GiftCard Partners Blog

In
Monday’s blog we discussed the #10 trend taken from Incentive Research Foundation’s
2014 Trends in Engagement, Incentives, and Recognition report, the popularity of non-cash rewards as sales incentives. Today we want to focus on another trend taken from the study, the shift in employee engagement and how businesses are shouting, “Show me the
results!” These
results include things like brand authenticity, effective change management and efficient cross-company collaboration. The report goes on to explain, “Engagement as an aspiration measure is shifting focus and becoming a way to drive better outcomes.” Those direct outcomes are not only being recognized and measured, but strategically rewarded in an effort to secure a successful program for the long haul. Check out more on this trend and the other 9 topping the list for
2014 here.

The topic of selling sales incentives made the list in the Incentive Research Federation’s (IRF) newest report,
2014 Trends in Engagement, Incentives, and Recognition. The report shined light on the fact that although sales goals came up short last year, many of those companies are still raising quotas for 2014, leaving many executives searching for answers on how their sales teams will make those numbers. One trend that came out of the study was focused on the incentives being used to motivate sales teams. The report stated,

Engaged employees become brand advocates and evangelize your organization. Engaged employees do better work to serve your customers and ensure your team and organization hit revenue targets. Here are three ways to boost your employee engagement:

We found some scary stats from the Harvard Business Review about employee engagement, and how much is lacking from today's workplace. Here are just 3 quick facts from a recent Bain & Company and Netsurvey study.

Most companies' biggest "cost" is personnel. Manpower is expensive to the organization and the workers always feel they could be making more money. Employees that are less satisfied with their jobs are less helpful to the end consumer, who then spends less with the organization. Keeping your workforce happy is correlated to your profit margins. Offering employees incentives is a great way to set guidelines for employees to work for certain incentive rewards. Based on what behavior is fulfilled incentives can range from a small denomination gift card to a popular retailer such as
The Cheesecake Factory, to a paid vacation, or extra time off. Keeping your employees happy will keep your company healthy.
For more information on why keeping your employees happy can help cover your profit margins check out this article from the New York Times.