Posts Tagged ‘gift card incentives’
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012
GiftCard Partners recently published our Gift Card Usage results white paper, which is chock full of ways employers are using gift cards to engage, motivate and reward employees. Employers use incentives to promote all kinds of desired behaviors, but amongst the most important are for complying with safety regulations and precautions. A safer workplace leads to lower company healthcare insurance premiums, lower employee coverage contributions, less sick days, fewer short-term and long-term disabi
lity work outages, and increased productivity.
Here are a few of our best safety program success stories involving gift cards as incentives. Motivate yourself to motivate your employees with these success stories!
- An electronics and process controls company plays “Safety Bingo” every month and they have been accident free for 15 years. “I use them as prizes, sometimes we will have 2 games going at one time like 4 corners and a regular Bingo, so I will give a $50 gift card for the 4 corners. Or I will surprise an employee who I catch using all their PPE (personal protective equipment) correctly.
- An off-highway vehicle manufacturer uses gift cards “as incentives for Safety (no accident) and also for project team participation gifts”.
- An engineering and remediation company created a “Spot Bonus plan where managers can reward an employee on the spot for doing a job exceptionally or safely.”
- A community hospital gives gift card incentives to “staff who use creative ideas in initiating safety activities such as promoting better hand hygiene, and appropriate use of personal protective equipment for patients in isolation.”
These employers and programs buy their gift cards in bulk to save money on their incentives.
Want to read more Safety Blogs from GCP? Click here for more on safety programs and safety
incentives.
The author:
Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.
Tags: employee engagement, employee incentives, employee safety, gift card incentives, health and wellness, safety incentives, safety program, safety program ROI, workplace rewards, workplace safety
Posted in General, Gift Card Trends, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 21st, 2012
Using positive reinforcement to promote and reward for workplace safety guideline adherence is not a new concept. But what you choose to reward with can impact your program’s long term success and ROI. Do your employees really want more swag or tchotchkes? Really…not very likely.
But, if employees are offered a choice of gift cards, combined with the choice of what they purchase with those gift cards puts the power of choice in their hands. This power of choice stays in the employee’s memory, and it’s tied in their mind to their employer’s generosity.
It’s not just about what employees want. When employers offer “most wanted incentives” like gift cards, their likelihood of realizing ROI in the short and long term increases. Offering flexible and coveted rewards offers workplace safety programs repeated adherence to safety precautions and sends the message that the employer cares as much about the employee as the ROI.
Here are a few examples of our typical gift card customers’ workplace safety incentive programs:
- Measured accident reduction
- Safety awareness contributions
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) programs
- Increased productivity rewards
- Health and wellness programs, tailored to specific job functions
- Driver safety and incident reduction
- Training milestones
Check out America’s Most Wanted Gift Card Incentive Choices
The author:
Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.
Tags: employee engagement, employee incentives, employee safety, gift card incentives, health and wellness, safety incentives, safety program, safety program ROI, workplace rewards, workplace safety
Posted in General, Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
Monday, February 20th, 2012
According to the 2011 Job Satisfaction and Engagement Research Report,conducted by the Socety for Human Resource Management 83% of American employees are satisfied with their jobs. However, only 52% feel engaged at work, and 53% enjoy going above and beyond in their professional role. In order to keep employees feeling engaged and satisfied it is important to both engage their thoughts and opinions to improve your workplace and offer opportunities for training and advancement. Setting up both formal training and informal mentoring sessions keeps employees engaged and feeling as though their employer cares about their career path.
Providing these opportunities for employees is productive, and can be paired well with spot rewards. For employees who achieve goals and milestones that are set in these types of sessions providing small rewards, like an afternoon off or a small denomination gift card goes one step above and beyond the role of the employer. Pairing these two employee engagement techniques allow employees to work toward personal achievements and become more committed to the company as the company allows and rewards them for growth.
Engaging and rewarding your employees will improve not only their commitment to their job and the company but their dedication to their role and their willingness to go above and beyond the employers expectations.
For more information on the SHRM survey or how to engage and incentivize your employees check out this “Small Business Trends” article.
The author:
Rachel Merkin is a recent college graduate, beginning a career in marketing and public relations. She has been exploring the worlds of social media and B2B gift cards since 2006. When she is not blogging, tweeting, or finding ways to leverage Facebook as a marketing tool, she spends as much time IN or ON the ocean as possible, beaching and boating.
Tags: employee engagement, employee incentives, employee motivation, employee recognition, gift card incentives, loyalty rewards
Posted in General, Incentives & Engagement, Loyalty | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 14th, 2012
86% of businesses use employee recognition programs. Rewards and incentives can spur sales, improve retention and employee loyalty, and raise productivity.
The Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) reports that incentives can attract and retain good employees, boost team performance by as much as 44% and increase individual productivity by an average of 22%.The right kind of recognition program can provide staggering benefits to an organization. In a recent WorldatWork survey 90% 0f businesses indicated that rewards and incentives improved length of service, 79% of respondents indicated rewards incented employees towards “above and beyond” performance, and 43% of respondents indicated that incentives led to peer to peer recognition.
This kind of data reveals that creating programs for employee rewards, recognition and incentives is a small investment that reaps significant returns. Not only keeping employees happy, but creating a work environment where the employee appreciates the company can lead to longer and more prosperous employee employer relationships. Ensuring that these rewards are properly and often communicated from the employer to the employee using different modes of communication such as a company intranet, email, bulletin boards, and the like help to remind employees constantly of the appreciation of the company for their hard work and dedication. Measuring success and gauging satisfaction of recognition and rewards programs is another important way to ensure that as an employer you keep your employees engaged in these programs is important.
Rewards do not have to be big, rewards can range from small spot rewards such as a gift card, and can extend all the way to more valuable incentives like a trip or extra time off.
For more tips on engaging employees in rewards programs that drive performance check out this Business Management Daily article.
The author:
Rachel Merkin is a recent college graduate, beginning a career in marketing and public relations. She has been exploring the worlds of social media and B2B gift cards since 2006. When she is not blogging, tweeting, or finding ways to leverage Facebook as a marketing tool, she spends as much time IN or ON the ocean as possible, beaching and boating.
Tags: corporate incentives, employee engagement, employee motivation, employee recognition, gift card incentives, gift cards
Posted in General, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
Monday, February 13th, 2012
There are many 3rd party companies that define, administer and track customer loyalty programs as a service, but there are also many companies that successfully run their own loyalty program in-house. Incentive and loyalty points platforms are utilized to create and maintain customer accrued points, and they include the redemption platform which is loaded with the rewards.
These systems also integrate features like social media, communications tools, survey systems, and special online promotion tools. What do internally-run or independently-run loyalty programs look like? They look much like the ones that loyalty program providers run, and they often include a portfolio of gift cards to choose from when redeeming loyalty points. Each program has its own attributes for accruing points, some examples are:
* Simply, dollar to point system
* Promotions like spend X and get double points
* Member discounts
* Retailer partnering, like fuel discounts
* Additional points for online purchases
Companies that run their own loyalty programs should be sure there are flexible rewards, like gift cards and bulk gift card buyers receive % discounts based on the spend for cards purchased. These programs are an integral piece of a loyalty strategy and they work to help acquire, retain, and reward customers via the accumulation of points. Do you run an internal loyalty program?
Tell us about it here.
The author:
Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.
Tags: bulk gift cards, consumer loyalty, customer loyalty, gift card incentives, in-house loyalty program, loyalty points, loyalty program, loyalty rewards, loyalty strategy, rewards points, using rewards points
Posted in General, Loyalty | No Comments »
Monday, February 6th, 2012
U.S. Workers are spending $3,0001 a year on WHAT? The answer might be shocking to some…coffee and lunch. Sadly, I’m not shocked. For years, I spent lunches at Boston’s Newbury and Boylston Street eateries in addition to daily trips for my (former) favorite chai tea latte. Those were the days…of draining my cash!!
Help Your Employees Save $$$
Employers across the country have realized that they offer aid their employees’ budgets, even if the younger employees don’t (yet) have budgets.
Employee incentives can be practical and they instill practical qualities when the incentive itself is practical. Many employers look to practical retailer and merchant gift cards, like SUBWAY and Boston Market to help curb that expensive lunch spending. Many employers take the “practical” theme further and offer CVS/pharmacy gift cards, so employees can care for themselves and their kids and cover prescription co-pays, over the counter medicine, or the travel sized products they need for their next business trip.
Are you ready to save your employees some cash while rewarding them?
Source: 1. Accounting Principals Workonomix Survey
The author:
Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.
Tags: bulk gift cards, CVS gift cards, employee incentives, employee recognition, employee rewards, gift card incentives, save employees money, workplace incentives
Posted in General, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
Friday, February 3rd, 2012
GiftCard Partners continues its path of helping employers understand why now is the time to include a health and wellness program with incentives. GCP was published in this February’s issue of Voluntary Benefits Magazine, outlining the top 5 reasons why and how to start such a program!
Inside the article, you’ll find:
1. Employers Can Shape a Healthier Workforce
2. What to Expect from your Health and Wellness Program
3. How to Overcome Participation Obstacles
4. How to Measure Results
5. The Thing Most Companies Don’t Get Right
I’d like to extend a special Thank You to Denise Holland, President of Inside Employee Wellness & Consulting for her contributions to this article.
Check out: GCP’s, Start a Health and Wellness Program in 2012
GiftCard Partners Published in Voluntary Benefits Magazine Online
Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.
