] Offi ce manager/ PA to directors Alice Gerard-Pearse [email protected] Head of marketing Like us on Facebook: Look for our Ali Braithwaite Group production manager Wendy Goodbun [email protected] ‘Employee Benefi ts’ page Cover photo Jacko Employee Benefi ts Subscriptions 020 7292 3719 Wells Point, 79 Wells Street, London W1T 3QN Editorial queries/press releases email Join our Linkedin group by Tel 020 7970 4000 [email protected] searching EmployeeBenefi ts Report: Roundtable:R Fax 020 7943 8094 Web www.employeebenefi ts.co.uk Motivation Fleet debate www.employeebenefi ts.co.uk I October 2014 I 3 EB_1014 03 12/09/2014 16:41 claimedworth in our of Wickes winning Gift gift Card cards launch. to be www.wickesgiftcards.co.uk/checkmybalanceTo see if your card£1000 is a winner go to: † Gift Card MAKE A LASTING IMPRESSION Cardard If you want to make a lasting impression on your colleagues and Gift customers then inspire them with a Wickes Gift Card. For projects big or small, helping them improve their homes serves as a constant reminder of being valued at work. Instant load Our gift cards have also been designed to be spent the moment they are loaded* and can be reloaded until the job is done. To make a lasting impression on those you value most, contact us today. 0845 601 6699 [email protected] *Subject to programme availability. UK. 18+. Claim by 23.09.16. Spend in store only. †50 x £20 prizes LOAD IT, SPEND IT, DO IT totalling £1,000 to be won. Go online or check in store to see if you are a winner. See www.wickes.co.uk/ebterms for full terms. Wickes_FP_EB_1014_004.ps 4 10/09/2014 15:10 BRIEFING REWARD TOP 15 MOST VISITED Auto-enrolment hits pay rises STORIES ON THE WEB* PAYE tax code changes rises are likely to remain low. Robert Crawford 1 could adversely impact Elliott Silk, head of employee employers bit.ly/1Bb1WrX Auto-enrolment could be affecting benefi ts at Sanlam Wealth Planning, employers’ ability to award pay rises said: “[Auto-enrolment] is certainly 2 Dixons Carphone looks as they set out their reward budgets being factored in. Normally what we to harmonise benefi ts bit.ly/1pM0bwV for the year ahead. Although the would see is employers allocating a economy continues to improve, pay 3% pay review amount, but as What employers need to increases look likely to remain low. employers realise they have to pay 3 know about calculating In many organisations, funds that higher pension contributions, they holiday pay bit.ly/VQok93 may previously have been are only looking to set aside 2% of What is the real take-up earmarked for pay rises are being their budget for a pay increase and 4 of fl exible benefi ts? swallowed up to fund pension the other 1% for pension costs.” bit.ly/1wBKMUK contributions post-auto-enrolment. published in August, 42% of But there is some good news on Kuoni boosts staff Roger Sanders, managing respondents expect their pensions. Scottish Widows’ Annual 5 wellbeing with nutrition director of Lighthouse Group organisation to increase basic pay. workplace pensions report, challenge bit.ly/1p5wKFQ Employee Benefi ts, said: “Money However, the Offi ce for National published in September, found half Should employers going into auto-enrolment, either Statistics’ UK Labour market, August of UK employees on lower incomes 6 incentivise employees 1% of band earnings or 2% of basic 2014 report found that pay, are saving enough for retirement, to keep healthy? pay, is impacting employers’ ability including bonuses, for UK compared with 34% in 2012. bit.ly/1qx1T4b to give staff a pay rise.” employees was 0.2% lower than it Deborah Hargreaves, director at Summer School: How Research by engineering and was a year ago. the High Pay Centre, said: “I think 7 to implement car salary manufacturing employers’ Sanders added: “Essentially, auto-enrolment is going sacrifi ce for your association EEF, published in August, employees are getting a pay rise by somewhere to redress the issue of business bit.ly/1Bndurf found that pay in the manufacturing employers putting money into their employees not getting a pay rise industry rose by 2.6% in the six pension schemes, but employees over the last few years, especially Summer School: How 8 to provide fi nancial months from February to July, will not see it until they retire.” the more generous schemes, education so that staff up from 2.4% in the equivalent However, from April 2017, as because they are getting back some maximise their options period in 2013. pension contributions increase, of the benefi ts they will have lost to bit.ly/1pPgw2i Meanwhile, according to the employers will need to budget for no pay rises.” Unmissable benefi ts Chartered Institute of Personnel the increases, as well as factoring 9 tax keynote at EB Live and Development’s latest Labour in the other costs of running a @ Read a longer version of this story at bit.ly/1uLvwzt bit.ly/1t5TAgD market outlook survey, also pension scheme, which means pay Reading Uni launches 10 salary sacrifi ce cars and LOVEWELL’S LOGIC Follow Debbie Lovewell-Tuck on Twitter: @DebbieLovewell bikes bit.ly/XeJDD7 Balance is can afford to do with auto-enrolment.