Alex Yeung, Director—Human Resources Shared Services, Avery Dennison
Alex Yeung, Director—Human Resources Shared Services, Avery Dennison opened by giving a brief background of Avery Dennison, a Fortune 500 company that specialises in labelling and packaging materials.
Due to Avery Dennison’s highly diversified workforce, a one-size-fits-all approach was not seen as the best option to cater to their needs. Instead, the company decided to focus on offering flexible benefits with options offered to employees to select from. A programme was launched in 2011 with a set of objectives, such as the alignment of employee benefits across companies and provision of flexibility to the employees in terms of options and benefits that fit their individual needs.
A total of eight plans were made available to employees, which allowed them to choose which medical, risk and supplementary plans they want. In terms of enrolment, the web-based system is opened once a year, during which time you can spend your ‘flex-dollars’. Additionally, opting out of certain plans, such as dependency plans, creates a larger amount of flex dollars, which can be spent on other items, such as day care, medical plans or even gym membership or fitness equipment.
Yeung commented, “Last cycle, we achieved a pretty amazing score in our metrics—85% login rate and 95% satisfaction,” indicating a high level of employees’ involvement in making their choices via the flexible benefit list of options.
There are a few things to keep in mind when implementing such a benefits programme, Yeung advised, “You have to set up clear policies and processes and over-communicate for awareness and engagement. People need to be constantly be engaged and reminded about their options. A hybrid way of communication should be organised, including face-to-face sessions as well as email broadcasting.”
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