Tags: corporate gift card, CVS gift cards, gift card incentives, health and wellness participation, health and wellness programs, healthcare legislation, healthier workforce, healthy gift cards, healthy incentives, measuring a health and wellness program, Nutrisystem gift cards, SUBWAY gift cards, Voluntary Benefits Magazine
Posted in General, Gift Card Trends, Health & Wellness | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012
Most people in corporate America understand the benefits of health and wellness programs…from the potential insurance premium savings and government incentives to companies, to individual employee productivity increases, and long term behavior changes; health and wellness programs seem to be a win-win when you incent and motivate people to get involved.
But, it’s not just the corporate side of America looking closely at health and wellness incentives. U.S. Medicaid and Medicare programs, States and insurance companies are also looking at incentives such as the CVS Select gift cards. Such gift cards work as incentives in prevention programs that demonstrate changes in health risk and outcomes, such as tobacco cessation, controlling or reducing weight, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, and avoiding the onset of diabetes or improving the management of their diabetes condition.1
CVS Select gift cards is an example of a healthy gift card incentive that filters out unhealthy products, such as tobacco and alcohol, and supports positive purchases such as medication co-pays, over the counter medicines and other healthcare products. In many ways, the users of Medicaid and Medicare programs are some of the most vulnerable of our population, as they need prompting to get healthy and remain healthy, yet they often have fewer resources to do so.
Read more from CMS.gov to learn how incentives can benefit Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Source: 1. Overview of Medicaid Incentives for Prevention of Chronic Diseases Program
The author:
Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.
Tags: CVS gift cards, gift card incentives, government incentives, health and wellness incentives, healthy gift cards, managing health with incentives, Medicaid incentives, Medicare incentives, population health, state program incentives
Posted in General, Gift Card Trends, Health & Wellness | No Comments »
Monday, January 30th, 2012
People rely on their smartphones to ring alarms, retrieve all facets of communications, navigate where they’re going, and so much more! But what about navigating one of the most difficult challenges of life…changing behavior to improve one’s health? There is ZERO debate over the attractiveness and popularity of Smartphone, tablet, and computer apps to help us in our everyday life; but can they help change our behaviors, or keep our attention on our goals on a long-term basis?
One of my first experiences with a healthy-app was more than 10 years ago, on my Palm Pilot with a program that tracked the foods I ate (down to the TBSP of milk in my latte). The program allowed me to input my daily exercise, and it would tally up my healthfulness for the day, week,
month and adjust my workout accordingly to stay on track. I have to say, I was pretty good for a few years about tracking those crunches and treadmill walks to counter whatever food I ate.Although the technology became obsolete, the habits of how I make my coffee and the calorie & fat counting sticks with me to this day.
Such apps could certainly be integrated into a workplace health and wellness program. Since tracking health and wellness milestones is an
important cornerstone of any program, apps can be set up with individuals’ health and wellness goals to help employees track, in real-
time, their own success…connecting them closer to their potential incentives or rewards, like the gift cards or premium reductions. With or without a health and wellness program, workplaces can promote such apps to keep healthy behaviors on track through the workday.
Check out this Quora discussion, to find some great ideas that you can pass on to your employees, coworkers,
and teams. By supporting these technologies; you could help create a healthier workplace, one app/one person at a time.
The author:
Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.
Tags: corporate incentives, employee incentives, employee motivation, gift card incentives, health and wellness programs, health incentives, healthy apps
Posted in General, Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
Monday, January 23rd, 2012
This health and wellness incentives article caught my attention since it’s such an important channel for our gift card sales, but what kept my attention was Ken Baker’s sense of humor and fun approach. Baker, CEO of NewAge Industries “is willing to do whatever he can to encourage his employees to live a healthier lifestyle — including making bribes and bets.” His approach is more sophisticated than that statement leads one to believe.
There are many cute snippets in this story, like, if Baker’s sales manager Mike Allard lost 40 pounds in 2 months, he’d produce and wear a t-shirt printed with “The Man” in honor of him…if he failed to lose the weight, Allard would wear a shirt decrying defeat. It worked! The crux; motivation and incentives work to build a healthier workforce. “The programs, while voluntary, can offer financial benefits, including lower insurance premiums, gift cards and employer contributions to health savings accounts.” states Phillyburbs.com in Inspiring employee healthy lifestyles with employer incentives. NewAge Industries is just the kind of company that is taking advantage of federal health care reform policies that offers qualified companies grant money and tax credits to help such companies launch health and wellness programs. “By 2014, companies will be able
to offer rewards of up to 30 percent of the total cost of an employee’s insurance coverage.”
Small to medium sized business owner and not yet conducting your own health and wellness program? Read on, this is a great overview with interesting context and facts:Inspiring employee healthy lifestyles with employer incentives.
The author:
Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.
Tags: employee incentives, gift card incentives, gift cards, health and wellness programs, healthy workplace, inspiring employees, small business benefits, voluntary benefits, wellness incentives
Posted in General, Health & Wellness | No Comments »
