Midlands-based global engineering company GKN is once again taking an innovative approach, this time through the launch of a new employee benefits package across its entire 6,000 strong UK workforce. 

Renowned for its engineering capabilities across the world, GKN has partnered with national employee benefits provider and health insurer BHSF to deliver the 'GKN Advantage' programme, a major component of the group's worldwide commitment to employee health and wellbeing.

Driven by an extensive and open review of the previous benefit structure, the Advantage programme has sought to bring together a range of meaningful benefits, which the organisation believes will further develop employee engagement.  

Susan Grant, GKN Projects Manager, Global Reward outlined the approach taken, saying: "We have had to be quite innovative in the way we have approached the programme in order to satisfy the many stakeholders within our business while ensuring we offer comparable, if not improved value, on benefits such as childcare vouchers and health cash plans.

"We have sought to bring together a range of high-value benefits which genuinely help our employees' pay go that little bit further."

Through the Advantage programme, staff can now access a variety of benefits from confidential legal and counselling services, to personal vehicle management under a fleet- style scheme, as well as childcare vouchers and bicycles on a salary sacrifice basis. GKN staff can also opt-in to a variety of health insurance schemes, as well as health screening and a personal online health assessment.

Brian Hall, Sales and Marketing Director at BHSF, said:"This has been our biggest challenge to date. Delivering such a wide range of benefits to an employee group, which takes excellence as standard, has meant that we have had to lift our game still further and add a number of new skill sets to our historical expertise.  

"Publishing the programme is only the start, it is now over to our team of national benefit advisers to continue to communicate all aspects of this exciting programme to every single GKN employee.

"It has long been part of BHSF's plan to expand our remit across the entire employee benefits piece, and the recent squeeze on corporate budgets has provided us with an accelerated opportunity.  

"As the spend in this area among employers has come under pressure, our not-for-profit approach and the buying power that comes from serving over 2,800 corporate customers has allowed us to steal a march on the competition.

"With the Advantage programme now rolled out across the UK, the next step is to fully embed the benefits within the GKN workforce. 

"Thanks to the vision and values born through GKN's 250 year history, the Advantage programme is guided by its clear commitment to and close relationship with employees. The longstanding association between GKN and BHSF is evidence certainly that in these economically tough times, enduring and mutual partnerships can be the means to deliver real, tangible value for staff".

For more information about BHSF, please visit their website here: www.bhsf.co.uk