We caught up with Rob Boland, the COO of Reward Gateway, one of the UK’s leading employee benefits platforms to understand how they can help small businesses to engage with employees – and how demand is still strong despite covid.
Why was the business started?
We spotted that small businesses were looking for affordable employee benefits platforms but couldn’t find a tailored solution for their size, or commit to the lengthy contract tie-ins and minimum licensing fees that other providers were asking for.
It made us think, why can’t small businesses have access to high-impact employee benefits purpose-built for them, and with a more cost-effective and flexible subscription model? A platform and model that’s more suited to their needs and flexes up and down as their business grows. This is why Reward Gateway for Small Business was created.
How are you different?
The Reward Gateway for Small Business platform is unique in the sense that small businesses with fewer than 100 employees get instant access to proven technology that can help them extend employee pay, boost team morale and promote employee physical, mental and financial wellbeing. Since we use a ‘Netflix-style’ subscription model, they can sign up or cancel anytime without any fees or charges.
And they don’t need to worry about fluctuating employee numbers. They can simply add and remove employees from the platform and the monthly bill will update automatically. This gives business owners the budgeting control they need. Importantly, the unique combination of tools within the platform has been purpose built for smaller organisations.
Once invited, employees will have access to unbeatable employee discounts, expert wellbeing advice and employee recognition tools that will create a culture of appreciation.
What has the company learnt?
What we’ve learned so far is that even though we’re in a challenging economic climate, small businesses are still looking for ways to support their employees. This is very encouraging. Particularly since motivated and engaged employees do the things that will help organisations get through the pandemic – make better decisions, be more productive, and be more innovative.
What are the plans for growth?
We have already seen exceptional demand for the platform since it launched in June this year. We are focused on helping UK small businesses support their people during this time, and expect the growth to continue. Our future plans involve continuing to build on and improve the product as well as explore options to launch the platform in other countries.
