GiftCard Partners Blog

Social Gaming Towards Health

As pressure increases on employers and health insurance companies to reduce costs by improving participants’ health, innovative approaches are emerging. One such approach is the use of health gamification in the workplace. By leveraging virtual reality games and inter-organizational competition with real rewards, companies can motivate employees to reach their health goals. These gaming portals, ranging from basic health tracking to social, team-based competition applications, offer rewards for hitting milestones. The rewards can vary from small denomination gift cards to larger prizes like vacations upon reaching significant wellness goals.

Employee engagement is a proven way to raise employee morale, lower quit rates, and make your workforce more productive. Showing employees how their day to day work contributes to the bigger picture and helps the organization reach its goals leads to engagement. Conveying clear vision and providing a sense of importance is how managers can contribute to overall workforce engagement at an organizational level. Employees are the ultimate driver of an organization to its goals, so it is important to engage employees through training, professional development, and rewards ranging from useful gift cards to larger rewards such as vacation travel and extra time off. It is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between high employee morale and true engagement. According to Ronald Sanders, a senior executive adviser and fellow at Booz Allen Hamilton, engagement entails innovation, commitment, and employees choosing to use their discretionary energy at work. Engagement goes beyond a happy workforce to a deeper level of commitment to work and understanding of the importance of the job employees do every day. It is important to reward employees who reach this level so that they not only feel the importance of their position but so they feel supported by their organization. Reinforcing desired behaviors and attitudes is crucial to maintaining the engagement cycle into the future of the organization.
For more information on deeply engaged employees check out this Federal Computer Week article. 

It is a proven and accepted reality in business today that engaged employees increase a company's bottom line. However, new research from Gallup show that engaging B2B customers by establishing an emotional connection based on confidence, integrity, pride and passion is crucial to customer impact. Engaged customers deliver 23% more revenue than average customers in wallet-share, revenue, relationship growth, and profitability. According to the same Gallup research only 13% of B2B customers are fully engaged. Engagement exists when customers go out of their way to favor a relationship over price. This deepens a relationship, and often customers  are rewarded for their loyalty with either a discount for services rendered or other perks from the company providing the service. Treating customer engagement and employee engagement similarly will garner similar outcomes. Reward customers for any business you gain, the way you would an employee. Provide spot rewards, such as a small gift card for small business gained and for a major expansion in business or formation of an industry partnership, provide a broader reward. Creating a 360 degree customer feedback loop provides opportunities for relationship growth. Putting constant work into the companies' relationship is crucial. The time you spend ensuring that your employees are loyal should be equivalent to the time you ensure that your customers and partners are going to continue to drive your business.  
For more information on B2B customer engagement check out this Business News Daily article.