Moneyway FlexiBen Case Study

Employee benefits magazine announced the winners of the 2010 Employee Benefits Awards at a ceremony held in London, on the 25th June.  There were 100 finalists and only 21 winners, with four of these being Edenred’s clients.  A further three clients were runners up to the award and two reached the finalist stage.

Winners were recognised for the best reward and benefits strategies among employers in the UK:

Moneyway FlexiBen won the ‘Communications strategy of the year for employers with fewer than 5,000 staff’ award, with Edenred being their provider.

The judges were “blown away” by this entry, which made use of social media to communicate benefits to a workforce that is hard to engage with perks. This small bank’s workforce comprises mostly young, low-paid employees, few of whom would consider sacrificing part of their salary to buy voluntary benefits. As a result, in 2008 the company saw just 40% of staff sign up for benefits through its voluntary scheme. It therefore faced a challenge in how to make its 180 staff value the benefits it offered.

At the heart of its revamped communications campaign was a small rubber figure called FlexiBen which perfectly suited the company’s brand values of the “human touch” and “on your side”, as well as its fun culture.

With 60% of its workforce aged under 30, the firm decided to use social networking sites Facebook and Twitter in its communications campaign. Giving the character its own Facebook page enabled staff to interact directly with a recognisable figure. The company’s CEO also banters directly with FlexiBen via his blog and Facebook. Offline media featuring FlexiBen was also created that was more appropriate for older employees. As a result, the character has gained cult status within the organisation.

The FlexiBen campaign cost just £200 to deliver and resulted in a significant rise in benefits take-up, such as a 93% increase in childcare vouchers and 33% jump in buying additional holiday. Such moves resulted in cost savings to the business equal to a 728% return on investment.

One judge said: “The results appear outstanding and are well supported by evidence of a clear return on investment that would be hard to match. This programme really appears to say something about the organisation and has succeeded in engaging the workforce in a way that all programmes should aspire to do.”