Electronics retailer Dixons Carphone has seen close to 80 per cent of employees log in to its new benefits portal since it was launched in June, after it offered members incentives in a bid to drive engagement.
Connecting with scheme members can present challenges, especially among workforces who are not based in a conventional office environment. However, online portals can be an effective way of increasing engagement.
Since its launch 16,000 of the roughly 20,200 employees, or eight in 10, have signed in to the portal. “The challenge was getting it out to all our employees,” said Toria McCahill, group reward manager at Dixons Carphone.
Many of the employees did not have work-specific email addresses, as a large section of the workforce is based in warehouses or on the shop floor. The changes were communicated via letters sent to the homes of employees.
The letters also contained Tastecards – a reward card allowing employees to get discounted meals in restaurants – “just to get their attention”, said McCahill.
Karen Heath, chief engagement officer at communication consultancy AHC, said offering free gifts was an unusual step in driving engagement.
“I think it’s a good idea,” she said. “It’s not enough to build the online portal, you do need to do something that’s engaging, and sending people something for free is going to engage them.”
Schemes wanting to drive engagement or seek feedback from members may use measures such as prize draws to incentivise involvement, Heath added.
Dixons Carphone is the result of a recent merger between retailers Dixons and Carphone Warehouse. McCahill said the changes to the pension arrangements arising from the merger had yet to be finalised, but the likely outcome was the Dixons DC scheme would shut down and its members move to the Carphone Warehouse scheme.
Salary sacrifice
The scheme also began offering bonus sacrifice alongside the launch, allowing members to contribute bonuses directly to their pension pot.
Approximately 3 per cent of the scheme’s overall membership have used this option, rising to 30 per cent among those in management positions.
“Executives and senior management have been asking for it for a while,” said McCahill.
Bonus sacrifice can be an effective way of generating savings for both the employer and members, as it provides tax relief for the member and reduces the amount of national insurance the employer pays.
Daniel Smith, director of DC business development at provider Fidelity, said: “Because you never had [the bonus] the company never pays the national insurance on it."
He added: “It’s reasonably common under the umbrella of salary sacrifice.”
The scheme allows members to view their payslips through the portal in order to further incentivise engagement.
The portal provides access to a range of employee benefits,including childcare vouchers, and features pension modeller software allowing members to calculate contributions and a tool for calculating additional voluntary contributions.
The company began looking at introducing an online resource for employees after realising online payslips could only be viewed on its internal intranet, which made it impractical for staff.
