GiftCard Partners Blog

Gamification is a trend that continues to gain traction in the workplace. It can be applied to health and wellness initiatives, employee motivation programs, and even training programs. New research from the University of Colorado indicates that new employees who participated in online gaming and interactive modules as part of the training process showed higher overall retention rates, a greater knowledge of the organization and their particular role, and a higher level skill set. Gamificationtraining engages employees in the process of on-boarding, rather than having new employees sit through hours of static training sessions where they listen to so much information it is more difficult to retain and later apply. Gamification alsoallows employees to learn and apply simultaneously, making information more digestible and creating mechanisms to help employees remember important points. Gamifying employee training is an innovative way to invest in employees right from the start. Employees will appreciate the engaging training sessions and feel supported by the organization from the outset of their time. Using gamification for ongoing employee training, for employees who have been with the organization for a period of time, can go one step further byusing incentives for game winners and goal reachers. Using small incentives such as a gift card to a popular retailer such as 
CVS/Pharmacy or 
The Cheesecake Factory for those who achieve or meet their goals from the training will not only ensure that employees absorb the desired material but that all employees are motivated to complete the training and work towards its goals.

According to a new report released from SilkRoad, 86% of employers struggle to create and maintain workforceengagement. These struggles lead to unmotivated employees, low employee morale, and can ultimately cause low retention rates at an organization. Employee Engagement programs can turn these staggering statistics around and help organizations strive for success both internally and externally. Here are some key data points from the study and how you can help apply them to ensure employee engagement is at the forefront of your organizational planning.

Worker safety programs can be controversial, but time and time again they prove their ROI. When safety incentives are implemented correctly, safety programs can extend and improve worker safety records. The money invested in incentivized safety programs is returned in lower insurance costs, a happier workforce, and improved safety in the workplace. Here are 3 steps to properly implement a worker safety program within your organization.
1. Make safety a core value. Making safety a core value at your organization, and reiterating safety messages constantly to employees will ingrain the safety programs message into employees professional mindsets. When safety is top of mind for employees the workplace becomes a safer place, mitigating risk and cost associated with unsafe working conditions.
2. Set high expectations for safe behavior. Safety programs should be something that employees strive to excel in. Maintain high expectations for safety programs, and use safety incentives when appropriate. Only giving out rewards for employees who do an exceptional job, in more of an ad-hoc fashion, can be equally effective as a formally structured incentivized safety program. As they won’t know when safety incentives will be rewarded, an ad-hoc approach will keep employees striving for better and better safety metrics.
3. Commit management to worker safety. Keeping management invested in promoting worker safety is a key to success. Employees notice when management cares about their safety, and that is extremely motivational to the general workforce. Having managers invest part of their budget in safety incentives shows a tangible commitment to worker safety and shows the workforce that management is committed to safety program incentives for exceptional work. Budget investments can be spent on small denomination gift cards to popular retailers such as 
The Limited, 
The Cheesecake Factory, and 
The Children's Place. Small rewards such as gift cards can go a long way in showing employee appreciation for organizational safety.

The Affordable Care Act was signed by President Obama in 2010. Since its implementation, a number of programs have been developed in an effort to strengthen Medicaid and Medicare by lowering costs and improving the quality of care for millions of Americans.

New research released from Fidelity Investments shows employers across the country are doubling spending on health and wellness programs. The study shows that corporate employers are planning to spend an average of $521 per employee on health and wellness programs in 2013, up from just $260 4 years ago. The increased cost is indicative of the success of health and wellness programs in controlling overall organizational healthcare costs. Over the past several years organization health care cost has been rising at a phenomenal rate, that is prohibitive to some employers. Since the largest percentage of the cost comes from preventable conditions caused by employees bad habits such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol,  employers are looking to promote a healthy lifestyle among their workforce to bring overall cost down. Here are a few easy strategies for energizing your workforce around an organization-wide health and wellness strategy.