ScotRail Case Study

As with most businesses in the transport sector, many of ScotRail's 5000-strong workforce hold sedentary jobs or jobs which include very early or late shifts, often causing disturbed sleep patterns.

Knowing the risks associated with such sedentary lifestyles, ScotRail wanted to put its employees in control of their health.

ScotRail wanted to not only get staff more active, but to improve the communication channels in which they engaged with their staff. They also felt that it was in their best interest to keep their staff happy and healthy, as research has proven that happy staff are more productive. Convenience was key - they wanted a health benefit that staff could engage anytime, anywhere.

In 2016, they offered each employee the opportunity to take health into their own hands through ordering a fitness tracking band free of charge from their 'Your Rewards' platform. The platform allowed the staff to keep connected through the use of push notifications and internal communications strategies.

It was important for ScotRail that their employees can easily and quickly access their benefits while on the move, so working with Personal Group, they launched an engagement App. Hapi can be developed for mobile with the capability to integrate the Jawbone App, Health and Wellbeing programmes as well as send Push Notifications (perfect for when they want to encourage staff to take the stairs!).

This was the first programme of its kind that ScotRail (or indeed any of its competitors) had implemented, and the response from staff was impressive. More than 78% of staff have registered on the platform and 68% use the platform regularly. The online launch page was read more than 6,600 times during the initiative.

Personal Group helped ScotRail to analyse the results of their health and wellbeing initiative through the development of their HR Hub, which allows members of the ScotRail HR Team to access statistics on the effectiveness of their strategy.

The Hub holds information on platform usage, access to everyday discounts, the EAP programme as well as holding feedback from employees. The HR team can see which areas of the platform are used the most and in turn, understand if their communications or promotions for the healthcare benefit are being effective.

As staff are based all over the country, it is often hard for HR to access in the moment feedback on the app and benefits programme. Having access to the Hub allows the HR team to identify trends, address problems and provide solutions quickly, in order to tackle issues as and when they arise.

ScotRail are showing no signs of slowing down and are encouraging staff to keep up! It is clear that ScotRail are invested in the wellbeing of their staff and thanks to the insight from the HR Hub, they are committed to ensuring that their benefits are relevant and useful to staff.

As a result, their staff are more engaged with the benefits, healthier and happier at work.