Recognizing employees the ARAMARK way

Citation

Wheeler, R. (2010), "Recognizing employees the ARAMARK way", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 9 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/shr.2010.37209cab.006

Recognizing employees the ARAMARK way

Article Type: Rewards From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 9, Issue 3

Short case studies and research papers that demonstrate best practice in rewards

Employees are intrinsic to the smooth running of a company. With this in mind, especially during trying economic times, implementing a health and well-being strategy is important to help motivate the workforce. As part of contract catering company ARAMARK, a committed and award-winning organization, we understand just how important our employees are to our success.

Before the recession hit, corporate responsibility (CR) was an established and fundamental business principle and it has demonstrated its value to companies throughout the downturn. In fact, a key part of the overall CR proposition is employee health and well-being and it is an element we have invested heavily in this year as part of our award winning CR strategy.

Your Benefits program

We launched our new voluntary benefits program called “Your Benefits” in June 2009, specifically designed to make a real difference to everyday life and expenses for employees in the tougher economic environment. The program incentivizes front line employees with discount shopping vouchers (cited as the most popular of all benefits so far), days out, holidays, gym membership, healthcare plans and many more. Staff can even save up to £1,000 if the vouchers are fully utilized. It is essential that our staff feel completely supported during these difficult times. It is our responsibility to help them make healthier choices such as holding a gym membership, which may not have been feasible before.

So far, there has been 41 percent take up of the Personal Hospital Plan and 30 percent take up of the Voluntary Group Income Protection scheme. The roll out is nearing its completion and ARAMARK colleagues have spent nearly £20,000 to date, taking full advantage of the great discounts on offer.

We are pleased to see just how much colleagues have engaged with the Your Benefits scheme. As an example, a total of 40 percent of colleagues have completed the field satisfaction surveys providing us with useful feedback on what aspects they value and how the program can be developed for the future. We have had over 800 hits to the Your Benefits website and as a result of the field satisfaction surveys we know that over half of those completing the surveys access the Internet at home.

In addition, Your Benefits has expanded the range of help lines available to offer support to those who need it. For example, ARAMARK offers an employee assistance help line where staff have access to confidential telephone counseling and a legal information service that operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Staff can make use of additional services too, such as the personal taxation service and the financial and mortgage help line.

The wider community

The benefits package is just one element of the health and well-being focus at ARAMARK. We believe it is important for our staff to have access to schemes that allow them and us as a company to invest in the wider community. We are involved with a number of community programs. For example, we work with One Water to provide unique PlayPump systems to people in Africa who don’t currently have access to clean drinking water. In fact, we have funded a total of 21 water pump systems, providing water to over 10,000 children and their families.

Closer to home, we actively encourage employees to take part in volunteering schemes. Part of the ARAMARK “Building Communities” project involves employees working with local community centers to improve leisure facilities for residents. The first UK project took place at Newham’s community center and playground area last year. Over 100 employees were involved, all contributing their time and labor. It was a huge success, all participants were inspired and the feedback has been exceptional. This year the company will be improving another community center in a region where we work.

Employee achievement

An important part of employee health and well-being is recognition. We have an extremely talented, hardworking workforce and we encourage every person to enter industry awards to highlight their achievements. Most recently, one of our chefs won the Contract Catering Chef of the Year award at the Catering in Scotland Excellence Awards. One of our HR representatives won a Caterer & Hotelkeeper Acorn Award in recognition of some exceptional achievements for ARAMARK and the industry.

The ARAMARK Offshore team also achieved recognition at the RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards and the prestigious Scottish Offshore Achievement Award. Furthermore, ARAMARK UK has achieved a whole host of esteemed awards. By encouraging our employees to put themselves forward for certain awards, it gives them pride in their work and inspires motivation for the future.

The future

Investing in employee well-being is undoubtedly an ongoing commitment; it isn’t a simple project and needs to be viewed as a fundamental part of everyday business. This year, we will unveil our brand new intranet, which will incorporate a fully functioning health and well-being area including healthy recipes with links to helpful tools. Despite the recession, health and well-being remains high on the corporate agenda and will continue to be a vital part of the strategic retention and attraction plan for the company.

We are continuing to focus on developing our health and well-being benefits as well as initiatives to help the work/life balance of employees. Areas we are currently considering include a voluntary cycle to work scheme, annual leave purchasing program, voluntary health screens and private dental insurance. In addition, we will be looking to further drive the take up of other benefits by communicating regular promotions across the company.

We have found that the discount retail vouchers are the most popular employee benefit so far. This year, we hope to offer staff the opportunity to purchase vouchers via a monthly payroll deduction. This means that employees can spread payments throughout the year, which would be a great way for them to save for next Christmas.

Robbie Wheeler is based at ARAMARK UK and Ireland.

About the author

Robbie Wheeler is HR Director of ARAMARK UK and Ireland. She has 15 years’ experience in HR and has been in her current post at ARAMARK for five years. Prior to this, she was HR director at Land Securities for seven years and before this she held various HR and operational roles across the facilities management and retail sectors. Wheeler has a Degree in history/politics law and a Masters Degree in industrial relations. Robbie Wheeler can be contacted at: enquiries@aramark.co.uk