South Africa has the second highest insurance penetration globally, and there are lots of providers to choose from. So why consider going with a relative newcomer to the market like YuLife? Quite simply because YuLife gives employees more, and better. And as the effects of the 'Great Resignation' continue to ripple through the economy, there's never been a better time to upgrade your group insurance cover to help attract and retain the best talent. Despite being a young startup, YuLife is already firmly established in the UK market, with over 600,000 group policyholders across small to large businesses, including companies such as Dermalogica, Jaguar Land Rover, Santander, AON and CapitalOne. And now YuLife is able to offer South African companies best-in-class employee benefits too, underwritten by Guardrisk, market leader in cell captive insurance with 30 years of experience.But that's only part of the story. It's the way we deliver benefits to employees that is truly unique, and which offers companies a brand new way to engage with their people. Read on as we outline five ways that YuLife gives employees more and is shaking up the market in the UK and South Africa right now.1. Easy access to benefitsAt the core of YuLife’s offering are Group Insurance benefits including Life Cover, Income Protection, Funeral Cover and Lump Sum Disability. These benefits help to create attractive reward packages and alleviate financial stress for your employees. But – there's no point in having great employee benefits if workers don't know about them, or understand how to access them. And that's a typical problem across the business sector, says Bernise Games, Head of Marketing at YuLife SA."Data is telling us that wellbeing programmes aren't working as well as planned. Accessing benefits can be complex," she recalls. "One of the challenges I have had through my career is that employees knew there were benefits but often didn't understand how to navigate them, how to unlock them, or how to use them. They'd tell me: 'It's complex. I don't understand where to find it and I don't even know what cover I have. How do I do this?' And so I think it is one of the key areas where YuLife is definitely winning because it's easy and functional."The key is the groundbreaking YuLife employee app, which all employees covered by YuLife can download for free. This provides a simple way for people to access all their benefits, as well as providing a central hub for wellness resources.You might think, though: "How many employees actually do this in practice?" Well, the answer is typically: the vast majority. And the reason for that lies in the extra benefits the app offers - wellbeing every day for everyone.2. Extra benefits for daily tasksThe truly innovative thing about the YuLife app is that it doesn't just offer access to benefits that pay out when something bad happens. It also engages employees on a day-to-day basis, by encouraging and rewarding daily health and wellness activities. YuLife members can choose from a range of simple, accessible tasks such as taking a short stroll to a longer walk, cycling, Fiit classes or meditation. Once they complete these challenges, they're rewarded with YuCoin instantly, which can be used to redeem rewards within the app, via partners such as Mugg & Bean, Engen, Dis-Chem, Baby City, Footgear, Poetry, Shoprite and Checkers.If that isn't motivation enough, the YuLife app also adds an element of gamification to spur employees on. For example, employees can take part in a company leaderboard and engage in fun 'duels' to earn extra YuCoin. The result is, quite simply, a healthier, happier and more engaged workforce.3. First-class tech supportThe opportunity to earn YuCoin and compete with each other gives employees a clear reason to download and use the YuLife app. But on its own, that might not always be enough. In a society where not everyone is tech-savvy, there's a natural reluctance among many to get involved in apps at all. So YuLife puts a lot of effort into helping people get past this small but significant hurdle. And it's working, with download rates typically hitting 80-90% among employees in organisations signed up to YuLife. "Onboarding has been one of our big successes in South Africa," says Bernise. "We work with companies every step of the way to get them to a level where their employees feel they understand how the app works and how to engage with it." And this support is ongoing long-term, too, with YuLife providing a live, in-app chat that answers any questions employees have and provides any technical help they need.4. Virtual GP, counselling and moreAlong with Group Cover Benefits, YuLife South Africa also offers members a comprehensive wellbeing hub. Most significantly, YuLifers get access to a virtual GP service through Kena Health. This provides employees with medical advice and treatment counselling using text, voice or video, with no appointment required. YuLife also gives members access to Quickwill, a will writing service, via the YuLife app. And then there's YuMatter, a comprehensive EAP (Employee Assistance Program) powered by Lyra Wellbeing, which provides staff with services such as counselling, family support and expert financial, legal and health advice. 5. A central hubAs we've seen, the YuLife app provides access to all these benefits in one easy-to-navigate hub. But that's not all. Because of the high engagement with the app, employers also value it as a central hub for their own, company-specific benefits and resources. And let's be clear: employers don't have to retro-fit everything to fit the app: the app is designed instead to work for them. An easy-to-use portal allows those at the top of the company to customise how the app appears to employees, and what information they see. That means that prioritised initiatives are right there, every time an employee opens up the YuLife app, whether they’re doing their daily tasks or cashing in their YuCoin.South Africa's Group Insurance market may be competitive, but for some time, many of the traditional players have not innovated or evolved to offer employee benefits that truly excite people and engender loyalty to the firm. YuLife is now here to shake things up. And companies that sign up are seeing the advantages of a healthier, happier and more engaged workforce. That happens almost instantly, as employees download the YuLife app, start doing their daily health and wellness activities and indulge in some friendly competition. Once they start earning and spending YuCoin, there's an additional incentive to keep coming back and engaging.And when they need it, they can access services like virtual GP and counselling through Lyra Wellbeing. And as daily use of the YuLife app becomes a habit, this helps communicate both YuLife's Group Insurance benefits and any other customised benefits the company is providing. No wonder YuLife is shaking up the South African insurance market so much!