Employees at international banking group Citi started re-enrolling for perks and benefits last month following an initial six-month trial of a new flexible benefits package. ‘Select', an online scheme launched in July, swept aside a previously limited benefits package, replacing it instead with a pick-and-mix selection of perks designed to meet the various needs and lifestyles of Citi employees and their families.

The new scheme forms part of a broader human resources strategy at Citi, made all the more critical in the wake of the financial crisis and huge job losses across the sector. It follows the opening of a new state-of-the-art health centre last autumn at the company's London headquarters in Canary Wharf, offering staff access to a host of onsite health services.

George Kingaby, one of the architects of Select and Citi's pensions manager, believes that the improved selection of benefits will be a key component in the recruitment of new staff and the retention of existing employees.  "We wanted something that would meet the diverse needs of Citi's very diverse employee population, that would enable them to select benefits that work for them," he said.

Select, designed and operated by Excellerate HRO, the jointly-owned HR business of EDS and Towers Perrin, offers employees a comprehensive range of benefits that fall into five categories: finance, security, health, leisure and lifestyle. The system is based on EHRO's standard benefits, which has been tailored to fit Citi's needs - identified through a consultation process with the company's three businesses (institutional clients, consumer banking and wealth management) - and existing benefits. Among the choices on offer are bikes, car parking, childcare vouchers, critical illness cover, financial advice, holiday entitlement, travel insurance, dental cover, mobile phones, gym membership and a retail discount card, as well as the old favourites - pension, life assurance and private medical insurance.

A good deal of flexibility has been built into the system. Gym membership, for example, can be taken up in one of three ways, either with Reebok or Fitness First centres, or at Citi's onsite facilities. The retail discount card, which is proving very popular, covers a wide variety of stores and is registered to the employee's home address so that it works as easily for an employee based in Edinburgh or Belfast as it does for someone based in London. Aside from the ever-popular pension contributions, take-up has proven strong for critical illness cover, additional life assurance and the holiday buy/sell option.

Once employees have made their selections a wealth of data is created, helping Citi understand its employees' general preferences and lifestyles. It will not only tell Kingaby if his department's investment in the various benefits is a cost-effective one but may also provide useful information to other departments, such as human resources.

"We have set up the system to track changing employee needs and can also break information down by business division, so that we know who from which business arm of Citi is picking which benefits," said Kingaby. "It gives us a lot of information about our people, ideas for what to roll out in the future and by default may also produce more general HR information and data in a readily accessible format."

Following the six-month-long Phase 1, Phase 2 began last month with staff making their selection for 2009. Mitchell Wallbridge, EHRO's service support manager, says some new benefits are being added this year following requests from employees, such as the British Gas Homecare scheme, which covers maintenance of central heating and boilers, and the Citi Food & Beverage card, to which employees can transfer money and then use them to pay for purchases in the Citi canteens and staff restaurant.

"Citi's programme is proving to have a very high take-up, probably thanks to the amount of communication and marketing [of the new scheme] it undertook," commented Wallbridge.

Citi undertook a comprehensive internal marketing campaign, which kicked off three months prior to Select's launch with a teaser campaign of postcards and emails aimed at creating a buzz around the offices about the new scheme. This was followed by briefings to the businesses and a postcard mailing to employees' homes to gain family engagement and involvement. Enrolment kits were sent out in May, again to employees' homes, providing details of the new package and benefits. Citi also held two benefits fairs, where vendors were invited to present to employees about the different benefits on offer, and a number of employee briefings to explain the concept of salary sacrifice and how the new system would work. Top of the list of questions that Kingaby and his team had to field were concerns about the tax implications of certain choices and how particular choices would operate, especially the holiday scheme.

For Kingaby, Select also provides a means of making use of tax incentives where possible - such as on childcare vouchers - so that the system is as efficient as possible. He talks about getting "more bang for our buck" - which in the current economic climate has become more vital than ever.