When benefits provider Personal Group allowed rewards for its own employees to become outdated, HR came to the rescue. The organisation
Personal Group is an employee benefits and insurance provider that aims to create affordable and accessible benefits and protections for largely deskless workers, including those working in logistics, care and postal services. The business employs around 250 people, approximately 60 of whom engage with client employees face-to-face, to help them understand and use their benefits. Alongside insurance products, Personal Group offers a benefits platform and consultancy services.
The problem
As the Milton Keynes-based company expanded, new investors were brought in and a new CEO joined the business in 2023, it became clear that internal employee experience was not keeping pace. While the organisation had a positive legacy culture, it lacked the structured, modern frameworks required to support colleagues consistently.
The benefits offering was a particular concern. Personal Group’s reward engagement stood at 53% in 2023. Jenny Hinde, Personal Group’s chief people officer, explained that this was more than dissatisfaction; it impacted retention: “Pay is only one part of the package. We weren’t delivering a consistent, compelling benefits offer.”
Colleagues wanted accessible, meaningful support that reflected their lives. Many found policies unclear or difficult to apply.
Despite the organisation’s external expertise in benefits, internally it lacked the tools and communication required to help employees understand what was available. This prompted the organisation to undertake a full review of its reward and policy frameworks to strengthen trust, fairness and cultural alignment.
The method
Personal Group’s strategy centred on redesigning its benefits and policies, making them clear, equitable and easy to use. The team began by bolstering its benefits platform, Smile, which had been introduced in 2023.
Initially, engagement reached around 75%. Hinde said this was due to limited early communication. The team relaunched the platform with targeted campaigns, stronger messaging and manager advocacy. By 2025, engagement had risen to 99.5%.
To reinforce everyday recognition, leaders promoted the platform’s peer-to-peer and manager feedback tools. By 2025, more than 2,400 recognitions had been recorded, around 10 per employee.
Personal Group’s team then overhauled its policy framework. Rather than expanding documentation, they focused on adding flexibility and relevance. Key changes included a hybrid working approach (offering two in-office days), and enhanced policies for maternity, paternity and adoption. Hinde noted that the aim was to ensure policies felt human and practical, not just compliant.
The employee benefits group also offers five days of carers’ leave, a life event policy for time away during significant moments such as moving house or losing a loved one, and domestic violence support via trained internal contacts. “Employees experiencing domestic abuse can reach out confidentially to one of two trained contacts who can help them access support, including safe accommodation if needed,” said Hinde.
To support deeper understanding, Personal Group introduced a ‘human library’ storytelling initiative where employees share lived experiences of using policies, from baby loss and caring responsibilities to transitioning into part-time roles. Contributors can choose to act as peer contacts too, helping colleagues navigate similar situations.
As part of the initiative, Hinde shared her own story of being a parent carer to a daughter with disabilities, explaining how the organisation’s policies enable her to balance work and family life: “Those stories helped humanise what our policies look like in practice,” she said.
The team launched Super Saver September, a month-long campaign with a prize draw encouraging colleagues to discover everyday discounts through the benefits platforms, sparking conversation and boosting engagement by focusing on fair access and practical savings rather than how much people spent. “We’re very conscious of being socioeconomically fair, so the campaign wasn’t about who spent the most, but who used the platform the most,” Hinde explained.
One colleague shared that when their TV broke, they were able to replace it using a platform discount they hadn’t previously known about. This example showcases the everyday impact the scheme can have, Hinde explained.
Other C-suite leaders also played their part in helping to reduce stigma around flexibility. The CEO spoke openly about balancing work and personal commitments, signalling that performance and flexibility could coexist.
Personal Group seeks ongoing feedback from their employees to inform continued development, Hinde explained. Themes such as menopause and neurodiversity support have emerged, and are being integrated into future planning.
The result
The impact of Personal Group’s benefits transformation has been significant. Reward engagement rose from 53% in 2023 to 92% in 2025, based on an 88% response rate. Between 2023 and 2024, overall engagement increased by 14 percentage points.
Employees reported a strong connection to the new offer. In response to why they work at Personal Group, 38% cited flexibility and 20% cited benefits in 2025.
Policies became more visible and embedded across the organisation. The human library helped colleagues understand how to access support, while hybrid working provided greater balance.
For Hinde, the journey has highlighted that benefits are now seen as a cultural cornerstone rather than an add-on. “Benefits and policies fundamentally shape your culture,” she said.
The business continues to build on this foundation, exploring the addition of benefits including inclusive travel insurance, affordable refurbished tech schemes, expanded domestic travel options and ways to boost pension contributions for lower-income colleagues. Leaders’ collective actions have helped Personal Group evolve its benefits from a transactional promise into a lived framework that supports diverse needs, strengthens belonging and improves employee experience at scale.
This article was published in the November/December 2025 edition of HR magazine.