Case studies

Global chemical company INEOS believes that being physically active is essential to health and wellbeing. For this reason, it developed the INEOS Energy Station six years ago as an online health and fitness hub.

It can be lonely at the top. And so ensuring leaders' mental health is supported is critical for the smooth running of an organisation

Medallia's senior director, global total rewards talks to REBA about how it has been improving its global mental health offering to ensure consistency in its approach across its global workforce.

It wasn’t that long ago that running a women’s health week in any organisation, let alone a male-dominated construction and civil engineering company, may have been viewed with scepticism.

At the beginning of October, gender pay gap reporting became compulsory again following a six-month grace period due to the pandemic. We caught up with Sasha Brenner, senior reward and benefits manager at shopping centre developer and operator Unibail Rodamco Westfield (URW), to hear about their latest gender pay gap report and the progress they’re making in closing the gap.

The move towards electric vehicles (EVs) has steadily been gaining momentum but, with recent events around panic buying fuel, and a heightened spotlight on climate change, more people and businesses will undoubtedly be drawn to this alternative.

Juliet Edmonds, director of reward, Europe at Orange, speaks with REBA's Debi O'Donovan in this video interview about how the telecoms company is linking diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) targets to HR practices and policies.

The way employees experience work has shifted dramatically over the past 18 months. For many, face-to-face interactions have been replaced with virtual ones, while health and wellbeing benefits have evolved to include apps, virtual GP sessions or telephone counselling, for example. Regardless of where employees carry out their work, organisations have had to adapt the ways they engage with and support their colleagues, and these changes are unlikely to be reversed.

At NIS we celebrate and raise awareness of various events throughout the year, covering topics such as health and safety, mental health and wellbeing, and inclusion. We recognise that the workplace contributes towards employee mental health and wellbeing, and we have several things in place to support individuals, including a dedicated wellbeing room and a team of wellbeing champions.

Like many NHS trusts, West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust has had an unprecedented 18 months. Our staff, both clinical and non-clinical – on the frontline and beyond – have been battling against a virus in a pandemic we have never seen the likes of before in our lifetime.

George Makris, director executive reward and total reward strategy at Reckitt, spoke to REBA about how organisational purpose is helping to steer reward and employee benefits strategy.

How do you get nearly a quarter of an onsite workforce to discuss their wellbeing issues and seek the support they need? Ruth Pott, head of workplace wellbeing, and her team at BAM Nuttall, may have stumbled across the answer, and it is surprisingly simple but hugely effective.

Saga Group has been undergoing a massive programme of transformation to respond to the business challenges facing the organisation. Central to this transformation is the need to reset its approach to people and culture, which has seen the specialist services provider bring together diversity and inclusion (D&I), wellbeing and employee benefits to form a single whole organisation strategy.

Employee share save schemes can be an excellent way to engage employees with the success of an organisation, as well as enabling them to build up a savings pot. However, often take-up has been poor as employees are unsure of how to get involved, or lack knowledge about how they work.

As the UK emerges from the worst grips of the Covid-19 pandemic and life begins to return to a semblance of normality, it is worth acknowledging the challenges faced by employees and employers during the past year, how these issues have been addressed and the lessons learned as we move forward.

Earlier this year, REBA'ss webinar on ways to use risk benefits to underpin a strategy built on data and prevention considered how the Covid-19 pandemic had affected group risk benefits, such as life insurance and income protection. The panel concluded that, although there was renewed interest in these benefits due to the pandemic, there had not been a significant change in premiums. The same however cannot be said for private medical insurance (PMI).

With so many financial wellbeing products and services available, matching employees’ needs with your organisational culture and purpose can be challenging. However, developing an agile financial wellbeing strategy doesn’t have to be complex – in fact, simplicity could be the key.

Building a financial wellbeing strategy takes insight, time and perseverance. Much like mental health, it is a topic that is often viewed as being too personal for the workplace, and one that some will be nervous of engaging with.

The move towards electric company vehicles is certainly accelerating. At REBA we have noticed a distinct increase in the number of questions being asked about electric car policies on rebaLINK; our confidential members-only networking forum.

Supporting employees' physical wellbeing isn't just about providing healthcare benefits and gym memberships. It is influenced by everything we do from how much sleep we get to what we choose to eat. In turn, our physical wellbeing also has implications for mental and social wellbeing.