Categories

EB Categories 2012

• 1. Most effective travel strategy for business and perk car drivers

  The judges will be looking for a successful strategy that has made company cars and allowances effective as a benefit in your organisation.
  For example you may have:

  ·          launched a clever benefits initiative to encourage environmentally-friendly travel practices

  ·          changed your business travel practices to improve driver health and safety

  ·          introduced a new green car policy

  ·          implemented an effective tax or other form of cost-cutting drive

  ·          introduced new technology to capture mileage or communicate more effectively with drivers

  ·          run a driver training programme that has helped cut costs or made drivers more efficient

  The judges will be looking for thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.
  
  

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective travel strategy for business and perk car drivers

   

• 2. Most effective healthcare and wellbeing strategy for employers with fewer than 1,000 staff

  Have you put in place a strategy that helps promote health and wellbeing in your organisation? The judges will be looking for a successful strategy that helps boost productivity or engagement through employee wellbeing.

  For example, you may have introduced:

  ·          healthy eating or nutrition advice

  ·          gym membership or sports activities

  ·          wellbeing fairs, health checks or a health awareness campaign

  ·          a carefully targeted benefit

  ·          a whole new healthcare strategy

  The judges will be looking for thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.

   

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective healthcare and wellbeing strategy for employers with fewer than 1,000 staff
  
  

• 3. Most effective healthcare and wellbeing strategy for employers with more than 1,000 staff

  Have you put in place a strategy that helps promote health and wellbeing in your organisation? The judges will be looking for a successful strategy that helps boost productivity or engagement through employee wellbeing.

  For example, you may have introduced:

  ·          healthy eating or nutrition advice

  ·          gym membership or sports activities

  ·          wellbeing fairs, health checks or a health awareness campaign

  ·          a carefully targeted benefit

  ·          a whole new healthcare strategy

  The judges will be looking for thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.

   

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective healthcare and wellbeing strategy for employers with more than 1,000 staff
  
  

• 4. Most effective absence management and rehabilitation strategy

  This award will recognise employers that have made a concerted effort to reduce long- and short-term sickness absence.

  
  

  Steps may have been taken to rehabilitate employees back into the workplace after a period of long-term sickness or to identify the causes of absence, for example stress or musculoskeletal problems, or you may have taken a proactive approach to redesigning your absence strategy to accommodate the government’s fit notes or make reasonable adjustments to help absent employees return to work.
  
  The judges will look for strategies that integrate healthcare benefits (such as cash plans, private medical insurance, employee assistance programmes and income protection) with broader occupational health, HR and management policies.

  
  

  They will also be looking for strategies that address the wider causes of employee absence, such as work-life balance or caring issues, and the steps you have taken to overcome these. For example, you may have introduced flexible working arrangements or emergency care benefits for employees.

  
  

  The judges will be looking for thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.

   

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective absence management and rehabilitation strategy

   

• 5. Most effective pensions communication strategy

  Have you put in a place a strategy to communicate pensions to employees in your organisation? The judges will be looking for a successful strategy that helps to boost employee knowledge, and understanding, of pensions and the need to plan for retirement.

  They will be looking at:

  ·          what methods you have used to communicate pensions to staff

  ·          how these were appropriate or tailored to suit your workforce

  ·          what issues/topics the strategy covered. For example, was it to educate employees about specific issues, such as investment or contribution levels?

  The judges will be looking for a thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.

   Click here to download the category entry form for:Most effective pensions communication strategy

  
  
  

• 6. Most effective defined benefit pensions strategy

  The judges will be looking for a successful strategy that has made defined benefit pensions an effective benefit in your organisation.

  For example, you may have:

  ·          taken steps to ensure your DB scheme remains open to employees

  ·          taken steps to address risk reduction, such as carried out a buy-in or buy-out, an enhanced transfer value exercise or pension increase exchange exercise

  ·          taken steps to reduce your scheme’s deficit

  ·          reviewed your defined benefit pensions provision in light of the reduction in the annual tax-free contribution allowance to £50,000 from April 2011 or restriction of the lifetime allowance limit to £1.5 million from April 2012?

