OCS Group looks to the future with its new employee engagement platform

OCS is developing a people strategy that puts engagement at the forefront of the employee lifecycle and where company values drive the differentials in performance.

As a private business in fifth-generation family ownership, OCS believes in sustainable solutions. Its maxim “Here today, here tomorrow” is vital as it deals with facilities management solutions across the areas of finance, community, people and environment. Its workforce includes pest controllers, cleaners, landscape gardeners, concierge, security officers and chefs, to name but a few. Finding an employee benefits system with universal appeal for such a diverse workforce, ranging from 16 to 80 years old, with many for whom English is not their first language and are on national minimum wage, can be somewhat challenging.

Ian O’Sullivan, head of reward, pensions and benefits at OCS, explains: “We aim to offer a package which has something for everyone.”

OCS aims to offer staff a highly varied and flexible benefits programme, which includes: salary sacrifice schemes, vouchers and discounts from a large range of high street retailers, cycleto-work scheme, childcare vouchers, health screenings, leisure experiences, airport parking and access to holiday properties.

Discounts are available to everyone

The high street discount scheme, which includes major retailers such as Argos, House of Fraser, Boots and Homebase, is especially popular, says O’Sullivan: “Discounts are applicable to everyone from staff working two hours a week to the CEO. No matter how much you earn, everyone likes to save money.”

The company is, says O’Sullivan, trying to engage staff through its family ethos and offer them benefits that are in line with them as individuals. “We would not, for example, promote a salary sacrifice scheme to those people on lower salaries,” he notes.

Another issue with such a large, geographically dispersed organisation is to have the right technology platform to communicate effectively with all its employees. “Not everyone has access to a computer or going to be computer literate so we communicate employee benefits predominantly through payslips,” O’Sullivan says.

The introduction of the new platform

The company is currently working with benefits solutions provider Personal Group to introduce epayslips through an online benefits portal, the hapi platform. With the introduction of the hapi platform OCS employees will be able to log on to the portal every month to access payslips, register for the company’s employee benefits programme and view the range of benefits available to them.

“It will be a one stop shop for our employees going forward,” says O’Sullivan. OCS is hoping to have the hapi platform and epayslips operational by the end of summer 2015. It will be implemented as a self-service model for staff to access as and when they choose providing them with greater access to the range of benefits provided.

O’Sullivan hopes it will help foster better communication across the UK sites. “Having a benefits package in place is one thing but making all staff aware of the benefits on offer and how to access them has been something we have been working to improve,” he said.

Communicating the benefits

One of the advantages of working with Personal Group is, according to O’Sullivan, that they have people on the ground to visit our sites and explain the benefit schemes and the registration process.

“They have also helped to introduce our employee assistance programme (EAP) and to distribute our benefits booklets across the sites,” he says. “We have built that communication into our TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations) process . The introduction of our EAP programme means that all employees have access to a 24 hour helpline that they can call for information and advice on personal or work related issues.”

Autoenrolment was a great success

O’Sullivan also oversees pensions at OCS. He says that since auto-enrolment was introduced in October 2012, around 55% of OCS’s 24,000 staff have been eligible to pay into a pension. O’Sullivan admits however that it has not been an easy process: Autoenrolment has been a headache, a massive admin burden and it still is two years on. But we have got good support through our chosen adviser, Legal & General, who deal with all the documentation and queries through their helpdesk.”

Admin aside, O’Sullivan says it was a great success. Of OCS’s eligible employees 93% have taken up the option to save into a pension. By 2017/18, at least half of its staff will have gone from having no pension to having a pension. “At the moment, I think lots of employees don’t see it as such a big deal because it’s only one percent, but when it goes up to two or three percent that might be a bigger issue,” O’Sullivan predicts.

The HR Operations Director’s view

Group currently has around 30 staff in its HR team, which is supported by HR service centres and a number of other functions, such as learning and development and employee relations.

