At Ceridian’s recent annual client conference, CEO David Ossip signaled a shift in company vision, from transforming HR (2013) to ‘making work life better’ (2015). And while transformation is still an important HR theme, Ceridian is now turning its attention to helping clients engage with their employees more effectively.

Ceridian’s top three business priorities are employee engagement, customer experience, and product excellence, and supporting the theme of making work life better, two new products were highlighted: TeamRelate and WorkAngel.

TeamRelate is an assessment tool to determine an individual’s leadership style, what motivates them, and how employees can best relate to each other. The premise is that employees who relate well with colleagues are more engaged and perform better. TeamRelate begins with the recruiting process, assessing candidate compatibility with the hiring manager and team members. It can then be used to build high-performing teams with complementary strengths, though team members may have diverse backgrounds and different leadership styles.

The application also provides tips for employees on how to work effectively with different leadership styles, guidance for supervisors on how best to provide performance feedback, and the ability to monitor employee mood and engagement levels.

TeamRelate is embedded within Dayforce, and can also be used on mobile phones.

Ceridian has also partnered with U.K.-based WorkAngel, a platform for providing employee recognition and reward. WorkAngel is initially being used in the U.K. and will soon be deployed more widely in Europe and North America. The platform is intended for mobile first but can be used on any device.

WorkAngel will be linked to the performance management process and can be used to message employees in recognition of high achievement or demonstration of core company values, for example.

In terms of employee reward, WorkAngel is linked to a number of retail outlets and providers of goods and services that offer employee discounts online. Purchases can be used in conjunction with recognition received, including accumulation of points that can be redeemed as gifts according to employee preference. A link to wellness programs is also available, with employees able to earn rewards in the form of cash contributions.

Used currently by several U.K. clients, WorkAngel is gaining traction very quickly. One large client, Capita, had an employee adoption rate of 80% within 48 hours.   

Talent management, including the attraction, development and retention of high-performing employees, has been a top business priority for some time.  And yet repeated studies over the last few years have consistently shown low levels of employee engagement across a variety of measures, with a survey average showing that two-thirds of employees are ‘disengaged’. The introduction by Ceridian of these two products should go a long way to improving employee engagement and satisfaction levels, and that can only be good for business.