  ·          switched from retail prices indexation to consumer prices indexation

  ·          conducted a data audit in line with the Pension Regulator’s guidance

  ·          introduced measures to deal with the Pension Protection Fund levy

  ·          begun to prepare for the 2012 pension reforms

  The judges will be looking for a thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.

   

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective defined benefit pensions strategy

   

• 7. Most effective defined contribution pensions strategy

  The judges will be looking for a successful strategy that has made defined contribution pensions an effective benefit in your organisation.

  They will be looking at factors such as scheme design; how the plan is administered; scheme governance; investment strategy; and your choice of default funds.

  Have you taken steps to get ahead of the game in preparing for the 2012 pension reforms in order to position yourself as an employer of choice?

  Ultimately, the judges will be looking at why your scheme is appropriate for your workforce and how it helps to ensure they make adequate provision for their retirement.

  The judges will be looking for a thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.

   

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective defined contribution pensions strategy

• 8. Most effective pensions change strategy

  Have you implemented a pensions change strategy in your organisation? The judges will be looking for a successful strategy that has resulted in effective pensions provision for your employees.

  For example, you may have:

  ·          introduced a new pension scheme for the first time

  ·          introduced a new pension scheme to run alongside existing pensions provision

  ·          moved from a defined benefit to defined contribution arrangement

  ·          moved from a trust-based DC to a contract-based DC arrangement

  ·          altered your investment strategy

  ·          changed your contribution structure

  ·          implemented a corporate wrap as part of your retirement savings strategy

  ·          taken steps to prepare for the 2012 pension reforms, for example, by auto-enrolling staff ahead of your staging date, introducing compulsory contributions for the employer and/or staff or introducing measures to deal with any increase in costs

  The judges will be looking for a thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective pensions change strategy

   

• 9. Most effective strategy to encourage workplace savings

  This award will recognise employers that have made a concerted effort to encourage workplace saving among employees.

  For example, you may have:

  ·          introduced a corporate Isa

  ·          introduced a corporate wrap/employee savings/employee wealth platform

  ·          implemented bonus sacrifice

  ·          put in place a comprehensive financial education campaign

  ·          made use of technology to encourage employees to consider their savings needs and make it possible for them to take action

  Ultimately, you will need to demonstrate an approach that encourages employees to consider their savings needs in the short-, medium- and long-term.

  The winning entry will not focus purely on pensions, but will demonstrate a much broader approach to workplace savings and financial benefits.

  The judges will be looking for thought-through objectives, innovation and quantifiable measurable results.

   

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective strategy to encourage workplace savings

  
  

   

• 10. Most effective motivation or incentive strategy

  The judges will be looking for a successful motivation strategy that uses either incentives or motivational rewards to help drive employee performance, engagement or retention.

  If you have put in place an initiative to motivate or incentivise staff, we want to hear about it.
  For example:

  ·          clever use of motivational voucher rewards

  ·          bonus rewards and incentives for sales teams

  ·          awards ceremonies

  ·          colleague recognition schemes

  ·          long-service schemes
  

  ·          linking incentive schemes to other benefits (e.g. flexible benefits)
  

  The judges will be looking for thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.

   

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective motivation or incentive strategy

• 11. Most effective use of a flexible benefits plan

  The judges will be looking for a successful strategy that has made delivering benefits through a flexible benefits plan effective in your organisation. This will be a plan that operates with a set enrolment period in which employees select benefits for that period, for example, a quarter or a year.

  They will be looking at:

  ·          which benefits you included and why

  ·          how the plan was communicated and administered

  ·          how it complements or helps drive other HR or corporate initiatives

  ·          how you handled costs and tax breaks

  Where you use a third-party provider to administer the scheme, the judges will be looking at how you have customised the product in the way that they are presented to staff to make them unique to your organisation. Have you adapted the functionality to suit your particular workforce?

  Do you operate a specific theme for the plan each year to promote particular issues, for example, employee health and wellbeing?

