Overhauling reward, recognition and benefits – The London Gatwick success story

Officially opened as a commercial airport in 1958, London Gatwick is the UK’s second-largest airport and is a vital piece of national infrastructure that helps drive both the regional and national economy. They are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year – and over 40 million passengers now travel through the airport every year.

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“I’m surprised myself how much engagement we’ve had with the OneHub platform – particularly with the recognition scheme, which people absolutely love. And when we ran our employee engagement survey, satisfaction with benefits went up 19% and our employee engagement across the airport was up by 12% So we’re really happy that what we’ve done is making a difference.”

Steve Walsh, Reward Manager, London Gatwick

Objectives

Modernise reward and benefits – and ensure the programme meets the needs of a diverse and deskless workforce.

1

Align recognition with Gatwick’s values – supporting Gatwick’s goals to meet demand, achieve regulatory targets and exceed customer expectations.

2

Bring all elements of reward together on one digital platform to make it easy for employees to understand the value of everything on offer, and take action.

3

The London Gatwick success story

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The challenge

BUILDING BACK BETTER

The pandemic significantly impacted Gatwick, with 80% of employees furloughed and some voluntary redundancies.

In 2022, Gatwick Airport needed to:

Engage their people with a reward strategy that would attract, retain and motivate the best people to deliver for customers.

Rebuild and grow – developing their bench strength to have multiple successors for each role. Headcount has increased by 360 in the last 12 months.

Modernise their EVP and total reward strategy, and ensure it was inclusive and fair.

THE NEED FOR A TECH SOLUTION

Gatwick’s new reward strategy needed to encompass all elements of reward and recognition, including global pay grading, flexible benefits, digital recognition and beyond – to help them become a competitive employer.

Employees previously didn’t appreciate their total reward package, so Gatwick needed a way to bring all elements of reward together in one digital system, making it easy for employees to access, engage and see the value of everything on offer.

Gatwick partnered with Benifex to implement OneHub – launching Discounts in July 2022, Recognition (‘High Five’) in October 2022, Global Grading and Flexible Benefits (‘MyReward’) in April 2023, and Total Reward Statements in October 2023.

Solution

An innovative solution

NEW BENEFITS THAT MEET DIVERSE EMPLOYEE NEEDS

Before 2022, Gatwick’s more traditional benefits strategy catered mostly to people with families. With employees aged between 16 and 73, Gatwick has a diverse workforce and needed their benefits scheme to reflect this. On top of their 5 strong core benefits, employees can now choose from 11 new flexible benefits that suit their lifestyles, needs and preferences. Gatwick has put choice and autonomy in the hands of their people.

A REWARD STRATEGY THAT SUPPORTS BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

Gatwick’s new reward strategy supports their growth goals – as well as the new benefits, their new pay grading structure has created clearer career paths and progression opportunities.

The flexible benefits scheme focuses on wellbeing and sustainability which supports Gatwick’s ESG and CSR goals – for example, Electric Vehicles and Cycle-to-Work benefits support their net zero policy and are free from income tax for employees, and they have a new Menopause benefit which supports their DEI policy.

Furthermore, Gatwick’s recognition scheme is tied to their corporate values so they’re fostering the behaviours and culture they want to see through ‘High Five.’ Engagement with ‘High Five’ is particularly high, 23% higher than Benifex’s benchmark.

PUTTING THE DESKLESS EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE FRONT AND CENTRE

Before OneHub, reward and benefits information was spread over disparate systems; employees couldn’t easily see the value of their total reward. Reaching Gatwick’s workforce is challenging because employees are dispersed throughout the airport – or on the airfield. Therefore, the new Reward and Recognition tool needed to be digital and app-based.

To support the launch, Gatwick used video, leaflets, an online newsletter, promoted the launch at town halls, and sent dedicated communications through senior leaders. In an unusual move, Gatwick even sent letters home with QR codes to get employees signed up to the platform.

Results

IMPACT OF GATWICK’S NEW REWARD AND RECOGNITION STRATEGY

Employee satisfaction with their pay has increased 19% in just one year (2023 vs 2022)!

Company engagement is up 12% YoY.

Employee attrition has fallen by 4% in the 12 months since MyReward launched – from 10.6% to 6.9%, which is strong for the industry.

GATWICK HAS CREATED A CULTURE OF RECOGNITION

The ‘High Five’ recognition platform has been a resounding success:

5,255 recognitions sent in 12 months; this is equivalent to at least 2 recognitions per person.

The year-round engagement with the platform is fantastic. 98% of employees logged into the platform over the same period (compared to the Benifex benchmark of 75%).

In the last 12 months, 68.3% of employees shared or engaged with a recognition.

The recognition tool has also encouraged collaboration and strengthened networks across the business. The reward team has even received great unsolicited feedback from employees as well as leaders across the business.

EMPLOYEES ARE GETTING GREATER VALUE FROM BENEFITS

84% of employees logged into the benefits platform during enrolment

16% of employees submitted a flexible benefit. Gatwick’s core benefit offering is strong and includes pension, PMI, life assurance and income protection.

Dental insurance, Cycle-to-Work and Partner Life Assurance were the top flexible benefits selected.

c.£10,000 saved by employees each month through the discounts and cashback scheme – including basic cost-of-living items through to luxury items and holidays.