CASE STUDY
New case study of career bands at Friends Provident
To support culture change needed for demutualisation in 2001, financial services group Friends Provident introduced five broad career bands with generic skills and competency levels. A new case study by e-reward.co.uk investigates the company's experience to date.
We also examine how a move to benefits flexibility has supported the retention of the final salary pension scheme while facilitating flexibility in holiday entitlement and car choices and saving money on childcare and voluntary benefits such as healthcare.
Company profile: Friends Provident Life & Pensions
| Employees: | 4,000. |
| Location: | Headquarters in Dorking, locations throughout the UK. |
| Business activities: | Friends Provident is a leading financial services group and a member of the FTSE 100. It has two core businesses -- Life & Pensions and Asset Management, both of which are included in the FTSE4Good Index, which recognises socially responsible organisations. Our case study focuses on the Life & Pensions business, which markets a broad range of life and pensions products through direct marketing channels and via Independent Financial Advisers. |
| Web site: | |
| Interviewee: | e-reward.co.uk interviewed Peter Harris in April 2004. Peter is Friends Provident’s reward and benefits manager. |
| What you will find in this report | |
| In this 16-page case study (5,500 words), written and researched by e-reward.co.uk, we see an example of an organisation’s reward strategy supporting culture change while facilitating pay differentiation by job discipline, individual performance and region. | Page no. |
| Executive summary | 5 |
| Company profile -- overview -- what you will find in this report | |
| Background | 5 |
| Acquisition -- need to harmonise -- culture change -- demutualisation -- Friends Provident quality indicators | |
| Rationale | 6 |
| Proposals for new salary management system -- broadbanding | |
| The new pay arrangement | 6 |
| Seven key elements -- role profiles -- job families | |
| Career bands | 7 |
| Eight overlapping bands -- salary ranges -- regional pay -- pay progression -- performance management -- position within the salary range | |
| Performance bonuses | 10 |
| Bonus linked to individual performance -- bonus payments vary by job status | |
| Development opportunities | 11 |
| In-house learning centres -- personal development | |
| Flexing benefits | 11 |
| Benefits research -- questionnaire on benefits -- highest scoring benefits -- new benefits flexibility | |
| Recognition | 12 |
| Recognition of exceptional performance | |
| Communicating total reward | 12 |
| Briefings -- intranet site -- "support the brand" | |
| Problems and lessons learnt | 13 |
| Verdict -- a final word | |
| Appendix A | 14 |
| Document extract: Career band profiles at Friends Provident | |
Want to know more?
Title: Friends Provident uses broad bands to enable differentiation by discipline, performance and region.
Issue no.: e-research no. 21.
Date: April 2004.
Pages: 16 (5,500 words).
Availability: Published by e-reward.co.uk. Click on "Research Reports" on the right-hand navigation panel of the e-reward.co.uk web site and complete the simple online subscription form.