  What other schemes is flex run in tandem with in your organisation, for example, voluntary benefits or total reward?

  The judges will be looking for thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.

   Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective use of a flexible benefits plan

  
  

• 12. Most effective use of a voluntary benefits plan and staff deals

  If you have recently launched or revamped a voluntary benefits scheme, this category could be for you. The judges will be looking for a successful plan that has used staff-paid, voluntary benefits or staff deals in an effective manner. These are benefits that are available for employees to take up at any time throughout the year.
  Whether is it a plan that simply maximises staff discounts or uses tax-efficient benefits via salary sacrifice, the judges will be looking at:

  ·          which benefits you choose to offer and why

  ·          how the plan is communicated and administered

  ·          how it fits into other benefits strategies

  The judges will be looking for thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.

   

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective use of a voluntary benefits plan and staff deals

   

• 13. Most effective all-employee share scheme strategy

  The judges will be looking for a successful strategy that has made HM Revenue & Customs-approved all-employee share schemes an effective benefit in your organisation.

  These include:

  ·          sharesave/SAYE

  ·          share incentive plan (Sip)

  ·          company share option plan (Csop)

  The judges will be looking at how:

  ·          your scheme(s) was communicated

  ·          how the company handled any ups and downs in the share price

  ·          impact of the scheme(s) on measures such as retention, staff engagement, and productivity

  The judges will be looking for thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective all-employee share scheme strategy

   

• 14. Most effective reward or benefits strategy for staff based outside the UK

  If you operate a reward strategy across two or more countries outside the United Kingdom or deal with large numbers of expatriate staff then this category is for you.

  The judges will be looking for an entrant that has used its global reward strategy effectively to help drive its business goals.

  For example, you may have:

  ·          introduced a specific reward or bonus strategy across several countries

  ·          implemented multinational pooling or an international employee benefits trust

  ·          launched a global shares scheme or flexible benefits plan

  ·          revised your expatriate reward strategy

  ·          introduced a cross-border motivation/recognition scheme

  ·          launched international total reward statements

  The judges will be looking for thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective reward or benefits strategy for staff based outside the UK

  
  

• 15. Most effective benefits communications strategy for employers with more than 5,000 staff

  NB: This entry will be judged solely on the communications materials submitted to support this entry rather than the benefits strategy these supported.

  The winner of this category will be awarded for an effective and innovative approach to benefits communications; be it through face-to-face, print, social or digital media. Your campaign could have been for a one-off benefits promotion or a whole benefits package; ultimately it will be judged on how appropriate and effective it was. The judges will be looking at:

  ·          what media was chosen and why

  ·          the costs involved

  ·          who put the communications strategy and materials together, for example, was this done by an internal team or external provider?

  ·          why the media and strategy were appropriate for your workforce

  
  The judges will be looking for thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective benefits communications strategy for employers with more than 5,000 staff

• 16. Most effective benefits communications strategy for employers with fewer than 5,000 staff

  NB: This entry will be judged solely on the communications material submitted to support this entry rather than the benefits strategy these supported.

  The winner of this category will be awarded for an effective and innovative approach to benefits communications; be it through face-to-face, print, social or digital media. Your campaign could have been for a one-off benefits promotion or a whole benefits package; ultimately it will be judged on how appropriate and effective it was. The judges will be looking at:

  ·          what media was chosen and why

  ·          the costs involved

  ·          who put the communications strategy and materials together, for example, was this done by an internal team or external provider?

  ·          why the media and strategy were appropriate for your workforce

  
  The judges will be looking for thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.

   

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective benefits communications strategy for employers with fewer than 5,000 staff

• 17. Most effective benefits strategy for working parents and carers

  This award recognises the steps taken by employers to support working parents and carers. If you offer childcare vouchers, nursery places, guidance on eldercare, or flexible working arrangements, this is your chance to show how your organisation supports carers, which in turn makes your employees more effective at work.

  The judges will be looking for thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.

