GiftCard Partners Blog

We are two weeks away from the 2014 All Payments Expo that will take place at The Mirage in Las Vegas this year. As regular attendees of the event, the GiftCard Partners team is looking forward to seeing both new and returning faces in the payments industry and speaking with new loyalty, incentive and payment companies who can use gift cards as part of their reward complement. The APEX brings together Alternative Financial Services, Emerging Payments, Omnichannel Retail Strategies and Prepaid all in one location to focus on areas of growth and convergence in payments. Check out more on the APEX
here.

Workplace wellness programs are a great tool to motivate employees to be healthy and control health care benefit costs. However, poorly administered plans can wreak havoc on employees and employers alike. Here are three hazards that can foil your workplace wellness efforts, and how to avoid them.

This winter has been especially harsh on cities and towns across the U.S. Between the sleet, snow, ice and frigid temperatures we are beginning to hear Mayors and Governers talk about shortages in salt and sand used to minimize ice on roads and sidewalks. This all adds up to countless hours logged by public works employees clearing snow, de-icing roads and making sure the rest of us stay safe amidst the winter weather. The media covers how average citizens can stay safe in the inclement weather, but it is the job of public works departments to make sure their employees stay safe through the winter months as well. Make safety a priority this winter. Talk about how to maintain safe practices even in the worst situation. Publicly acknowledge employees that go beyond their basic job descriptions to make sure everyone around them stays safe. Safety recognition programs are a great way to motivate employees to maintain safe practices. Recognize safety milestones like "X days without a safety incident," or hand out small spot rewards for a job well done. Giving out small denomination gift cards to popular retailers like
Crutchfield,
AutoZone or
Speedway are a great way to say thank-you to employees who work hard in the worst conditions to keep the rest of us safe all winter long.

In
Monday’s blog we discussed the #10 trend taken from Incentive Research Foundation’s
2014 Trends in Engagement, Incentives, and Recognition report, the popularity of non-cash rewards as sales incentives. Today we want to focus on another trend taken from the study, the shift in employee engagement and how businesses are shouting, “Show me the
results!” These
results include things like brand authenticity, effective change management and efficient cross-company collaboration. The report goes on to explain, “Engagement as an aspiration measure is shifting focus and becoming a way to drive better outcomes.” Those direct outcomes are not only being recognized and measured, but strategically rewarded in an effort to secure a successful program for the long haul. Check out more on this trend and the other 9 topping the list for
2014 here.

With employers always looking for new ways to engage employees at work, in hopes of boosting employee loyalty metrics, we looked to our neighbors from the north for some advice. Here are three quick and easy ways you can maximize loyalty at your organization, without attaching any budget to the effort.