While it’s quick and easy to get on board with our attractive range of employee benefits, no-one knows your business and staff as well as you do. So why not consider tailoring the package that you offer with some bespoke benefits of your own?
That’s exactly what the UK’s largest service retailer, Timpson, does with its staff rewards. Timpson has 1300 shops across the UK and Ireland and its main services include key cutting, shoe repairs, engraving, drycleaning and watch repairs.
Timpson is widely recognised to have an outstanding work culture with a core value of treating employees like family. Its CEO James Timpson was recently appointed prisons minister by the Prime Minister. Sir Keir Starmer said he ‘walks the walk’ of investing in people, evidenced by Timpson’s employment practice of hiring ex-offenders.
“We look at our business as a family business,” Mr Timpson told BBC’s Moneybox Live programme. He said his finance team doesn’t spend time mapping expenditure on benefits to individual productivity to decide whether it’s worth it.
“You have to give to get,” he said.
He sees employee rewards as a form of internal marketing and internal advertising for Timpson as a great place to work. “It’s the best money I spend,” he said.
So what are some of Timpson’s creative employee rewards? Let’s look at a few:
Birthdays off
“No one should have to work on their birthday”, the Timpson website says. They give staff their birthday off and they celebrate ‘big’ birthdays by sending a bottle of Champagne.
The Birthday benefit is one of the most popular and widely commented upon benefits that Timpson gives to staff. It’s a simple idea that’s easy for other companies to incorporate into their own benefits packages.
Free holiday homes
This is one of Tmpson’s perks that grabs the headlines. They have 10 luxury holiday homes and lodges across the UK and Europe which are offered free of charge to staff and their families. (Employees should bear in mind that this is normally considered a taxable benefit in kind.)
Dreams come true scheme
This is another of Timpson’s employee rewards that gets talked about a lot – the scheme that encourages their staff to ask the business to literally make their dream come true.
Timpson says that to date they have helped thousands of colleagues achieve something they never thought possible. This includes paying for colleagues to be reunited with family members abroad, major dental work, funeral expenses and dream weddings.
“We recognise that our best asset is our amazing team, and without them we wouldn’t be the business we are today. That’s why we look after our people and treat them as part of the family.”
Wedding support
When Timpson staff get married, they get a £100 bonus and an extra week off work for their honeymoon. They also get the use of the company limousine and driver for the ceremony.
Driving lessons
Driving is a useful skill and one that can be useful to have at many workplaces. However, lessons are expensive and can be tricky to fit in around full-time work. Timpson pays up to £250 towards driving lessons for staff who have one year’s service.
Other benefits
Other bespoke benefits that Timpson offer are:
- Pet bereavement days off for the loss of a beloved pet (subject to approval).
- Charitable matching, where they match funds raised for charity up to the value of £250.
- Bring a Parent to Work Day, where staff get to show their parents their workplace.
- Stopping Smoking payout of £100 for staff who want to give up smoking or vaping and successfully do so for six months.
These additional benefits offered by Timpson tap into the family business model, and they may provide inspiration for extra benefits you could offer your staff.
Remember, however, that despite the ‘family business’ tag, Timpson is a major employer, with more than 5,000 staff. Small or medium-sized businesses may not be able to offer the same perks, and some of them – like big ticket ‘dreams come true’ or even extra days off – may not work if you’re a small team in a busy enterprise.
But we hope this has got you thinking on how you can style your benefits package to suit your business and your staff. Providing perks can be a fun way of rewarding and motivating staff, and as this article shows, the options are as wide as your own imagination.
About Us
At Enjoy Benefits, we have great experience in helping companies of all sizes introduce benefits that are suitable for their workplace.
If you would like an obligation-free chat to discuss which benefits might work for your business and your employees, please contact us by calling 0800 088 7315 or using our Contact Form.
Ready to start working with us?