GiftCard Partners Blog

According to a study from Fidelity and the National Business Group on Health released last week, 73% of companies are using incentives to motivate their employees to live a healthy lifestyle. The average value of the incentives has also increased to $460, up from an average of $430 in 2010 and $260 in 2009. The study showed employers using different types of incentives, including gift cards, and showing that the programs were more effective than employers expected. Not only is health and wellness program usage on the rise, more and more companies are requiring employees to participate. In 2011, 5% of companies required their employees to participate in health testing (e.g., cholesterol screening) or ricks being excluded from coverage. That number is expected to nearly double in 2012 to 9%. 7% of companies required completion of a health-risk assessment last year. In 2012, 10% of companies will require it. These numbers prove how important employee health is both for the good of the employee and for the health care budget of the employer. How is your company changing their health and wellness policies?  
For more information on the rise of health and wellness programs check out this Employee Benefits News article.

In less than 2 weeks, GCP’s own Ed Shulkin and Deb Merkin will attend the Prepaid industry's biggest event. They’ll take in host keynotes, sponsors & exhibitions, and info sessions about the latest products and solutions in prepaid technologies and we’ll report the highlights back to you on this blog. Here are some helpful Prepaid Expo links: -        
Download the agenda -        
Check out the executive sessions -        
Prepaid Keynotes -        
What’s in store Check back next week to check out our Prepaid Expo round up.

Rewarding employees can become trite and lose its meaning. Sometimes coming up with interesting ways to recognize exceptional employees like presenting a public reward or giving an innovative gift such as a gift card, instead of cash can make the reward more meaningful. Here are a few quick criteria for keeping meaning in your employee rewards program.

I had the pleasure of attending the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) 12 Trends in Rewards & Recognition webinar last week. It was a truly well put together and extremely professional event; I don’t tend to take these attributes for granted these days. And the
post webinar white paper download is filled with survey results, studies, insights, economic climate conditions, mobile technology implications in the workplace, the latest engagement techniques, and so much more. During the webinar, they noted that they’d release 2 new studies about the use of prepaid cards as incentives and rewards and
11 new studies and white papers on the use of rewards, recognition, and motivational meetings in the workplace. Here are IRF’s top 12 Trends, do take the time to download the white paper; it’s a must read for employers involved with engagement, motivation, recognition, and rewards…the things that keep your business ticking!

Small businesses are increasing implementation of health and wellness programs to lower the ever rising cost of health care coverage. With insurance premiums rising as much as 30% annually, it is becoming essential for small businesses to keep their health care costs low, and keep their employees as healthy as possible. Small businesses tend to use a carrot approach, incenting employees who engage in health and wellness programs, as opposed to a stick approach, which would penalize employees who engage in unhealthy lifestyles. Incentives offered can include monetary bonuses, gift cards to retailers that assist employees in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, as well as other vehicles to support employees' healthy lifestyles. Health and wellness programs have proven that they pay for themselves, with research from Partnerships for Prevention showing that for every $1 a company pays for health and wellness program execution $3.50 is saved in health care coverage costs. This figure is staggering, especially for small businesses who need to manage budgets and expenditures very closely. Additionally, an Israeli study showed that employees who engaged in some form of exercise had lower rates of depression and job burnout, which proves that the benefits of health and wellness programs do not just serve employers but also employees and their interests. Health and wellness programs are growing more and more popular, especially among small businesses. What are you doing to keep your employees healthy?  
To learn more about small business health and wellness check out this article from msnbc.com.