An SME with a workforce of 40 in South Wales has introduced a reward scheme to reward staff who clock up long service, granting them a five-week fully paid sabbatical.
Employees at Low Cost Vans, a specialist supplier of commercial lease- and contract-hire vehicles across the UK, receive five weeks’ leave once they have worked for the company more than a decade.
Low Cost Vans invests heavily in staff training and, though it already boasts impressive retention, the scheme is seen as another method of rewarding loyalty and encouraging employees to go the extra mile.
The sabbatical can be taken any time, comes with full pay plus the employee’s average bonus for the preceding 12 months, and stands apart from the employee’s holiday entitlement.
Rod Lloyd, Managing Director of Low Cost Vans, said:
“We are very proud of the team atmosphere here, evidenced by a very low rate of attrition. People like working here, but I wanted to offer our staff another incentive, one that would enable them to plan for a life-changing trip or event.
“We tend to hire local people and invest in them from the start – a strategy that has paid dividends. Offering this five-week sabbatical after ten years’ service is a great way to say ‘thank you’ to our staff for all of their hard work.”
Commenting on schemes designed to boost retention and cultivate more positive work cultures, Bruce Ramshaw, director of Ramshaw HR Limited which provides HR services to SMEs in London and Surrey, said:
“Companies function best when they can harness the energy, passion and commitment of their employees. How the workforce behaves has a significant effect on the overall productivity of the organisation, and the introduction of reward schemes, such as sabbaticals, has demonstrable positive impact on employee engagement. Employees who are engaged are more motivated and more likely to remain loyal ambassadors, which bodes well for the future of the organisation.’’
Ramshaw HR are experts in a range of HR services. You can find out more about structuring a reward scheme for your employees here. Contact us today for a no obligation quote.
