Loyalty Programs: Rewards Points vs. The Big Picture
Loyalty360 brings us an interesting concept that loyalty programs are often misconstrued as the final parts of what should be considered the small pieces of their make-up, the points, rewards, and deals. In
Changing Times by Phil Rubin, CEO of rDialgoue speaks with us about what’s really important in loyalty: the building of one-on-one relationships with customers. Most retailers and merchants think of points as so central to their customer loyalty, yet Amazon doesn’t have a standard points program, yet they have one of the most loyal customers in the industry.
How does Amazon do it? And, what can you learn from brands that go beyond points and rewards to engender loyalty and trust? Check out loyalty360’s article
Changing Times and their 360 podcast.
Roadmap for Improving the Health of Employees and the Organization
As GCP continues to expand our portfolio of gift cards we offer to corporate health and wellness incentive programs; we are always happy to provide you with information that helps pave your way to a healthier and more productive workforce. The Change Agent Work Group published a comprehensive paper (a whopping 75 pages) called Employer Health Asset Management: A Roadmap for Improving the Health of Your Employees and Your Organization, which offers decision makers some great tools to meet the challenges of reducing healthcare costs for their organization. It includes rationale to:
Control Healthcare Costs by Engaging Employees
Employee Morale vs. True Engagement
Employee engagement is a proven way to raise employee morale, lower quit rates, and make your workforce more productive. Showing employees how their day to day work contributes to the bigger picture and helps the organization reach its goals leads to engagement. Conveying clear vision and providing a sense of importance is how managers can contribute to overall workforce engagement at an organizational level. Employees are the ultimate driver of an organization to its goals, so it is important to engage employees through training, professional development, and rewards ranging from useful gift cards to larger rewards such as vacation travel and extra time off. It is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between high employee morale and true engagement. According to Ronald Sanders, a senior executive adviser and fellow at Booz Allen Hamilton, engagement entails innovation, commitment, and employees choosing to use their discretionary energy at work. Engagement goes beyond a happy workforce to a deeper level of commitment to work and understanding of the importance of the job employees do every day. It is important to reward employees who reach this level so that they not only feel the importance of their position but so they feel supported by their organization. Reinforcing desired behaviors and attitudes is crucial to maintaining the engagement cycle into the future of the organization.
For more information on deeply engaged employees check out this Federal Computer Week article.
GCP’s Q1 2012 Gift Card Industry Trend Report is Here!
The first quarter of 2012 included GCP’s visits to and participation in many meetings, conferences and events, including the PrePaid
Expo, the InComm Partner Alliance, the South Florida Success Expo (SWFL), and the Loyalty Expo. In Q1’s trend report, we captured a pulse on 2011 B2B gift card sales results, key gift card market expansion trends for 2012, and an update on the effects of New Jersey’s gift card laws to our industry.
Read the full B2B Gift Card Trend Report here.
