How Lowell transformed its employee benefits strategy

Lowell recognised it needed a new approach to employee benefits in order to attract and keep talented people in a highly competitive market.How did we help Lowell stand out as an employer of choice? Watch the video below or read on.

The challenge

Lowell is one of Europe’s largest credit management and litigation firms, with 1,700 employees in the UK. Lowell’s employee engagement surveys with UK workers showed that its current employee benefits programme was failing to meet people's needs – with a lack of desirable choices and low awareness of what was on offer.

The company knew that providing good employee benefits that people really want is one way to gain a competitive advantage in the search for attracting and retaining talent. Given that Leeds city centre is a hotspot for professional and financial services – and with the Lowell HQ located outside the centre – the need for a great employee benefits scheme became all the more important.

A key consideration was the diversity of Lowell’s workforce.

In addition, the cost of employee benefits needed to be within Lowell’s allocated budget — and targeted. This meant offering benefits that would help to attract and keep talent, while removing those where take-up was low.

The solution

Barnett Waddingham carried out a full market review and a rebroke exercise of all Lowell’s employee benefits, which helped generate savings to fund other areas of the project, such as the employee engagement strategy developed with DrumRoll, our in-house creative agency.

A new engagement platform based on 4me – our digital employee benefits programme – was developed, incorporating the company's specific requirements and branding, named Lowell4me. It offers a wide range of benefits, communicating choice and flexibility to employees and providing a complete picture of their pay and benefits, helping them feel valued.

The new platform provides:

• A consumer-grade experience for employees – clear, relevant and engaging content   
• Easy-to-use and hassle free – e.g. no need to continually enter a username and password 
• Accessible from multiple devices – including mobile phones, providing anytime/anywhere access 
• Flexible with lots of choice – more benefits available at any time, and not just during a window  
• Personalised and inclusive – to reflect a diverse workforce at various stages in their lives 
• Configurable platform – simple to change images, add text and upload video content

The results

By meeting the needs of a diverse workforce – engaging them as individuals – Lowell boosted their engagement levels to almost 90%, increasing the company’s appeal to job seekers and reducing employee turnover.  

One example of this is Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs). With Lowell’s HQ being outside Leeds city centre, most of its people drive to the office. Being able to offer cars that are ULEV demonstrated one way in which benefits could match the genuine needs of their employees. This now provides a tax efficient benefit that enables people to access electric vehicles they may have otherwise been unable to afford. It also supports Lowell’s commitment to sustainability and responsible business foundations. (Read more about BW's approach to helping clients with sustainable benefits.)

How we can help you

Our approach to understanding the happiness and wellbeing of a workforce involves unlocking an organisation’s DNA – getting under its skin, uncovering what makes it unique. We use people analytics to help inform decision making and strategy, in order to create value while investing sustainably for the future. 

If you think your team could benefit from our expertise as Lowell has, please contact Laura Matthews or your existing BW consultant. You can also learn more about 4me, our digital employee benefits programme, by clicking here.