GiftCard Partners Blog

Undercover cooking talent and reality restaurant shows are on the top of Food Network, lifestyle networks and even major networks these days, and our client Boston Market is taking this opportunity to capture their service and operations issues in order to remain – THE BEST, while growing their brand.

During this time of year employees are looking to maintain their New Year's Resolutions and it’s the perfect opportunity to implement an employee health and wellness program, saving your organization money for the rest of the year. A study cited by 
wellnessproposals.com showed that implementing a wellness program lowered sick leave by 28%, lowered the use of healthcare benefits by 26%, and lowered employee’s compensation claims by 30%. All of these indicators save your organization money, whether it means a smaller, more productive workforce, lower healthcare costs, or lower employee disability and compensation claims. Organizations that implement wellness programs also reduce personnel turnover costs because employees are healthier, happier, and feel supported by their employer which increases productivity and loyalty. Employee health and wellness programs can be very simple to implement. Using a carrot reward philosophy to incent employees to reach health goals, such as quitting smoking, losing a certain amount of weight, or lowering another disease indicating health metric such as blood pressure or cholesterol, is a great way to start. You can even set up inter-office competition for willing employees, allowing employees to compete to reach goals faster, and rewarding the winners. Rewards do not need to be large expensive gifts, rather they can be small rewards that show employees you care without burning all of your organization's newly saved capital. Small denomination gift cards that help employees improve health, such as gift cards to retailers like 
NutriSystem, 
GNC, or 
CVS/Pharmacy can be a great way to reward employees by helping them on their journey while helping your company's bottom line.

Mobile recognition, Social, Interactive, Green…there are many key initiatives rolled up in Roy Saunderson’s Top 10 Trends for Employee Recognition in 2013, but he shows us that it’s not just important to identify the trends, but to also put them in context. It’s not surprising to see gift cards rank in top recognition trends for the new year, but Roy shares his insights around making recognition and incentives meaningful for the employee.
“6. Give me the cards I want." Employees will no longer be satisfied with mainstay gift cards from big box stores and established suppliers. Employees will demand to receive customized cards from meaningful places they prefer and not just what the employer deems everyone should get.” This bodes well for GCP’s strategy of bringing the most wanted gift card brands to employers for recognition rewards and incentives. It forces employers to not just toss a cash equivalent gift card at an employee, but to be thoughtful about the gift. Give gift cards to great restaurants so your employees take their families to dinner, pharmacy gift cards so families can be proactive with healthful and personal care purchases, retail apparel gift cards…often a real treat.
Check out the rest of Incentive’s Top 10 Trends for Employee Recognition in 2013

Stress. We all deal with it every day, constantly finding better ways to deal with it, cope with it, release it, but we rarely think of the long term effects it has on our bodies, or our careers. However, for small business owners employee stress is a top concern. According to a national survey done by Humana Inc., 93% of small business owners consider employees’ physical and mental health as contributors to their bottom line. Managing employee stress and the negative effects is has on health is crucial for small business owners. The effects of stress can decrease employee productivity, increase absenteeism, and hurt a company's culture and business results. According to the Humana survey only 22% of the small business owners surveyed offer Health and Wellness programs, while 85% of those surveyed believe that these programs are worth the investment. Implementing Health and Wellness programs can help manage employee stress, increase productivity, and decrease absenteeism. Offering small incentives for employees who reach various health and wellness goals, such as a goal weight, lowering blood pressure or mitigating risks of other conditions that can become serious and costly, can provide that supportive 
pat on the back that employees need to lose those few extra pounds, or take an active role in managing their stress. Incentives can be as inexpensive as a small denomination gift card to a health-promoting retailer such as 
CVS/Pharmacy or 
GNC. An small investment like this can be just enough to show employees that the organization they work for supports and commends them for their hard work. Health and Wellness programs are a win-win investment for organizations, improving their workforce while helping to control long term health care costs.