   

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective benefits strategy for working parents and carers

  
  

• 18. Most effective total reward strategy

  The judges will be looking for an entrant which has successfully integrated its reward offerings (which can include: pay and bonuses, pensions and benefits, staff development, work environment, etc) into a single ‘total reward’ strategy.
  The judges want to see what reward elements you have included in your strategy and why

  Ultimately, you will have to demonstrate that the strategy adopted met the organisation’s stated HR and/or business objectives.

  The judges will be looking for thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.

   

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective total reward strategy

• 19. Most effective use of total reward statements

  The judges will be looking for an entrant which has successfully integrated total reward statements into its benefits communications strategy.

  Whether these are paper-based or online, how do the statements suit the needs of your workforce? The judges will want to see what information is included on your statement and what your objectives are behind them.

  Ultimately, the judges want you to demonstrate how your use of total reward statements has helped to increase employee understanding and appreciation of the value of your organisation’s reward package.

  The judges will be looking for through-through objectives, innovation and quantifiable measurable results.

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective use of total reward statements

• 20. Most effective benefits strategy in a public or voluntary sector organisation

  This award gives public and voluntary sector organisations the chance to demonstrate how they use benefits to tackle the reward issues that specifically face the public sector.

  Your entry should show how you use benefits effectively, for example, to mitigate pressures on pay budgets, how you maximise your pension scheme to attract top-level staff, or how you are dealing with pension cuts.
  The judges will examine how you used all the components of an overall benefits strategy to deliver a return on investment.

  For example, in terms of:

  ·          improved staff recruitment and/or retention

  ·          increased productivity

  ·          staff engagement

  ·          reduced absenteeism rates

  ·          reduced reward costs

  The judges will be looking for thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective benefits strategy in a public or voluntary sector organisation
  

   

• 21. Most effective alignment of reward strategy to business strategy for organisations with fewer than 1,000 staff

  This awards gives small to medium-sized organisations the chance to demonstrate how their reward strategy is aligned with their broader business strategy.

  The judges will be looking at how your overall reward strategy (not just one specific benefit) supports both your organisation’s HR and business goals. How have you used your reward strategy to address organisational goals?

  For example, in terms of:

  ·          improved staff recruitment and/or retention

  ·          increased productivity

  ·          staff engagement

  ·          reduced absenteeism rates

  A winning entry must demonstrate tangible business results of your strategies.

  The judges will be looking for thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.

   

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective alignment of reward strategy to business strategy for organisations with fewer than 1,000 staff
  

   

• 22. Most effective alignment of reward strategy to business strategy for organisations with more than 1,000 staff

  This awards gives larger organisations the chance to demonstrate how their reward strategy is aligned with their broader business strategy.

  The judges will be looking at how your overall reward strategy (not just one specific benefit) supports both your organisation’s HR and business goals. How have you used your reward strategy to address organisational goals?

  For example, in terms of:

  ·          improved staff recruitment and/or retention

  ·          increased productivity

  ·          staff engagement

  ·          reduced absenteeism rates

  A winning entry must demonstrate the tangible results of your strategies.

  The judges will be looking for thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.
  
  

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Most effective alignment of reward strategy to business strategy for organisations with more than 1,000 staff

• 23. Benefits team of the year

  This category celebrates how an in-house benefits team worked together to deliver benefits that meet the HR and business strategies of their organisation.

  We want to know who is in your team, and how the skills and talents of each member played a crucial part in the effective delivery of your benefits strategy.

  Using examples of strategies and day-to-day work, we would like you to demonstrate how the collective achievement of team members has led to the results achieved.
  The judges will be looking for thought-through strategy and objectives, innovation and quantifiable, measurable results.
  
  

  Click here to download the category entry form for: Benefits team of the year

• 24. Employee benefits professional of the year

  We are not calling for entries for this award, but if you would like to make a nomination, please email the Employee Benefits editorial team at eb.editorial@centaur.co.uk. The winner will be an individual who has made their mark on the industry – as selected by the Employee Benefits editorial team.

• 25. Grand Prix

  This category cannot be entered. Instead, the judges will be looking for an entry that truly stands out among the other category winners.