Merseyside firms are committed to the work-life balance of employees, reports Alex Turner

SIR FRED GOODWIN has become the poster boy for over-rewarded fat-cats, with his £693,000-a-year pension as controversy about bonuses in the banking sector continues to rage.

But the more pressing concern for employers locally is how they can retain valuable staff while adapting to the problems of the wider economy which is forcing them to cut costs.

Mike Herdman, senior manager in employer solutions at accountancy firm Grant Thornton, suggests there are several things firms can do to ensure they receive value for money from staff.

He said: “Implementing a flexible benefits package should not be complicated, nor costly to administer, and should be very cost- effective, which is a huge benefit to businesses looking for alternative ways to reward staff in today’s tough market.

“For the employer, it provides the means to respond quickly to market changes and react to peaks and troughs in demand. For employees, it affords the opportunity to achieve a greater work-life balance.

“Examples include grandparent leave, having birthdays as an extra, free, day's holiday, annual hours contracts, childcare leave or the ability to take unpaid leave.

“The best advice is to consult your staff, find out what would make a difference to them, and trust them to have the maturity to make it work for both parties.”

A Liverpool firm that believes such an approach generates real benefits is FRC Group.

It has received several awards for how it treats its employees who work for its three companies, Furniture Resource Centre, Revive and Bulky Bob’s.

The awards include being named the best training organisation in the country in the medium-sized employer category at the UK Skills National Training Awards for its Driving Change training programme for long-term unemployed people.

FRC Group also recognises the work of its staff throughout the year, with employee of the month, top trainee and values awards.

And the company works hard to ensure that all staff feel part of the team, from being given their own mug with their name on it on their first day, through to its University for the People, which ensures everyone is kept informed with how the company is performing.

Staff birthdays are marked with a “slap-up meal” and the afternoon off and it allows paid leave, described as goodwill days, lasting between one and ten days if staff need time off to sort out family matters that are not covered by statutory allowances.

FRC Group’s commercial director, Shaun Doran, said: “We are a great place to work because our staff feel passionate about the work that we do. We make a difference to people’s lives every day, and this is a really motivating factor for why a lot of people work here.

“We treat our staff with respect, value them and communicate to them the part they play at FRC Group.”

Internal communications are also a key focus for housing group Plus Dane, which employs more than 400 staff and owns or manages 15,000 properties across Merseyside and Cheshire.

Plus Dane chief executive Ken Perry said: “Plus Dane is committed to delivering high-quality services to our residents and to the neighbourhoods we work in.

“You cannot do that without staff who share that vision, and that commitment – and at Plus Dane we feel we have got the balance right. We work together as a team, and we offer a supportive and satisfying work environment. That is reflected in our high staff retention rates, and the fact that our employees know that they are helping us to make a real difference in our communities.”

Plus Dane has twice been recognised recently for how it looks after its employees, as it was ranked 35th in the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies Awards and rated as an “outstanding”, two-star organisation by workplace engagement specialists Best Companies.

PUBLIC relations is one industry where a company’s people are also its product, which means keeping staff engaged and positive is critical.

Liverpool-based marketing and PR agency Paver Smith attributes much of its success to its investment in developing staff, which has resulted in it gaining Investor in People status while it recently launched its PR Training Academy.

Managing director Dougal Paver points to a staff turnover of 11.2% – less than half of the industry average – as proof that his approach works.

He said: “Bosses get hung up on pay, but research shows that it’s much less important in attracting good people than other soft factors such as career advancement opportunities, a flexible schedule or generous holiday allowance. So long as your base pay is hitting the average for the industry, staff will focus on other aspects of your reward package.

“Once you’ve attracted people, you’ve got to keep them and their focus on rewards changes. They value non-reward factors highly, such as the prestige of working for a well-regarded business and satisfaction with the employer’s people decisions. It’s as much about your culture and values as it is about what you give them and that’s where a lot of firms get it wrong.”

Every Wednesday afternoon, Paver Smith “crack open the bubbly to celebrate half a week's outstanding work” and Friday morning sees “bacon butties delivered to the office to help us make one last push to the weekend”.

For Mr Paver, this type of activity is part of reinforcing the company’s ethos.

“The challenge for bosses is in walking the talk every day,” he said.

“If you say your values are ‘X’ then you’d better deliver on them or the loss in credibility and trust can be catastrophic.

“That’s a big ask of a boss under pressure, such as in today’s environment, but if they lose sight of it then everything else will get so much harder. There’s never been a more important time to be absolutely focused on staff well-being and happiness. We benchmark our staff satisfaction with an annual independent survey and the results are really helpful in guiding what we say and do.”

However, companies must consider some issues before handing out benefits, argues Mark Dale, head of employment law at solicitors DLA Piper, Liverpool.

He said: “The first issue in terms of benefits-in-kind is whether they are going to make those benefits purely a contractual benefit or how far it is a discretionary benefit.

“If you are giving someone a benefit of a flexible working arrangement, it is very important that employers, when providing a non-cash benefit, set down the circumstances they can take it away or give it to the employee.

“If there’s a lack of clarity, there’s a risk that it can become contractual, which the employer mightn’t want.

“What employers also need is to have some assessment as to who will win and who will lose in using a benefit. It could discriminate against one part of the workforce, and they may need to be able to justify why this is necessary for the business going forward.”

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