GiftCard Partners Blog

Millennials, those who currently are in the 18-33 age range, will make up 75% of the workforce by 2025. This generation posses an entirely different outlook on workplace culture than the generation before them. Technology is the primary Millennial influence, both in and out of the workplace. What are the best incentives for millennials to be motivated? Growing research shows that point system incentive programs have the highest success level, especially with Millennials. These employees want to not only be recognized, but they also want choices in how they are rewarded as well. Points programs are virtually foolproof, easy to understand, appeal to the interests of many different types of participants, tend to have higher participation rates, and are just plain fun! One amazing employee points program incentive model is the Values In Action program at CVS/pharmacy. An online rewards system where colleagues and managers can recognize one another by granting points that are redeemable for merchandise, travel vouchers, gift cards, and even the option to make a charitable donation. While points programs work best for Millennials, they can be customized for any diverse workforce. 
For more information on why points programs are so popular check out this article by Quality Incentive Company.

It sounds like a joke. An illegal employees safety program. However, based on recently release OSHA guidelines some employee safety programs can skirt federal regulations. When an employee safety program encourages employees to report incidents it, in some situations can lead to an employer penalizing employees for the incident regardless of who is at fault. Ensure that your safety program is aimed at motivating safe behavior and not necessarily encouraging incident reporting.
Promoting worker participation in the employee safety program is the safest, most effective way to ensure legality and success. Providing t-shirts for employees who participate in employee safety program, small rewards for employees who help strategize safety improvements for the entire workforce, or celebrating with employees when they complete a safety training program are great ways to promote safe behavior, rather than focusing on incidents and reporting. Ensure your safety program is safe for employees and legal for your business by using an employees safety program to promote safety and safe workplace behavior, rather than focusing on when safety goes south. How will you promote your employee safety program in the second half of the year? Leave us a comment and let us know!
For more information on the newly released OSHA guidelines and how to promote your workplace safety program legally check out Safety.BLR.com

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.

Our parents all taught is the golden rule. "Do unto others as your would have done to you." In instances of employee appreciation, we broke it down into 3 key rules. If employees are appreciated at the right times and in the right ways, their tenure with the company will be longer and no one will go home and complain about work or their boss or the annoying colleague two cubes down. Here's what we came up with. Have additional suggestions? Leave us a comment.

In our recovering economy it sometimes seems like there will always be more candidates than jobs. In some industries today that is already not the case. A talent war is looming, a time when companies are poaching each other's human capital and when employee loyalty should be at the top of your HR Strategy agenda. Here are three ways to build, maintain and teach loyalty in your organization.