One of the UK’s largest payroll and HR software and service providers Ceridian (www.ceridian.co.uk) has struck a partnership with London-based employee reward and recognition platform provider, WorkAngel (www.workangel.com).
The partnership will see WorkAngel’s technology rolled out to all of Ceridian’s UK colleagues as well as being integrated into Ceridian’s cloud HCM platform, making it available to Ceridian’s customers for roll out to their employees. This has the potential to reach more than one million UK workers.
WorkAngel is a mobile-first technology platform combining personalised market-leading staff discounts on goods and services with an inter-company private social network and real time recognition and reward, designed to allow organisations of any size to collaborate more efficiently and securely.
"The WorkAngel platform goes beyond anything that we have seen in the voluntary benefits space before, letting customers implement a fast, seamless and cost-effective system for driving performance and reward that employees can access on their mobile phones as well as their desktop computers," said Doug Sawers, Managing Director of Ceridian UK and Ireland.
“While technology has provided a plethora of solutions for most aspects of business, to date, very few have directly addressed the costly problems of staff retention and productivity. What WorkAngel is doing is incredibly innovative, and we’re very pleased to be able to use it within our own company and offer it to all of our customers,” he continued.
WorkAngel, which launched in January 2015 after a year in private beta, is the brainchild of leading technology entrepreneur Jamie True. True’s last project was mobile technology agency Grapple, launched in 2010 and was acquired for $50 million in September 2013. He argues that low-tech, legacy voluntary benefits platforms have long held back HR departments as they struggle to make employees feel valued.
“All of our clients have been giving us very encouraging feedback about how much their staff enjoy using WorkAngel, engaging with it on a regular basis,” said Jamie True, CEO and founder of WorkAngel.
“Lack of engagement with voluntary benefits programmes is a big challenge for HR departments - it’s difficult to justify investing in something that staff don’t use daily or appreciate. Effective recognition and reward schemes are proven to boost morale, which in turn lowers staff turnover and increases productivity,” he continued.
WorkAngel closed a Series A funding round in January 2015 worth $5m. Investors include former Tesco CEO Terry Leahy; Bob Willett, Chairman of MetaPack Ltd & Eagle Eye PLC; Bill Currie and Iain McDonald of William Currie Group and Lord David Alliance. BBC Worldwide CEO Tim Davie and advertising industry doyen Jon Claydon sit on the company’s board of directors.