Case studies

Yusen Logistics looks to Personal Group to create an exemplary workplace that connects and protects employees

Yusen Logistics' mission is to become the world's preferred supply chain logistics company, driven by its vision to better connect people, businesses and communities. Success has created a hugely diverse company, with 15,000 employees — supporting clients in sectors that include aerospace, food and healthcare — across 16 European countries.  

Background

Around 1,300 people work for Yusen Logistics in the UK, in environments that range from remote facilities and large warehouses to the open road. Staying true to company values that aim to keep employees "connected, committed and creative" is a priority – and a challenge.

Yusen Logistics has been a valued Personal Group client for over 10 years. We’ve worked together to engage, assure and unify employees within an exemplary workplace. While many of Yusen Logistics' employees can't access a computer, virtually everyone owns a smartphone. Personal Group harnesses this connectivity through our Hapi app — tailored specifically to Yusen Logistics' needs and named 'Everyone Benefits'.

Launched in 2017, the app connects the unconnected by bringing staff their entire employee benefits offering — anytime, anywhere. Content includes pensions, job opportunities, thousands of employee discounts at major retailers, and insurance products such as hospital cash plans and death benefit plans.

Building a culture of recognition

Yusen Logistics wanted to take usage rates of Everyone Benefits from good to outstanding and use it to drive a reward and recognition culture. Their platform provides everything from a way for managers to say thank you for a job well done, to colleagues recognising each other for going the extra mile.

For Christmas 2019 Yusen sent all employees a £25 bonus through the platform and provided a further award to employees in late 2020 to recognise their contribution through the COVID-19 crisis. This approach brought the app activation rate up to 95% - an outstanding achievement, especially given sector-specific challenges like a disparate workforce. In Spring 2021 Yusen plans to reward staff with a further award, ahead of launching their peer-to-peer recognition scheme through the platform later in the year.

Meeting the COVID-19 challenge

When the COVID-19 crisis hit, Yusen needed to stay connected to two distinct employee populations: office-based staff now working from home, and their warehousing and driver teams.  They successfully used Everyone Benefits for operational communications, sending more push notifications in 2020 than the previous two years combined. High adoption rates of the app meant that HR were confident their messages were getting through, even to hard-to-reach frontline staff.

Mindful of the mental and physical impact of the pandemic, Yusen also used Everyone Benefits to share information on working from home, and to highlight employee wellbeing resources available for staff and their families such as the Employee Assistance Programme.

Rebecca Heap, Reward Manager at Yusen Logistics, commented:

“Everyone Benefits has been invaluable for staying in touch with our remote workforce during COVID-19. We’re delighted that app activation rates are up to 95% - now we can reach everyone, whether they’re working shifts in the warehouse or out on the road making deliveries.”