To keep its employees healthy and motivated, Helan has been offering them a bicycle leasing plan for several years. In doing so, the Helan group chose Joule's all-in formula to give its employees the best service. Helan looks back on a successful startup and looks ahead to more and more sustainable mobility.
"Cycling fits perfectly into our corporate vision," begins Bart Berghmans, mobility coordinator at Helan. "We are committed to the well-being of our employees and to sustainable mobility. Cycling is good for the environment, your health and your wallet." A public tender led Helan to Joule, which realized a bicycle leasing plan as a partner. Joule's flexibility was a decisive factor in the decision. "Our employees are spread all over Flanders, and they have very different functions. Joule responds to that."
"The move of one of our headquarters in Ghent was the reason for several employees to exchange their car for a leased bike," says Kaat Van Hecke, HR Expert at Helan. "We were already seeing an increase in the number of employees coming to work by bike, and the launch of the leasing formula with Joule gave that increase a boost. Since the partnership with Joule, 135 additional employees are using a leased bike, on top of the employees still leasing a bike from a previous leasing partner."
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The best fitting service, smoothly started up
What exactly does Joule's flexibility entail? "Where necessary, Joule delivers and maintains bikes to your home instead of the office," Kaat explains. "That's a big plus for employees who don't work in one of our main offices. With the all-in formula, you ride around on a well-maintained, insured and very decent bike. The prices are also correct - even if an employee terminates the lease early. This breaks down barriers, because it doesn't exclude anyone, including employees who stay with the company for less than three years. Moreover, all agreements are very clear. Finally, Joule helps choose the right lease term and employees can count on guidance when choosing their bike."
Helan started the leasing formula with Joule in full corona period. "That was therefore completely digital," says Bart. "But Joule was easily accessible through a single point of contact. They helped draw up the bike leasing policy and gave lots of tips. Together with us, they anticipated the needs of our different employee groups: we were able to schedule the information sessions at different times and adjust the content to highlight the right benefits. Because these are not the same for everyone: employees who are paid according to sectoral scales can only exchange their net salary for sustainable mobility - not their gross salary. This is very unfortunate, because in this way they miss out on the biggest financial benefits. Hopefully this legislation will change soon."
A cycling culture in every company
"No company is the same," says Laurens Verbeke, co-founder of Joule. "Therefore, we always look for the best suited service or term. Joule offers a service through local dealers as well as direct mobile at the customer's location, as with Helan's plan. We will also actively promote a bicycle culture. Our information sessions contribute to that. And if, for example, there are employees who have never ridden an electric bike, we can offer one for them to try. We can also provide bikes to test what it's like to bike to work for two weeks. When you really put someone on a bike, it becomes very easy to get them excited about sustainable commuting."
"We very often hear that employees complain that they didn't lease a bike before, and that they cycle much more now - also in their private lives," Kaat confirms. "We think this is super, of course, because the physical and mental well-being of our colleagues is paramount at Helan. Moreover, healthy employees are more motivated in their jobs, and ultimately our customers also benefit from that. Personally, I find it uncomfortable to take the car. Once you've tried a bicycle lease, you don't want to go back."
Job-creating employer
This article was prepared from Joule's campaign with Job-Breaking Employer.
