GiftCard Partners Blog

Employee development is an underutilized human resources tool. Putting an emphasis on manager coaching and development at all levels of an organization can be the best way to build a great culture and make your organization a great place to work. Employee development begins with clear and open communication, giving employees the resources they need and giving employee autonomy where possible. Avoiding micro-managing in favor of long-term employee development not only makes your workforce stronger as individuals, but it breeds a culture of loyalty, trust and advancement. As you can see below,
only 46% of employees feel that their managers communicate openly and clearly. Ensuring that employees are getting honest feedback and that expectations are being set and communicated appropriately are two of the most important things a manager can give an employee to help further develop their careers. A solid foundation will lead to a long future for your employees and your organization. When employees are happy, satisfied and feel like they not only work each day, but learn and improve, productivity and job satisfaction also improve.

Employee retention is a hot topic in a job market where there’s no such thing as a “company man” anymore, and changing positions every 2 years has become the norm. For employers, employee retention should be a top priority for any HR staff because frankly, new employees are expensive. Between onboarding, training, manager’s time lost, break in team rhythm and potential costs of signing bonuses, relocation or travel and new employee socialization taking on new employees are expensive. Check out the infographic below for a full breakdown of why making employee retention a priority can help keep your organization in the black for the back half of the year. Employee rewards programs can often fall victim to budget cuts, or not get approved at all due to lack of executive buy-in. However, make smaller investments in employee rewards like gift cards or extra time off can actually provide ROI, not only in the saved cost of employee retention but also in increased productivity and further employee motivation across your entire workforce. Positioning employee rewards programs as promoting employee retention, and even the “lesser of two evils” can help any executive see the benefits of employee retention vs. employee on-boarding. Thanks to 
SHRM.org for this great infographic on the ROI of Employee Retention

The HR landscape is changing with the face of the American workforce. As baby boomers move into senior leadership roles and begin to retire, and millenials begin to represent a larger portion of today's working world employee needs become drastically different and the way employees learn and process also diversifies. Millenials and baby boomers do things differently. They think differently, they act differently, they are motivated by different things and human resources professionals are tasked with engaging employees at all levels. Employee empowerment is the new key to pleasing everyone and the key to successful employee engagement. Empowering employees to train each other, help each other through on-boarding processes creates a dynamic leadership structure that empowers employees and fosters employee engagement. Younger workers are looking for an environment where their voice can be heard, and more senior members of the workforce don't want to feel like they are "aging out."  By combining these two needs and creating and empowered employee leadership structure everyone can teach their strengths and learn their weaknesses with their peers, rather than within a rigid hierarchical power structure. The result is greater harmony and increased employee engagement. Rewarding employees for participating in this new-age peer-to-peer training program helps aid professional development and provides an opportunity to reward employees for giving of themselves for the greater good of the team. Rewarding employee engagement doesn't have to be a trip to Hawaii. It could be a gift card for a luxury item from Crutchfield, or a gift card for dinner out at The Cheesecake Factory, or for the shopaholic a gift card to a popular retailer like The Limited. Gift cards allow engaged employees to chose their ultimate reward as a "thank you" for giving back to the team.
For more information on employee engagement or collaboration through dynamic leadership check out this article from Forbes.

In a world now dominated by technology and nationwide services, companies have a tendency to lose touch with their social roots. As 1-800-FLOWERS.COM's CEO Jim McCann discusses, gone are the days of word-of-mouth advertising and, with it, a sense of community for many companies on the rise. McCann makes an effort to avoid this through what he describes as social consciousness. McCann works to keep the community conversation open in his own company, even as he sees an increase in success and his business gets bigger and busier. 
"We face a host of enormous challenges in the world today--everything from climate change to hunger to economic turmoil. It’s not possible for any one entity to solve problems when they reach this scale, but it is still our responsibility to participate in the solutions--particularly in the discussions around new and better solutions that might be developed," said McCann. For 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, it's not enough to simply contribute money to good causes. They strive to participate in the conversation. They not only hunt for opportunities to connect with customers, but also for opportunities to connect their customers to one another and with their own community. Other growing companies can follow suit by ingraining a similar mentality of social consciousness into their own business practices.
Read the full article here.

Every company looks to attract the best people to their organization. Some offer signing bonuses, some offer an enhanced benefits package, but the key to attracting top young talent is flexibility. A flexible workplace is a perk that some employees are hesitant to offer for fear employees will take advantage. However, if you are truly attracting top talent they will likely adopt the motto "with great power comes great responsibility" and won't actually abuse the privilege. 39% of employees surveyed by Mom Corps indicated they have considered leaving or have actually left a job because the workplace wasn't flexible enough. This is an issue that hits close to home at GiftCard Partners, since we all work remotely, it is a uniquely flexible environment that allows some of our team to work full time when they would not otherwise be able to in a traditional office environment. Further more, employees are willing to give up a lot for a flexible environment. About half of U.S. adults surveyed would take a salary cut for increased workplace flexibility. Since most people work at least partially out of financially necessity, that is a staggering number. Workplace incentives are effective, but giving employees what they are looking for before they start sends a clear message that employees' time and talent is appreciated by the organization. Is your workplace flexible? Would you consider making your office more flexible? Let us know in the comments section.
For more information on flexible workplaces and how to attract top talent check out this article from Mashable.