Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Sunday, Jun 01, 2025

High-tech ways to keep employees happy

High-tech ways to keep employees happy

Companies offer gym deals and cycle schemes - but how do they know if these are what staff want?

Half-price cinema tickets, cycle to work schemes and gym passes have long been part of employee benefits programmes.

But with research showing 84% of millennials look to leave their jobs within the first two years, employers want to tailor their perks packages to their employees' needs.

Emerging technologies such as data analytics, chatbots, and wearables can help employers know which benefits resonate with employees.

And machine learning can monitor take-up and avoid wasting money on unwanted benefits.

"From an employer perspective, there is already a lot more emphasis on looking at data to see what benefits employees are using," says Jeanette Makings, head of financial education at merchant bank Close Brothers.

"This allows them to make better decisions, meaning they can tailor their benefits spend while improving employee engagement".

She says that for some companies "data analytics technology allows them to see who is taking up which offers, as well as what forms of communication are working best.

"This type of information is very valuable and could easily prompt a change in the company's overall benefits strategy."

For example, some companies have changed their gym membership programmes in response to analysis showing another local gym is more popular with their employees.

Online portals and apps have already transformed employee benefits provision over the last 10 years, but are now more sophisticated.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems "could help them to avoid wasting money on benefits their employees do not want, and to improve their communications, for example by identifying pockets of the workforce who need an extra nudge to get involved," says Ms Makings.

AI has been used to develop chatbots that can help employees to find information on subjects ranging from mental health to saving for retirement at any time.

"Employees can now use them to access services such as financial advice whenever they want - including at midnight when they are lying in bed," says Ms Makings.

AI is not the only tech being used to improve employee benefits provision, though.

A new generation of hi-tech benefits providers also offering innovative add-on services designed to cater to individual employees' needs.

Faith Howe, a director of talent at global communications agency FleishmanHillard, says: "One of the biggest changes over the last few years has been the breadth of choice of technology available".

One example is Wagestream, which allows employees to access their pay before pay day.

Peter Briffett, chief executive at the UK-based company, says Wagestream uses technology "to tackle the cashflow problems that come with being paid once a month".

"We know that lots of employees face financial stress as a result of this, with many being pushed into taking out high-interest lending.

"Our tech, which calculates how much people can withdraw by looking at how many hours they have worked, aims to prevent this issue."

It comes with a charge: employers pay £1 per employee per month and staff are charged a fixed fee of £1.75 each time they make a withdrawal.

Another example is Open Blend, a management performance tool provider that counts French fashion brand Lacoste among its clients.

It uses Microsoft's Power BI business analytics tool to provide businesses with information about their employees' wellbeing needs.

"Attrition is a huge problem for businesses," says Anna Rasmussen, founder of Open Blend.

"Our research indicates that 84% of millennials look to leave their jobs within the first two years.

"So live data of the kind we can provide because our system is updated each time an employee has a session with his or her manager is very valuable as it shows companies what their employees need to stay motivated and reach their full potential, in real-time."

Employers can even go a step beyond analysing data by tracking employees' movements.

This is where wearable technology comes in.

Health and life insurance provider Vitality, for example, claims its Active Rewards Apple Watch scheme, which is available in 13 countries including Australia and Germany, "helps more than a million members make the most of their health and wealth".

Users of the scheme can earn "rewards" such as discounts on their insurance premiums by tracking their activity with an Apple Watch.

And according to a study conducted by RAND Europe for Vitality last year, combining the two can really get people moving.

The study, which included more than 400,000 people in South Africa, the US, and the UK, found that participants using Vitality Active Rewards in conjunction with an Apple Watch to measure their performance did the equivalent of 4.8 extra days of activity per month.

That's an increase of 34%.

There are concerns about how employers could use wearable device data in the future, though.

"Personally I think monitoring how your staff sleep, for example, is a bit Big Brother," says Ms Rasmussen.

Human resources experts also warn against relying solely on tech for your employee benefits provision.

"Apps, for example, can increase engagement if used in the right way," Ms Howe said.

"But if you don't have a collaborative culture, apps alone won't solve your problems of uptake and engagement.

"At this stage, I think we need greater understanding of the technology coming through, as well as more practical examples to help us understand what works and what doesn't."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
European and Arab Ministers Convene in Madrid to Address Gaza Conflict
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
UAE Offers Free ChatGPT Plus Subscriptions to Citizens
Lebanon Initiates Plan to Disarm Palestinian Factions
Iran and U.S. Make Limited Progress in Nuclear Talks
The Daily Debate: The Fall of the Dollar — Strategic Reset or Economic Self-Destruction?
Trump Administration's Tariff Policies and Dollar Strategy Spark Global Economic Debate
OpenAI Acquires Jony Ive’s Startup for $6.5 Billion to Build a Revolutionary “Third Core Device”
Turkey Weighs Citizens in Public as Erdoğan Launches National Slimming Campaign
Saudi-Spanish Business Forum Commences in Riyadh
Saudi Arabia and Spain Sign MoU to Boost SME Sectors
UK Suspends Trade Talks with Israel Amid Gaza Offensive
Iran and U.S. Set for Fifth Round of Nuclear Talks Amid Rising Tensions
Russia Expands Military Presence Near Finland Amid Rising Tensions
Indian Scholar Arrested in Crackdown Over Pakistan Conflict Commentary
Israel Eases Gaza Blockade Amid Internal Dispute Over Military Strategy
President Biden’s announcement of advanced prostate cancer sparked public sympathy—but behind closed doors, Democrats are in panic
A Chinese company made solar tiles that look way nicer than regular panels!
Indian jet shootdown: the all-robot legion behind China’s PL-15E missiles
The Chinese Dragon: The True Winner in the India-Pakistan Clash
Australia's Venomous Creatures Contribute to Life-Saving Antivenom Programme
The Spanish Were Right: Long Working Hours Harm Brain Function
Did Former FBI Director Call for Violence Against Trump? Instagram Post Sparks Uproar
US and UAE Partner to Develop Massive AI Data Center Complex
Apple's $95 Million Siri Settlement: Eligible Users Have Until July 2 to File Claims
US and UAE Reach Preliminary Agreement on Nvidia AI Chip Imports
President Trump and Elon Musk Welcomed by Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim with Cybertruck Convoy
Strong Warning Issued: Do Not Use General Chatbots for Medical, Legal, or Educational Guidance
Saudi Arabia Emerges as Global Tech Magnet with U.S. Backing and Trump’s Visit
This was President's departure from Saudi Arabia. The Crown Prince personally escorted him back to the airport.
NVIDIA and Saudi Arabia Launch Strategic Partnership to Establish AI Centers
Trump Meets Syrian President Ahmad al-Shara in Historic Encounter
Trump takes a blow torch to the neocons and interventionists while speaking to the Saudis
US and Saudi Arabia Sign Landmark Agreements Across Multiple Sectors
Why Saudi Arabia Rolled Out a Purple Carpet for Donald Trump Instead of Red
Elon Musk Joins Trump Meeting in Saudi Arabia
Trump says it would be 'stupid' not to accept gift of Qatari plane
Quantum Computing Threatens Bitcoin Security
Michael Jordan to Serve as Analyst for NBA Games
×