Want to create industry-leading benefits? It’s simple. Ask your people what they want

You can’t have a healthy business without healthy people keeping it going. People are more than a payroll number, which is why we’ve always ensured our benefits packages worked as hard as our people do at Virgin Management and Virgin Red.   

However, last year, we decided to shake things up. We scrutinised the data to see what benefits people were really using, and what benefits perhaps sounded impressive but weren’t getting much pick-up. We realised that if we wanted to continue shaping industry-leading benefits, we needed to put the power in our people’s hands.

We experimented through conversations, events and hackathons until we arrived at a brand-new benefits package developed by our people. We did the same for our new office in London – ensuring everyone had a say in how it was designed and what they needed to feel their best. What came out of our research loud and clear was that people wanted the flexibility to tailor benefits based on where they’re at in life – both exploring new paths and navigating unexpected detours. It makes a lot of sense, so we re-jigged our benefits at Virgin Management and Virgin Red with individuality at the front of mind.  

We wanted our benefits to cover every aspect of life, so we broke it down into: 

• Healthy and feeling good 

• Enjoying life  

• You and your loved ones   

• For the tough times  

• Growing yourself 

• Community and impact  

• Planning for after  

Here are some of the existing benefits our people decided to keep:   

• Unlimited annual leave: This has been one of our most successful benefits to date. I suggested we implement the (non) policy in 2014 after reading about how well it worked at Netflix. More than 10 years later and we’ve never looked back. 

• Flexible work: we trust our teams to work in the ways that suit them best. All teams are different, so we leave it with them to decide how and where they work best.  

• Real rest: This is an extended office closure over the festive period that we implemented in the pandemic. We wanted to create a team moment when everyone was off together, so the e-mails and to-do lists were truly put on pause. People loved it, so we decided to make it permanent. It’s not just about time off – it’s about the wellbeing benefits of disconnecting and unplugging all together. 

• Broad health and wellbeing support: from private medical and dental care, 24/7 GP access, fertility and reproductive health support (for everybody), digital physiotherapy and nutritionists, to proactive health assessments from day 1 to help our people stay in control of their individual health. 

• And a bunch of others: free lunches, uncapped bereavement leave, flexible volunteering time, charity giving, Virgin Points, Virgin-wide discounts, cycle-to-work scheme, generous sick pay, parenting support, and protection benefits most important for our people’s peace of mind. 

Holly Branson

  Here are the new ideas we added to the package:   

• Our ‘Screw It, Let’s Do It Pot’: a financial pot for each person to spend however they want. Whether it’s booking a flight, trying a new sport, doing some DIY around the house, or whatever else brings them joy. This was our answer to giving people the flexibility to they asked for, creating something unique for everybody. 

• Loved Ones Leave: We replaced our primary and secondary carers leave with a UK-first ‘Loved Ones Leave’. We now offer everybody (regardless of their role and how long they’ve worked with us) equal, generous paid time off to adjust life to any new caring responsibilities - whether it's a new child, parent, partner, sibling or anyone else that lives with you. Even a housemate. We want all our people to feel they can take the time they need to support a loved one at the point they need it the most.  

• Health inclusion fund: when our people need support that falls outside of traditional healthcare routes, we step up, with extra financial support or a loan. 

• Enhanced pension: We're helping our people save more for life after Virgin. Our UK default contributions are set slightly above the levels recommended by independent research, to support a good standard of living and adequate income in retirement. 

• Electric Vehicle salary sacrifice scheme 

• In-person and virtual therapy options, with Self Space – a partner initially funded by Virgin StartUp! 

Virgin / Harry Kinnaird

By phasing out the benefits that people weren’t using, we were able to reinvest the savings into the new benefits above. It’s an important reminder to put your people at the heart of your decisions and never forget that everyone is different, so flexibility is how you stay ahead. Support your people at every stage of life, and your business will be better for it.