GiftCard Partners Blog

Open enrollment is defined as the annual period in which employees can make changes to their benefits for themselves and their dependents. For many companies, this period occurs at the end of the calendar year for the following year. Despite the fact that this enrollment period is a mechanism by which employees can take advantage (or fuller advantage) of employer subsidized benefits, HR teams still face challenges in getting employees to participate in the open enrollment period and often turn to enrollment incentives to encourage employees to participate, and do so on time.

Maintaining an engaged workforce is top of mind for many employers in today’s competitive job market. Implementing effective employee reward and incentive programs with gift cards is a flexible, easy way to keep employees happy and provide positive reinforcement that fits any budget. When selecting the gift cards to use in your program you can select either prepaid cards or branded gift cards. Prepaid cards are retailer agnostic and come primarily from VISA^® and Mastercard^® while branded gift cards are usable at one specific retailer. Both products offer flexibility, easy delivery and convenience for program administrators and program participants alike.

The new year is a time when employees feel refreshed, ready to pick up new habits, fulfill 2023 resolutions, and take on more challenges. It is a unique moment on the calendar, and often in the fiscal year when employers have the chance to motivate employees to perform their best work and put practices in place that set them up for a successful work year.

As much of the U.S. gets back to a “new normal” with the COVID-19 pandemic waning, many businesses that require either low-wage, hourly, or exclusively in-person workforces are still finding themselves short-staffed. These sectors of the American workforce are critical to the healing of the economy and for getting individual businesses back to operating at pre-pandemic levels. 

The debate over office vs. dispersed workforce is a hot topic for any industry that can support a permanent remote workforce. Many companies are deciding to keep remote workers due to the effectiveness in productivity as well as reduced costs. Others are turning to a hybrid model, mixing in-person work days (that are either mandatory or at the discretion of individuals or teams) with remote office days. While working from anywhere has benefits for both employers and employees, it also represents a huge shift in how Americans work. That shift happened in an instant at the beginning of the pandemic as a matter of necessity and now companies are more carefully considering how they want their employees to work.