Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

The HR profession

How I made a difference: Jill Jackson, director of HR and training, Avanta

by Personnel Today 3 Nov 2009
by Personnel Today 3 Nov 2009

We have 170 employees now, being quite a young company, in UK and India. The UK posed a real problem for us. Having expanded so quickly between 2004 and today, while our people have a great career development path, and know what they need to do to get to where they need to be, they haven’t had a great benefits structure.

We did have a bonus structure, based on performance, customer reviews and financial information, but because of the economic climate, for the first time in three years, the team didn’t achieve their bonus.

So what we tried to look at was how to improve both their bank balance and their motivation. We looked at the pension scheme first. We’ve now introduced a salary exchange scheme, so now there’s a little bit of money saved, which employees can spend how they like.

We wanted to encourage staff to take ownership, and to help the business grow. We’re skilling people up, so need to move them into different roles. Once they’ve got the confidence they need to move up to the next level, staff get an automatic 6% pay rise.

From an employee wellbeing point of view, we want to make sure that people are fit and healthy enough to come to work, so we’ve joined an organisation that gives them access to 2,000 gyms. We want to let them play hard as well as work hard, and with the current economic climate, we understand the pressure they are under.

We enrolled everyone in our employee assistance programme, which offers counselling on a range of issues, including financial concerns. We also offer staff discounts on dental and healthcare, and have upgraded our eyecare cover.

We’ve increased holiday entitlement, year-on-year, capped at 30 days. When staff reach management level, we give them shares in the company. And we’ve revisited maternity and paternity allowances. We even give staff vouchers on their birthday â€“ this came out of a working party on pay and reward. So we listen to staff and what they want.

Why it worked



  • We looked at the big picture
  • We asked people what they wanted
  • We thought about non-financial benefits.

Avatar
Personnel Today

previous post
Top job: Debbie Rotchell, HR director, Craegmoor Healthcare
next post
HR could learn lessons from nature to help run businesses

You may also like

New chief people officer at TSB: Ariam Enraght-Moony

28 Sep 2023

What does it mean to be an HR...

22 Sep 2023

How to avert burnout in HR

23 Aug 2023

HR’s post-pandemic wellbeing yet to bounce back

7 Aug 2023

New appointments in HR: Movers and shakers, August...

4 Aug 2023

The dangers of faking it on LinkedIn

21 Jul 2023

New chair announced for REC

21 Jun 2023

Puppy love: different strokes for different folks at...

16 Jun 2023

CIPD’s Peter Cheese: ‘HR shouldn’t be afraid to...

8 Jun 2023

Why embracing big data is HR’s key to...

6 Jun 2023

  • Almost a fifth of UK workers feel undervalued – we need to solve this PROMOTED | A new report has found...Read more
  • Discover the value of CIPD accreditation PROMOTED | See how the CIPD can increase your earning potential...Read more
  • What does it mean to be an HR professional in 2024? (survey) PROMOTED | The world of HR is changing rapidly...Read more
  • The Contractor Management Mastery Pack: Everything you need to manage and pay global contractors PROMOTED | Answers to cross-border...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2023

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2023 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+