Challenge

As we continue to navigate the Great Resignation, employers are looking for new ways to stand out from their competitors to attract and retain value-adding talent.

The management team at Skout Solutions, a talent acquisition company, was considering how to make its employee value proposition (EVP) more attractive. As a subsidiary business of two parent companies, Ventia and Randstad, it was looking for a benefits offering that would help it to establish its own unique employer brand.

It also needed a suite of benefits that catered its diverse employee base, made up of
75 talent acquisition specialists who have a depth of experience in successfully filling crucial talent gaps in industries including transport, facilities management, maintenance and defence across both Australia and New Zealand.

“We recruit at all levels in multiple sectors across Australia and New Zealand,” says Jac Dircks, Operational Analyst at Skout Solutions. “Our talent is a really varied bunch of people.”

Prior to implementing Flare Benefits, there was some uncertainty among Skout’s employees about what benefits they actually had access to. “Being a small but varied team, we were looking for an opportunity to solidify our benefits and make them available to the team in an interactive and engaging way,” says Dircks.

“You can always put out an email with information about your benefits package, but our teams are often on the move, so we needed to find a way to make the information available at employees’ fingertips.”

As a small business with a varied employee pool, it needed a cost-effective and customisable platform. Flare was able to fulfil that need with its host of discounts and benefits that actually make a difference to employee’s day-to-day lives, from savings on groceries to novated car leasing agreements.

Solution

The introduction of the Flare app, where employees can access perks on-the-go, has given Skout Solutions the ability to support employees’ physical and financial wellbeing whether they are in the office or out and about.

“I get a lot of positive feedback about the discounts and rewards that are available. Keeping the cost of living down by having a discount on everyday items makes a big difference for staff in the long run,” says Dircks.

With discount offerings for large retailers such as Woolworths and Kmart, as well as gyms and wellbeing services, employees are given a more cost-effective way to access the things that are most important to them, rather than a blanket benefits package that doesn’t align with their personal lives.

“We’re always thinking about what employees are going to find beneficial. We’re all busy people, so finding benefits that will be of interest was definitely a priority. Having that ability has really been great for us.”

Make it personal

The perks packages that employers can offer via Flare are designed to be personalised based on the unique wants and needs of its diverse employee pool. Organisations can add their own brand to the app, too.

“It’s totally customisable – we can even add our Skout-specific benefits like leave, our EAP and events to the homescreen of the app,” says Dircks.

Car financing made simple

One of the most popular benefits available via the Flare app is the option to take out a novated car lease. Close to 10 per cent of Skout Solution’s employees have already made use of this offering.

For Heath Jury, People, Resource and Asset Management Specialist at Skout Solutions, the option to take out a novated lease is a huge selling point when searching for a job.

“When I was in between jobs, I was running a lease by myself without the novation aspect. It’s quite expensive to do that each month,” he says. Moving over to a novated leasing option was a “no brainer” for Jury, who has since saved over $700 per month and $18,500 on the remainder of his existing lease from doing so.

“Before coming over to join Skout, I checked that a novated leasing agreement existed before applying. It’s a great selling point from a cost perspective.

“My previous employer found the leasing concept quite challenging which made the set-up quite difficult. So to have a seamless process of winding out of an existing lease and getting me set up with a new one via Flare was super helpful.”

Jury was also impressed by the pace at which the lease was set up.“I was expecting it to take weeks to get it done, but it only took around nine days.”

“My previous employer struggled to get its head around the whole leasing side of things and it caused quite a bit of friction between us. So… getting me set up with a new one via Flare was super helpful.”
– Heath Jury, People & Resource Specialist – Skout

Outcomes: An EVP with real value

Skout Solutions introduced the Flare Benefits Platform in late 2021, and has recently launched the mobile app to its employees. Dircks says that their enthusiasm for the platform was clear from day one.

She recalls the session where management guided the team through the platform and its contents.

“We actually hadn’t sent the logins out yet, but people had already figured out that they could go in and request a password reset. So they were exploring the site before we’d even got them set up,” she says. “During our initial meeting [unveiling the app], we had people saying, ‘This looks so cool’. They were so excited to find out more about it.”

While its employees are already reaping the rewards of the benefits program, she stresses that Skout Solution’s journey with Flare has only just begun.

“We’re still growing. And we’ll continue to develop our policies and EVP. This has been one of the factors in our EVP that we’ve been making sure we’re telling new employees about, and it’s great because the benefits can grow alongside the company.”