Manufacturing case study
The Senator Group
The Senator Group is a major office furniture manufacturer that specialises in chairs, desks, and meeting furniture.
Headquartered in Lancashire, it’s been family-owned since 1976 and is one of the largest companies of its kind in the UK.
It serves the corporate public sector, with clients across the globe, and has six sites across the North West, employing 1,500 members of staff.
The Senator Group approached Pegasus Health regarding its health plan, which had been in place for several years but hadn’t been reviewed for a while.
The HR team wanted us to review the plan to ensure The Senator Group was getting the best possible value for money and to establish whether there were any newer products containing more digital advancements to support employees.
Focusing on demographics
When we analysed The Senator Group’s health plan, we carried out a product price review so we could maximise the new product and the opportunities to promote it within the business.
We then looked at how and where the old product was being marketed and the demographic of employees within the organisation.
From here, we were able to identify the opportunities and challenges we’d have in reaching all of those employees when launching the new product.
The employee base and challenges posed
The Senator Group has a diverse employee base comprising roles such as engineers, designers, creatives, and the people on the shop floor.
The employees range in age from 24 and under to retirement age, work at different times of day, and use different methods of communication. For example, staff in a manual role are much less likely to access internal updates via email than office staff, which means they need to receive important information in a different way.
As employee health benefits specialists, it’s our job to assess the many layers of people within an organisation, how we can best address those people, and the messaging which is most likely to resonate with them.
Furthermore, three-quarters of the workforce are male, which poses another key challenge. Statistically, men are less likely than women to make contact with their GP practice and are generally less proactive regarding their wellbeing than their female colleagues in the workforce.
So, we knew the product had to appeal to the socioeconomics of who we were providing it to, and that the perceived value among this demographic was essential in maximising engagement.
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When assessing options from different health plan providers, we asked them to provide us with a like-for-like benefit table based on the client’s needs. This was a bespoke table that replicated the existing table used by The Senator Group. The main difference was the addition of specific services and in which postcodes these services were available.
We then looked at the value of the benefit versus the cost, using Power BI reporting to highlight some of the differences. Some health plan providers will offer more optical coverage than others, for example.
When negotiating with each health plan provider, we shared our market review with them to give them the opportunity to review the competitor pricing and come back with better pricing for the existing client.
In this case, we were able to negotiate slightly better pricing, but price wasn’t the main driver. It was more about the product itself, employee usage, and the demographics of the people using it
We had to establish how this new project was going to engage more employees across the business, particularly amongst the largely male demographic
Once Pegasus Health and The Senator Group assessed the different areas of cover offered by the new provider, we agreed it was time to make a change.
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A change in provider saved money for The Senator Group, without resulting in any reduction in benefits for the employees. If anything, they had access to more services and areas of treatment than with the previous provider.
The main enhancement from the previous plan was the inclusion of an interactive app. This app allowed employees to curate their own mental wellbeing platform and dashboard while also giving them access to a wide range of helpful resources
Mental health is obviously high on any employer’s priority list due to its impact on staff wellbeing, productivity, and absences. But what isn’t always communicated to employees is how they can be proactive with, and maximise, their mental wellbeing.
This app allowed them to do just that and educate themselves on practices like meditation and mindfulness—specifically, how these practices benefit them on a daily basis and how they can incorporate them into their daily lives
There were videos showing them how to make optical and dental insurance claims. There were audio courses on why sleep quality is so important and how to improve sleep quality.
These resources were critical in getting people on board with the new plan. And let’s face it—employees having access to such information is invaluable if you’re trying to minimise disruption to operations, keep people fit for work, and protect productivity.
Another key benefit of the new plan was that it was tailored to the different personalities within The Senator Group’s workforce and their respective preferences. For example:
● If someone is too shy to reach out to a counsellor, they can visit an online forum and engage with people going through similar experiences to them, whether this be bereavement, family changes, or other mental health struggles.
● If someone has a busy schedule and would rather get a physiotherapy plan they can complete at home without having to visit a physiotherapist, they can do this via the app
Ultimately, the new plan has given more control back to The Senator Group’s employees and offered them different routes to make the most of their health and wellbeing.
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We provided The Senator Group’s managers with management training to ensure they had all the information they needed to adequately support their respective teams.
When we visited each of the six sites and had in-person overviews with the managers, we shared an FAQ document with them which:
● Answered the most common questions they had.
● Outlined how they could benefit from the mental health support.
● Explained how they could signpost staff to the new plan.
However, employees were also made aware that they could go directly to the service provider for particular questions rather than asking their managers or the HR team, as the provider’s customer services team is so helpful and efficient
A key point we got across in the training was that we weren't removing or changing anything. We were simply improving what was already there.
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To make the transition as smooth as possible, we sent out a company-wide brief prior to the changeover, making sure everybody understood the reasons for the change of provider.
We also created a comprehensive internal communications strategy, which encompassed
● Information about the plan on the Xibo screens on the shop floor, which was displayed throughout the day.
● Email marketing which went out to all employees explaining what the new plan entailed.
● A flyer which went out to all employees, inviting them to download and register themselves on the app.
