UK Power Networks uses total reward statements (TRS) to inform and engage its 6,000 employees with its benefits package.
The electricity distributor produces a TRS every year which it publishes both on its online reward platform and in the form of a booklet. Employees are given the choice of which format they would prefer and more than 90% opt for a paper copy.
The TRS outlines what employee benefits have been on offer for the past 12 months. These include salary, overtime, car allowances, pension contributions, bonus schemes, healthcare, group income protection, professional subscriptions, tax-efficient benefits provided by Tusker, occupational health, an employee discount scheme provided by Reward Gateway and retail discounts at Superdrug, Greene King and mobile network Three, which are all owned by UK Power Network’s parent company, China-based CKI Group.
The TRS is usually published in the autumn each year in the run up to the organisation’s staff engagement survey, explains Steve Remnant, head of reward and HR services, and head of employee relations.
“It’s a reminder to employees in advance of the survey that these are the tangible benefits they can access as part of UK Power Networks,” he says. “I can’t think of a benefit we don’t offer apart from share schemes, which CKI Group doesn’t do. The TRS is personalised to each employee, with names on the paper version, and offers a breakdown of their benefits over six pages. Once added up, the total sum can be quite significant.”
Through the use of TRS, UK Power Networks aims to engage its employees with their benefits, because it found that some had been taking what was on offer for granted and had not considered their total value. The evidence of the impact on engagement, attraction and retention is in the employer’s turnover rate, which is lower than the UK average, proving that it is a worthwhile initiative for it to do each year.
Remnant believes that as long as TRS and benefits information are targeted and specific to their audience, these are valuable tools for employers to highlight what staff are entitled to.
“We could bombard employees with information about their benefits, but we don’t. We offer targeted information through different communication formats, such as TV display screens around our offices and depots with rolling information about what’s going on in the organisation and awareness days, and highlight benefits related to that. Examples of these are our Tusker car initiative, which now has 250 users, and presenting available retail discounts just before Christmas as a timely reminder. Offering choice is key,” he concludes.