Jon Moffat HR operations director at OCS, says: “Staff benefits are critical for our company and OCS is committed to offering a range of benefits that are appropriate for a family business which has a history of honouring the long service and dedication of its staff across all of its operations, both in the UK and internationally.”

One of the key measures of success for OCS is its retention strategy and ensuring that its focus is on retaining a skilled and experienced workforce. “If people are leaving us within 6-12 months of joining we need to look at our on-boarding process and how we engage with new recruits from the start of their employment. Much of this rests on the attractiveness and range of benefits offered to our employees,” says Moffat.

OCS’s workforce is based on various types of contracts for its clients covering a range of services in the facilities management arena. Therefore it needs to look at how it can ensure that the technology platform allows it to communicate with everyone, whatever time of day. “Historically this may have been challenging but now as many staff have smartphones OCS are working towards establishing a self-service type model whereby employees can access the various benefits it has on offer online or via a portal,” he says.

“We are also working on our recruitment and selection process to ensure that how we engage and communicate with potential future employees is an experience and value that everybody believes and supports from the outset, especially where talent in the market place is difficult to source and committed employers must ensure that their organisations stand out from the crowd,” says Moffat.

OCS is beginning to develop a coherent people strategy that puts engagement at the forefront of the employee lifecycle and where company values drive the differentials in performance. “This is why a new benefits environment is a critical deliverable for the Group,” he says.

“Whilst we know that our uniqueness is being a privately-owned family business, we know we cannot rely on that in isolation to be a key driver for differentiation, which is why our core values describe the guiding principles which influence the decisions, behaviours and action of everyday business life. For example, we put clients first. We listen to them and design our services to meet their key objectives. We provide great value by using collaborative working techniques, we recognise wider responsibilities by supporting the communities in which we work.”

The environment OCS operates in is highly competitive, so like its competitors it is learning to become more agile and commercially astute with solutions that are smart, cost effective and offer a real difference to their employees. “With over 100 years of family traditions we will continue to strive to offer a unique employer experience where the benefits form part of the integral package for people joining our organisation and demonstrates why working for us offers a real alternative to other mainstream employers,” 12 13 concludes Moffat.

Benefits on offer

The OCS Employee Choices programme offers a broad and comprehensive range of benefits through its website, which can be accessed through a smartphone, tablet or computer.

The main ones include:

A Lifestyle Voucher Service where you order a minimum of £10 worth of shopping vouchers or gift cards and receive from 4% to 12% off the value of your order at major retailers including Gap, Morrisons, BHS, WH Smith, Iceland, House of Fraser, Debenhams, Homebase and Boots.
Up to 40% off cinema tickets at a range of cinemas including Cineworld and Showcase and discounts at major theme parks and attractions including Alton Towers, Legoland and Sea life.
A holiday discounts scheme through First Choice, Thomas Cook, Thomson and Virgin Holidays, which also offers savings on car rental, airport hotels and parking.
Reloadable cards where you can save 10% at House of Fraser, 15% at Ernest & Jones, 10% at New Look and 5% at Sainsbury’s and earn up to 30% cash back with over 1,200 retailers.
OCS also offers a range of additional benefits, including company car salary sacrifice scheme, cycle to work programme, childcare vouchers, pension additional voluntary contributions, healthcare scheme and a new employee assistance programme.

About OCS Group

OCS Group manages and delivers services to organisations across the public and private sector.

OCS Group is an international total facilities management (TFM) provider, operating across five continents and employing more than 91,000 people in 50 countries worldwide.

Turnover was £871 million in 2014 and OCS also ranked in the Sunday Times Top Track 100 last year.

The company has around 24,000 staff across 3,000 sites in the UK and offers more than 80 individual services from catering, cleaning, horticulture and waste management to security, maintenance and hygiene.

Georgina Fuller is a freelance journalist and editor specialising in writing about the world of work.

This article is taken from Personal Group’s Special Report entitled: The Future of Employee Benefits: Engaging Staff in a Digital Age. Click here to read the full report.