Background
Services For Education is a unique charity that uses the power of learning and music to create and build confidence amongst children, young people, adults and communities. The main areas of focus are music provision, school support and private music lessons in and around Birmingham.
Quantum Advisory first met Services For Education (SFE) in 2018 to discuss flexible benefits. SFE adopted Quantum’s flexible benefits platform, called QChoice, in 2019. A number of benefits were available to SFE employees, such as critical illness, life assurance, pension, health assessments and income protection. QChoice is an online portal for employees to engage with their benefits at any time, via any smart device.
QChoice
QChoice allows employers to offer reward strategies with a wide range of employee benefits. Employers can choose as few or as many benefits as they need and to review them annually. The mix of benefits can be designed to support the needs of employees, perhaps following an employee survey. QChoice is a modular benefit solution with over twenty products and pre-selected benefit providers for an employer to choose and offer to employees. New benefits can be added if an employer requests them, such as electric cars. QChoice is flexible enough to use with an employer’s existing benefits and can be branded to reflect an employer’s identity and core messaging. QChoice is suitable for SMEs with at least 50 employees, looking to provide a varied benefit package, including access to online Total Reward Statements. QChoice is supported by slick and engaging technology that will bring any reward programme fully up to date.
The Project
When the portal was set up in 2019, the following steps were taken:
- An employee survey: As employees had never had a choice of reward benefits, SFE used an employee survey to understand which benefits would best engage and motivate the workforce. The most prevalent requests drove the employee benefits strategy.
- Building the portal: Once benefits had chosen by SFE, quotations were secured (where required) and the portal was built. After testing, the portal was released to employees in time for the start of the academic year, which is also when aligned with the peak recruitment period for the employer. A QChoice guide was also produced.
- Promoting the portal and opening the selection window: SFE held two promotional “benefit days” in September 2019 for their employees to meet some of the benefit providers. Posters, freebies and refreshments were provided for employees. At the peak of activity during the annual benefit selection window, 61% of eligible employees had logged in to the portal on one day alone.
Outcome
The results from the 2019 annual selection showed that pensions dominated the selections with 72% of employees making a positive selection for this benefit. New benefits, such as life assurance, income protection and critical illness, helped SFE to boost the health and wellbeing agenda for employees, with a core level of cover for all eligible employees.
Some benefits on the portal can be selected at any time and those benefits can be promoted to raise employee awareness over the year.
Due to COVID-19, the benefits day in 2020 was held online. Some of the providers sent in videos for employees to watch. As all benefits had been in place for only a year, it was decided not to make any major changes, despite some benefits having quite low take-up. A different range of health assessments was made available, which were a little cheaper for employees.
The 2021 benefits day was also held online with no changes to benefits from 2020.
For 2022, the opportunity was taken to replace one benefit (gym discounts) with another (cycle to work). The take-up of gym discounts had fallen dramatically during the pandemic, so there was little point in continuing to offer it. With a clean air zone having been introduced in Birmingham, it was logical to offer cycle to work. SFE considered whether to offer electric vehicles too and this benefit may be introduced in future.