Group Risk ‘the bedrock’ of new employee benefits package for growing Belfast FS firm

FinTrU, a Belfast-based company that offers outsourced legal, compliance and regulatory services for the financial services sector has completely upgraded its benefits package in order to attract and retain the best staff in an increasingly competitive market.

Competitive market led the company to re-invigorate its benefits to attract and retain talent

Sinead Carville, Executive Director, Human Resources, FinTrU explained:

“Looking after the health and wellbeing of our staff is absolutely core to us. Having a comprehensive reward package that demonstrates how we look after our staff is a real differentiator, and as a relatively new name and a fast-growing company, this helps us compete with more established employers. We took in to account our demographic and now offer a package tailored to their specific needs and wants – a significant proportion of which is being delivered via group risk protection. We’ve have had great feedback from existing staff and prospective employees alike.”

With holistic health and wellbeing at the core of FinTrU’s strategy, the company worked with specialist adviser Incorporate Benefits LLP, to select a number of benefits that covered the entire spectrum of health and wellbeing. Group risk products will play a core role in supporting people with early intervention, and supporting those unable to work and helping get them back to work more quickly, working alongside the healthcare benefits.

The full suite of benefits comprises:
 group life insurance
 group income protection
 group sick pay insurance
 private medical insurance (PMI)
 a cash plan

This greatly improved upon the previous package which included financial support for CPD and childcare vouchers.

John Kerr, managing director of Incorporate Benefits, commented:

“As a company working with some of the world’s largest Investment Banks, FinTrU is accustomed to turning conventional thinking on its head and it became clear that they wanted to take this approach with their employee benefits too. Not only is it important to attract and retain the best talent in order to innovate, but the company wanted to ensure their reward package genuinely supported the health and wellbeing of its employees.

“When a company is completely overhauling its benefits package, it’s vital to ensure the benefits are streamlined and where possible to avoid duplication. In this case several of the group risk products provided an EAP and so we took the decision to direct all staff to one selected provider for the equity of staff and to ensure successful reporting and management of the scheme for HR.”

Launch to staff

At the launch of the new benefits package, the company conducted presentations to help engagement and communicate the various benefits of each scheme and how and when to use them.

FinTrU also ran a month of incentivised health and wellbeing challenges to get all staff on board with the new benefits and increase engagement. As part of the “Febulous Challenge”, staff were encouraged to ‘Take 5’ and be active but with a competitive twist! Prizes were awarded at the end of the month to those who actively participated in the initiative. The month saw teams come together to concoct increasingly creative challenges whilst others took to the gym, the park, the yoga mat and even the ice rink! .Everyone was encouraged to share photographs on an internal social networking site to showcase their endeavours. The majority – 212 out of 234 – of staff took part.

Some benefit highlights:
• Sick Pay Scheme – provides replacement income to employees on a short-term basis (up to a year – thereafter they’re covered by the long-term income protection policy), this also comes with an EAP
• Long-term income protection cover also includes Best Doctors, Treatment Sourcing and Business Care (advice for HR)
• The cash plan includes dental, optical cash back for all employees plus access to private consultation, diagnostics and therapy, also a private GP line.
• PMI – includes comprehensive cover for inpatient, outpatient and cancer cover.

Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for GRiD said:

“It’s great to see advisers and employers using group risk protection as the bedrock for a comprehensive employee benefits package. Group risk products are relatively inexpensive and the benefits are so far reaching, particularly when the added extras such as access to Employee Assistance Programmes are considered, and they shouldn’t be overlooked in favour of more immediate staff rewards. If communicated regularly and well-utilised, the inherent value in group risk products is vast, not just for employees, but for line managers and the business too.”

About Lisa Baker, Editor, Wellbeing News 4214 Articles
Editor Lisa Baker is passionate about the benefits of a holistic approach to healing. Lisa is a qualified Vibrational Therapist and has qualifications in Auricular Therapy, Massage, Kinesiology, Crystal Healing, Seichem and is a Reiki Master.