Personalized Career Rewards: Let Employees Choose Their Gift Cards

According to a recent Gallup survey, as of mid-2025, only 32% of U.S. employees reported feeling engaged at work—a number that has remained stagnant. This has prompted many organizations to take a fresh look at their employee engagement strategies and recognition plans. As employers design their year-end rewards, offering personalized options and letting employees choose rewards that align with their goals can connect recognition to genuine motivation, learning, and growth. 

Why Personalization & Choice Matter in Employee Recognition 

The traditional “one-size-fits-all” bonus is losing its appeal. Personalization increases the emotional impact of recognition, making it feel less like a transaction and more like a genuine connection. When employees receive or can choose a reward that reflects their interests or goals, they feel truly seen and appreciated. Feeling valued is the foundation of authentic engagement, motivation, and retention. 

While this may seem challenging to deliver, the results speak for themselves: 89% of respondents to the 2024 Fiserv Gift Card Gauge said receiving a workplace reward made them feel valued. 

So how can organizations make recognition more personal? Start by offering non-cash incentives—rewards that can’t simply be absorbed into everyday expenses. In the 2024 Gift Card Gauge, 86% of respondents said gift cards were appropriate incentives. Gift cards are not only relevant and flexible but can also be customized to reflect the brands employees actually use. With the right technology platform, employers can even let employees choose their own rewards, making recognition both meaningful and easy to manage. 

How Gift Card Rewards Support Career Growth & Engagement 

Today’s workforce, primarily composed of Millennials and Gen Z, wants personal recognition tied to growth and well-being, not just money. Deloitte’s 2024 Gen Z and Millennial Survey confirms this, finding that younger workers value benefits that promote learning, experiences, and self-development. 

Non-cash employee engagement programs can fit within the same budget as cash bonuses while delivering a more substantial, lasting impact. Gift cards remain the most popular non-cash compensation. Flexible, choice-based rewards allow employees to select options that align with their goals and interests. For example:  

• Prepaid reward cards can fund a professional certification or virtual course 
• Bookstore gift cards can inspire new ideas or provide fresh perspectives  
• Wellness gift cards can help employees maintain work-life balance 

Gift cards help employers transform engagement programs from simple incentives or bonus systems into meaningful investments in employees’ personal and professional growth. 

Need more reward ideas? Check out our guide to the best gift cards for employees. 

How Gift Cards Simplify Personalized Recognition 

Without the right tools, efforts to create personalized employee recognition can become inconsistent and fragmented across departments. For already stretched teams, this may prevent the launch of a gift card-based employee engagement or recognition program altogether. 

The right gift card platform can eliminate these challenges by centralizing reward delivery, tracking, and personalization in one place, without adding administrative burden. The Engage2Reward™ Gift Card Ordering Platform addresses these concerns directly by: 

• Reducing complexity: HR teams save time with one system for recognition campaigns. 
• Maintaining consistency: Centralized reporting and digital delivery reduce errors and align brand experience. 
• Supporting scalability: The Engage2Reward Platform handles initiatives of any size, letting administrators expand programs easily. 
• Enabling actionable insights: Built-in analytics measure engagement, track trends, and show ROI, guiding future programs. 

With the Engage2Reward Platform, administrators spend less time managing logistics and more time focusing on strategy, designing personalized recognition programs that strengthen engagement, retention, and employee growth across the organization. 

Empower Employee Choice with the Engage2Reward™ Choice Card 

One of the most effective ways to bring personalization to life is by giving employees the power to choose their own rewards. The Engage2Reward Choice Card makes that possible. With access to over 250 top eGift card brands—from wellness and dining to travel, retail, and experiences—employees can redeem for rewards that fit their unique lifestyles and goals. 

For HR teams, it’s personalization made simple. You can send the Engage2Reward Choice Card and each employee decides how to use it—whether that means a bookstore gift card to fuel career growth, a wellness brand to support self-care, or a prepaid reward card to invest in a certification course. Every reward feels personal because it is personal. 

This flexibility not only makes recognition more meaningful, it also increases perceived value. Employees are far more likely to remember and appreciate a reward that reflects their own interests than a generic bonus or branded item. And because the Engage2Reward Platform handles fulfillment, tracking, and delivery in one place, administrators can scale personalization company-wide with ease. 

Turn Recognition Into a Strategic Growth Driver 

Personalizing employee engagement programs turns standard recognition into a transformational experience that strengthens the employee-employer connection. When employees can choose rewards that reflect their goals and values, appreciation becomes meaningful and lasting. 

Gift cards make this easy, giving employees choice while helping organizations link recognition to professional growth and company culture. 

With the Engage2Reward Platform and the Engage2Reward Choice Card, organizations can make personalized recognition effortless, measurable, and memorable—supporting employees in ways that feel both individual and inspired. 

Contact us today to learn how the Engage2Reward Platform can help your organization personalize its rewards strategy with recognition that resonates.