CHRO says tech and service key to employee engagement
This article was created in partnership with Auto-UX
Novated leasing isn’t a new concept – however as a benefit it’s been somewhat left behind by the HR tech train. A mistake that Greg Parkes and his team at Auto-UX are committed to changing once and for all.
What was once an outdated and archaic model, held up by miscommunication and over-selling, is now a streamlined, efficient and customer-centric engagement tool that is easy to implement and maintain. Someone who understands this better than most is Mark Skerritt, former CHRO at NHP Electrical Engineering – who implemented Auto-UX.
“After investing in Auto-UX, we’re seeing people going back to novated leasing,” he told HRD.
And his people felt the same way about using the benefit too. As Skerritt told HRD, their feedback after implementing Auto-UX was akin to ‘thank goodness!’.
“We’re seeing that there's a much higher level of interest and engagement in novated leasing - because the confidence is coming back in the service.”
A lack of employee engagement is something that HR leaders often have to grapple with when a benefit has been around for a long time but has failed to evolve to meet employee expectations – and leasing is no exception. Looking back at how traditional novated leasing worked, it was something of a clunky process for HR and employees in general. With Auto-UX, however, Skerritt revealed that there’s no delays or awkwardness at all – just a simple, streamlined process that revolves around improving operational efficiency and getting employee buy-in.
“It's very, very simple,” he told HRD. “Just hit a couple of buttons and you're done.”
Skerritt is referring to Auto-Pilot, the first digital end-to-end novated leasing platform in Australia. While traditional novated leasing relies on call centre consultations during business hours, quotes being emailed, and often clunky paper-based application processes, Parkes and his team at Auto-UX have digitized the end-to-end employee experience. From building quotes, to finance applications, to choosing car options and finalizing a lease, Auto-Pilot enables digital self-guided learning and service delivery 24/7 on any device.
And for payroll, the benefits were phenomenal. Because when it comes to novated leasing, the payroll department is intrinsic to its success or its ultimate failure – with the head of payroll being a major stakeholder in this perk.
As Skerritt told HRD, their head of payroll was more than pleased with Auto-UX.
“Because, again, what Auto-UX does and does really well is understand what the needs of the company is. They’re able to adjust the way they present the data - consistent with the way we could provide it to them. It has that flexibility.”
This flexibility also extends to the close of the employment lifecycle, because when an employee with a lease terminates employment there’s a lot at stake if the supplier can’t process a reconciliation in a timely manner. With Auto-UX, they’ve totally rewritten the playbook here.
“With Auto-UX, it always comes back to the level of customer service they provide,” explained Skerritt. “For me personally, they [guided] me through the steps as we went through it. And there were no surprises for me - it was done in 24 hours which is pretty impressive. [Overall], it's very efficient and I think the best part about it for me was that they helped me through it - I understood where I was at and what the issues actually were.”
From an operational standpoint, implementing the best novated leasing option isn’t just good for your employees’ experiences - it drives business operational efficiencies also. As Skerritt told HRD, with Auto-UX it’s not necessarily that it reduced administrative tasks, rather it allowed the business to scale the number of employees enjoying the benefit with no additional, time-consuming admin work.
“One of the issues with [other] novated leasing options is that is creates a lot more work for the HR or payroll departments,” added Skerritt. “In this case, it's basically stayed the same. And there are obviously other savings for the company too - but the admin side of it there was literally no impact, which is a positive.”
Book a free demo of Auto-Pilot here.
