GiftCard Partners Blog

There are 4 major criteria on which employee rewards should be evaluated. Addressing compensation, benefits, recognition and appreciation through employee rewards will help address a diverse range of HR topics. Using employee rewards to address these areas will help cut down on HR issues and keep employee productivity up. The investment in the rewards program will save your organization in the long term and help support strategic organizational goals. A comprehensive reward program should recognize both employee activity performance, and specific behaviors. Activity performance is goal oriented. Once an employee reaches a performance goal, they should receive some type of reward from the company, whether it is a gift card to their favorite restaurant, or an extra afternoon off. Behavior-based rewards are slightly more difficult to execute. When an employee exhibits a certain type of behavior desired by the organization, they should also be rewarded. This can often take the form of a "spot reward." These are smaller rewards given on the spot of desired behavior. This could be a small denomination gift card given to employees whenever appropriate.  Rewards should be given for both types of behavior, in all four categories to maintain consistency and a culture of appreciate within the organization. This will improve retention rates, productivity, and morale.  
For more information on creating a strategic rewards system visit this Entrepreneur.com article.

Employee loyalty is at the lowest rates in recent memory. According to a recent CareerBuilder survey one in three currently employed individuals plans to leave their job by the end of the year. 76% of current employed people would leave their job if the right opportunity presented itself, although they are not actively looking for a new job. Other studies have also shown staggering turn-over rates, showing that the average company loses 20-50% of its workforce each year. These numbers show employees are disconnected to their jobs, and that employers are not showing reciprocal loyalty to their workers. As the recession still continues to affect the economy and the job market employees see down-sized benefits packages, cut backs on organizational spending that was previously invested in professional growth and training opportunities, and a lack of demonstrated commitment to employees.  Employee loyalty has declined, because if employees don't feel that their organization has invested in them, they will not invest their longterm professional commitment in the organization. Investing in employees, whether it is giving a small denomination restaurant gift card for a one year anniversary, or ensuring that employees continue learning and growing through professional development training, it is important to show employees that their organization cares about them.
How will you use loyalty rewards to improve your retention rate this year? For more information and ideas on how to show loyalty to your employees check out this Forbes article.

Motivating employees is about ensuring that your employees feel appreciated and supported by the organization. Showing your employees you care is the best way to get them to invest their time and energy into their jobs and make a difference. The most important piece of employee motivation is showing that appreciation and giving rewards in a way that works for the employee you are trying to reach. Quiet, hardworking employees do not want public attention drawn to them, but giving a gift, reward, or praise in a one-on-one atmosphere will show them appreciation and motivate them, rather than make them uncomfortable in front of their peers. To an innovative thinker, knowing a bit more about the "big picture" and how their work affects that makes a big difference. Taking time to provide them some more strategic information, in addition to a reward will go a long way. Analytical employees want to know how their piece fits into the greater puzzle, and want to be compensated based on the size of their piece. Giving them spot rewards, such as a restaurant gift card, for small achievements, and larger bonuses for reaching long-term goals will show this employee organizational appreciation, and motivate them into the future. Tailoring motivation and rewards to how an employee will best recieve the praise is important. If you reward and motivate an employee, but the delivery embarasses them, belittles them, or does not speak to their professional goals or intellecutal style the impact of the reward and motivation could be lost.
For more information on how to motivate effectively check out this Time Magazine article.

As the economy continues to improve, I for one am thinking about how and where to vacation this summer. On a personal level, I know I will grab up deals with extra gift card dollars wherever I can find them. And with professional interest, Harris Interactive’s recent survey (on behalf of Choice Hotels) seems like really great timing for the loyalty rewards market. The survey reports that out of  the 2,100 U.S adults that were surveyed, over 87% of Americans plan to travel for leisure this summer, and they report that if they had an extra $50 to spend on their vacation, they'd be most likely to spend it on:

When employees are distracted, stressed, or discontent in their personal lives they often bring that negative energy into the work place. Combine outside stress with the general workplace grind and you are bound to have some unhappy employees. They feel disengaged at work, not supported by their organization's management and begin to resent their position, their professional environment, and ultimately try to change their professional situation. The Corporate Leadership Council shows some staggering statistics about recent employee (lack of)  organizational engagement. 60 percent of organizations report that they are experiencing a leadership crisis, which is an increase of 40 percent from just a year earlier. Weak leadership often also leads to a restless, dissatisfied workforce. Worse yet, the number of employees that are “highly disengaged” has doubled since early 2008. So how do you combat this negative energy in the workplace? Focus your organization's employee investment dollars on the time employees spend outside of the office. Reward employees' desired behavior with spot rewards such as a gift card to a restaurant employees can enjoy with their family, or create a points system so employees can save their rewards points and redeem for bigger incentives, such as an extra vacation day. According to research done by the Corporate Executive Board employees who feel they have a better work-life balance tend to work 21% harder than those that don’t. So instead of investing in employees work time, invest in employees non-work time, so that when employees are at work they are mentally present, physically present, and just as invested in their job, as their employer is in them.  
For more information on creating a positive workplace environment check out this Care2 article.