valued. The culmination of this phase was the first Seasalt Festival in summer 2022, where team members gathered to celebrate successes and engage with the company’s strategic vision, fostering a deeper sense of belonging. Seasalt continued its employee experience
transformation in phase three by focusing on inclusion, feedback and personal development. Through initiatives like the behaviour profiling tool, Seasalt encouraged self- awareness and facilitated better team communication. “We launched our inclusion strategy and we also
initiated our volunteering programme, which has recently been reviewed,” David said. “We now pay two days a year full pay for all our employees to do volunteering and the opportunity for pro bono work.” Seasalt’s fourth phase embraced progressive policies like a gender-blind family leave policy. Hybrid employees
come into the office 40% of their time and remote workers now make up a third of the workforce. “We are a National Living Wage employer and we
have got our health cash plan, our private medical care, our private dental care,” Lucy said. “Our labour turnover is down, our store reviews are great, our time to hire is reduced and, most importantly, our sales performance and profit are up year on year. Whilst we are ambitious, we have great ambitions for our people.”
CLEVERCARDS: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CHOICE AND SUPPORT IN EMPLOYEE REWARDS
T
he third case study was with Kealan Lennon, founder and CEO of CleverCards. This is a digital payments platform that has grown to
serve employees and employers across 92 countries. Its approach to employee benefits and recognition is driven by an understanding of what employees truly value: choice, flexibility and ease of access. “When we began designing CleverCards, we took
a unique approach rooted in the psychology of gift- giving,” he explained. “Employers often want to specify exactly how employees use their benefits, imagining that these restrictions enhance the value of the reward.” However, research and surveys, including a recent
study of 600 employees across Ireland and the UK, showed that 99% of employees prefer having the freedom to choose how to use their rewards. Rather than a restricted set of gift cards or merchant portals, they value a universal gift card that provides genuine choice and autonomy. CleverCards delivers this autonomy with a digital
MasterCard that employees can use anywhere in the world, enabling them to meet their personal needs, whether that is covering household expenses, medical costs or leisure activities. This flexibility not only respects the unique preferences of each employee, but also greatly boosts motivation, engagement and overall job satisfaction. The digital MasterCard is compatible with Apple Pay
and Google Pay, which means employees don’t have to worry about carrying a physical card or remembering a PIN. They can simply tap their phone to make purchases, making CleverCards a highly accessible and convenient option. “One of the most surprising insights we have gained
is seeing where employees actually spend their rewards,” he said. “For many, even at quite a senior level, it is not
15
on luxury items, but rather on essential needs like motor tax, grocery bills or utility payments.” For employers, CleverCards is as simple as sending
an email. Whether employees are based in the UK, Dubai or anywhere else in the world, employers can instantly distribute a CleverCard that is ready for use immediately. This universal solution is especially valuable for companies with a global workforce because it streamlines the distribution of rewards, saving time and administrative effort. Businesses have the option to configure cards based
on specific requirements. For instance, companies can configure a CleverCard to work solely at healthcare providers, dentists, fitness centres or any category that aligns with corporate benefits policies. One overlooked area of employee frustration is the
outdated approach to business expenses. Traditionally, employees often pay out of pocket for business expenses and then wait for reimbursement. This process can create financial strain, especially for those managing larger expenses. Kealan cited the example of a team of senior
members of staff who were regularly paying more than £2,000 a month out from personal expenses for business travel, which was later reimbursed by the company. These executives were finding it hard to pay for the initial costs out of their own income, but were too embarrassed to bring the issue up with the company. CleverCards allows employers to issue pre-loaded digital
MasterCards for business expenses, configured to expire after a certain date or only work with specific merchant categories. This eliminates the need for employees to cover business expenses personally, helping to relieve financial pressure and streamline the expense process.
GLOBAL LEADERSHIP SUPPLEMENT REWARD
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