Sage has announced a partnership with Personal Group to extend Sage Payroll 50 to add Sage Employee Benefits. This is a new employee engagement product for the SME market. Personal Group delivers employees benefits through their HAPI platform. The HAPI platform delivers employee engagement functionality such as access to additional training and benefits that increase company productivity. A study carried out by the University of Warwick and IZA Bonn found that happy employees are 12% more productive.
Sage Payroll 50 users benefit now…
Sage Employee Benefits will be sold by Sage initially to its UK Payroll 50 customers. Sage 50 Payroll is targeted at the SME market, with from 15 to 150 employees across many segments. When we spoke to Sage, they indicated that if this initiative was successful, they would look to extend the relationship even further through the portfolio. This new solution delivers a cloud-based capability through mobile devices. It will enable Sage 50 Payroll customers to deliver a modern application to their employees without the need to upgrade or change system.
Jacqueline de Rojas, MD Northern Europe at Sage, commented: “We work hard to make life easier for business owners to succeed. Not only by championing their causes but also by creating an eco-system for their employees to engage with and to benefit from. The launch of Sage Employee Benefits brings this to life. Benefits that were once the preserve of large organisations are now accessible and affordable for Sage 50 Payroll customers. We believe in smart partnerships and are delighted to have brought this to market with Personal Group.”
Sage Employee Benefits
For the Personal Group, this is a potentially major relation. It opens up access to the massive user base that Sage 50 Payroll has. Mark Scanlon, Chief Executive of Personal Group, comments: “This is a very exciting development for small businesses around the UK, as this new partnership sees our two companies launch Sage Employee Benefits to the SME market. Our functional capability developed over 32 years, coupled with Sage’s extensive market presence, is a powerful combination in order to help SMEs make their businesses better.”
For Sage, it enables them to modernize their payroll solution without the addition of development resource. What is surprising is that the new functionality has not yet made it onto the Sage Marketplace. As Sage looks to build out the ecosystem of its different products, one would expect them to have availability of the software through all relevant channels.
Conclusion
For customers using Sage 50 Payroll, this is an exciting announcement. It will enable them to offer employee benefits integrated into the Payroll solution. What is slightly disappointing is the lack of detail within the press release and supporting literature. Hopefully customers of Sage will find that their Sales representatives are more knowledgeable about it.
