Enhancing Employee Rewards Packages

Tracy Fogale, Senior Manager Compensation Benefits, Kraft Heinz

Our total rewards encompass everything of value that Kraft Heinz offers employees, from compensation and benefits to well-being resources and recognition. They are the secret sauce of our employee value proposition (EVP) and enable us to attract, motivate and retain top talent.

We recognize that the needs and desires of our diverse multi-generational population require an agile, bold and forward-thinking people strategy. The employee-employer relationship has changed over the past several years, particularly post-pandemic. Our communication strategy focuses on the employee experience from a human-centered approach versus an employee-centered approach. The landscape is changing, and Kraft Heinz must continue to evolve to reflect the changing environment and needs of our employees. 

In 2020, we launched LiveWell in Canada to empower employees and further connect them to our Total Rewards package. LiveWell focuses on well-being and is separated into four pillars – financial, emotional, physical, and social. Positive employee response and engagement in Canada set a new standard for the Company, leading to a global launch of LiveWell in 2021.

Throughout 2023, the Canadian People & Performance (P&P) team has worked across the organization to deliver resources, benefits, and education to our employees – helping them to thrive and grow.  

Our Total Rewards are much more than base pay, bonus, and healthcare. However, preliminary surveys conducted by P&P showed that there was a lack of awareness of our programs and resources. So, we endeavored to enhance understanding, drive usage and further showcase Kraft Heinz's commitment to employee well-being.

To better understand the roadblocks, we conducted a series of focus groups with different stakeholders across our workforce. To ensure data was diverse and representative of the Kraft Heinz employee population, we partnered closely with our business resource groups (BRGs). The key finding of these focus groups was twofold: 1. Employees didn't fully understand all the resources available to them, and 2. There was a lack of awareness on how/where to find the right resources for their needs.

Armed with this knowledge, we determined the strongest channel available to help us address these two challenges was our benefits intranet site. With a focus on clarity, accessibility, and dynamic content, we reimagined our intranet site to be a 'one-stop shop' for our total rewards, leveraging the success and recognition of LiveWell to draw traffic. We created Moments That Matter, a series of stories focused on milestones and life stages to connect to our employees and highlight how our portfolio of benefits can work in tandem in a moment of celebration and support.

"At Kraft Heinz, we believe our people are our greatest assets, and we continuously look for ways to enhance our rewards package."

To launch the site, we created a total rewards portfolio featuring quick reference QR codes, which took employees directly to information on each available program. The portfolio details and links were shared with employees via workplace email and direct-to-home mailer - ensuring the employees and their family members were fully aware of the programs we provide. To further build excitement and drive visitors to the site, we challenged employees to a scavenger hunt quiz that enabled them to win valuable prizes.

Following the communication campaign, we surveyed employees to gauge their change in understanding of our programs and resources. We experienced strong participation in the survey, and survey results showed that employees reported 89 percent favorable awareness of our compensation programs and 86 percent favorable awareness of our benefits program. To maintain this momentum, we plan to expand our Moments that Matter materials to include employee-nominated moments, and we look to continue gathering the voice of our workforce through continued employee listening.

At Kraft Heinz, we believe our people are our greatest assets, and we continuously look for ways to enhance our rewards package. An example of this is ‘Spotlight,' a time/scope cash-based program that rewards employees for extraordinary efforts beyond our traditional suite of recognition programs. Spotlight allows leaders the opportunity to allocate real-time cash bonuses to recognize talent for work done beyond their assigned responsibilities. This recognition is highly encouraged by leadership and is an example of how we can quickly mobilize programs that directly impact our employees. We regularly evaluate our offerings to ensure we provide a competitive suite of recognition programs to incentivize employees as they grow in their careers with Kraft Heinz.

Over the past several years, we have also diligently focused on supporting the emotional well-being needs of our employees and their families. Recently, we created a new mental health category of coverage within benefits, expanded on the eligible list of practitioners, introduced a Mental Health First Aiders program, provided free virtual healthcare, and doubled down on education for both employees and managers. In 2023, we rolled out a digital psychology-based approach to treating anxiety or worry. This free tool guides members through personalized techniques developed by clinicians and researchers that help them understand where anxiety problems come from, what makes them worse, and how to get back to feeling better. Engagement in this program is high amongst our employees.

We are proud to start seeing a return on investment, both financially and within our culture. Our metrics indicate that employees are beginning to take a more proactive approach to addressing their mental health needs through Kraft Heinz programs, resulting in a decrease in mental health disability claims, reduced duration of disability claims, and reduced mental health drug costs. 

While we continue to make great strides in developing a robust Total Rewards Program and communication strategy, we know that this is a journey. It's not just about constructing a rewards system—it's about crafting an experience. 

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