Global software company SAP, headquartered in Walldorf, Germany, firmly believes in proactive employer branding. An expert in digitalized business processes, the company is already one of the world’s most popular employers and has opted for CHG-MERIDIAN’s IT benefit program to help it to boost its employer branding and further increase employee satisfaction. Employees can access the SAP-branded MobiLife platform to order the latest smartphones, tablets, laptops, and many other products to suit their individual needs.
Bernd Pfeffer, who works in the Total Rewards Germany department, is delighted that he not only gets to choose the tablet supplied by SAP but can also use it privately. A keen musician in his spare time, Pfeffer picked a 12.9-inch iPad Pro as it is currently the best tablet available on which to read the music he is playing. “I think it’s great that my employer will provide me with a device that is also really useful to me outside of work,” he says, explaining that using a tablet instead of sheet music means he no longer has to turn the pages in the middle of a piece or worry about the bits of paper blowing away when performing outside with his band.
IT BENEFIT PROGRAM – A LITTLE EFFORT WITH A BIG EFFECT
Bernd Pfeffer and 22,000 or so of his colleagues at SAP are entitled to place orders for high-quality IT devices of their choice twice a year using the MobiLife platform. In addition to the full Apple and Samsung ranges, they can also pick from a huge selection of leisure, sports, and communications equipment. This includes options such as Fairphone, a company with a sustainability focus. Under the program, SAP leases the assets from CHG-MERIDIAN and then supplies them to its employees for their personal use. They pay for the equipment by means of a deduction from their gross salary as part of the monthly payroll. This type of salary sacrifice arrangement means there is no taxable benefit and the average saving is 31 percent. At the end of the 24-month lease term, employees can choose whether to hand the equipment back or purchase it.
Our IT benefit program enables us to offer companies a benefit scheme that is cost-neutral for them,” explains Niklas Coir, Senior Technical Sales at CHG-MERIDIAN. CHG-MERIDIAN offers the program in the form of a one-stop solution in order to avoid lots of additional administration. “The automation of processes and our procurement, rollout, replacement, and support services help to minimize the administrative work for customers,” says Coir. “There are only two times during the year when anything needs to be done in the system, i.e. when the online ordering portal opens in April and October, with around 3,000 SAP employees participating in the benefit program during these periods. The ordering process is seamless and fully digitalized, which means that, per year, there are only eight hours of administrative work per 1,000 people eligible to place an order.”
ATTRACTIVE IT DEVICES FOR PERSONAL USE: AN INCENTIVE AND SIGN OF APPRECIATION FOR EVERYONE
The option for employers to provide their staff with digital devices that they can use privately without this being classed as a taxable benefit stems from the D21 Initiative, the idea of which is to promote digital skills in Germany. This provides companies with a non-monetary way of showing appreciation for their employees and boosting their employer branding. After all, employees will always be happy to get the latest IT devices, especially when they can choose precisely the items that will benefit them the most in their free time.
“I bought my Garmin Fenix 7S multisport watch through MobiLife. It has everything I need for my trail runs and open water swimming events. I can use it to analyze and track all my data in detail, helping me to get the most out of my training,” reports Ann-Katrin Metzger, Head of Total Rewards Germany at SAP. Her sports watch has become a faithful companion, whether she is running ultramarathons or training in the water. SAP is thus supporting the health and wellbeing of its employees through MobiLife.
“Everyone at the company is delighted to be able to obtain IT equipment at a fantastic price, which they are also able to use privately. The big advantage is that MobiLife is open to everyone, and yet each employee is free to choose what they want to order to suit their individual needs and wishes.”
Having talented, highly skilled employees who are comfortable with digital technology gives companies a crucial competitive edge. CHG-MERIDIAN enhances the benefit packages of its customers and thus enables them to recruit and retain such employees for the long term, not least thanks to the wide range of equipment that is available to order.