● A promotion of the rewards and discounts that employees were entitled to, i.e., cinema tickets, groceries, fashion, electronics, and gym memberships
As explained above, some employees either won’t use email communication or won’t have time to read an email due to their busy schedules
Knowing this, we approached employees in person to ask them, ‘Have you downloaded the app? If you haven't, let's do it now.” This simple but effective approach was invaluable in achieving high levels of engagement across the business. People weren’t just downloading the app; they were being shown how to use it, the different areas of cover they could access, and the promotions they could take advantage of.
Whatever we could do to support employees in getting to grips with the new plan, we did.
The key takeaways
1. Look at the demographics within your business and assess the specific needs of your individual employees.
2. Break down the operational challenges you're aware of, whether it be local dentistry or mental health issues affecting staff members, and provide this information to your broker. They can use this information to earmark the best product to support your workforce.
3. Partner with a professional employee health benefits specialist who knows how to source a cost-effective health plan, engage people, communicate the right message to the workforce, and support everyone within a business—no matter the size.
The initial situation
The Senator Group was happy with its health plan in terms of what it did, and it covered off the business’s main duty of care obligations.
But the HR team wanted to analyse the product again, as they still felt they could get more value and improved employee usage. They had to be sure that there wasn’t a better product out there for them and that they were paying the right price for their existing plan.
The Senator Group had an account manager who’d been assigned to this plan for several years but had left the organisation. This meant that:
1. There hadn’t been any physical on-site support from the provider for some time, meaning the plan didn’t have much visibility across the business.
2. There wasn’t any regular manager training around signposting staff to the product.
These issues were captured in our initial fact-finding.
Lisa Snape, Group HR Project Manager at The Senator Group:
WHAT THE INITIAL REVIEW INVOLVED FROM SENATOR’S PERSPECTIVE, WHY THEY REACHED OUT TO PEGASUS, WHERE THEY FELT THE BIGGEST DRAWBACKS WERE AROUND THE THEN-EXISTING HEALTH PLAN, ETC.
The review process
Pegasus and The Senator Group had an initial meeting to discuss the history behind the health plan and how people had used it to date.
We asked The Senator Group what it was looking for in a broker and explained that there was no charge for our services.
They were told that if they were happy with the current provider, they could continue with this provider. Our job is not to come into organisations and make sweeping changes.
The questions we raised in the meeting were mostly around employees, the areas of the business they worked in, and the issues they had in using specific support services. For example, did they have access to GP appointments? How easy or difficult is it for them to book dental appointments in their postcode areas?
Based on the dialogue, we quickly established how proactive The Senator Group is in ensuring employee wellbeing and what was most important to the business. It wasn’t to prioritise employee retention, as The Senator Group has a great track record of retaining staff. It was more to establish how it could do the very best for its employees.
Knowing this helped us identify how we could pique the interest of The Senator Group’s employees, should we need to repromote the existing plan or change to a different provider.
Once we made the decision to change the product, we were able to focus on the most suitable products based on our review meeting, i.e., products which:
● Offered potentially better servicing for The Senator Group’s administration team when adding and removing employees.
● Provided better app functionality and allowed people to see the suite of benefits they had access to within the app.
Management training
We provided The Senator Group’s managers with management training to ensure they had all the information they needed to adequately support their respective teams.
When we visited each of the six sites and had in-person overviews with the managers, we shared an FAQ document with them which:
● Answered the most common questions they had.
● Outlined how they could benefit from the mental health support.
● Explained how they could signpost staff to the new plan.
However, employees were also made aware that they could go directly to the service provider for particular questions rather than asking their managers or the HR team, as the provider’s customer services team is so helpful and efficient.
A key point we got across in the training was that we weren't removing or changing anything. We were simply improving what was already there.
The outcome
The Senator Group has seen a marked increase in engagement since changing providers, which is down to an enhanced employee experience when using the app.
Nearly three-quarters (74%) of the policyholders registered on the app are actively using it. This figure far exceeds the standard health benefit engagement rate of between 30% and 60%.
We've also seen consistency in claims made throughout a 12-month period. Over 1,100 (1,126) claims were submitted during this period, and policyholders weren't just claiming once a year—they were making an average of 2.13 claims each.
These numbers are testament both to the strength of the partnership between Pegasus Health and The Senator Group and the importance of getting people on board from the outset.
We didn’t just send out a couple of emails and leave it there; we actively got people involved throughout the launch and helped them truly understand why this plan was so important to them and their teams.
Overall, there’s been positive feedback across the board. Mental health and wellbeing have improved, as has manager confidence. Employees are able to utilise specialist services without needing a GP referral, and the claims process is seamless, as evidenced by the above figures.
Reach out to Pegasus Health today
When you team up with Pegasus Health, you’ll have access to a dedicated, experienced employee health specialist who can guide you on the best type of product for your business and hold your hand in launching that product.
You're not expected to be the guru of the new product. We can do the legwork on your behalf by:
● Putting together a launch plan of marketing that goes out to all employees.
● Rolling out training for managers so that they feel confident in signposting their team members to different areas of cover.
● Being on hand to revise the marketing plan and promotion accordingly when required.
We’re essentially an extension of your team. You've got another member of staff who you can rely on but aren’t paying a salary to, and there’s no cost for using our services.
You can book a free call with us via the button below or get in touch with us here to discuss your needs.
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