GiftCard Partners Blog

We’ve done much writing on the popularity of incentives and utilizing “healthy gift cards” within workplace health and wellness programs, but one of the benefits of doing so is often overlooked by hiring managers: Recruiting and how attractive these programs are when interviewing. Healthcare costs are a top concern for all American workers. A recent Towers Watson study found that 73% of employees are concerned about paying more for out-of-pocket health costs and co-pays and 53% of survey participants said they “would be willing to trade a portion of their pay in return for more generous benefits.” This certainly highlights the importance of healthcare initiatives to the potential employee. Being able to communicate that you seriously heed these concerns, and are addressing them by adding and expanding employee programs and incentives to offset costs, gives you a competitive advantage when recruiting and hiring. Health and wellness programs aren’t just a feather in your benefits cap, or a way to decrease healthcare premiums over time, but; they are also an increasingly important component to then competitiveness of your benefits package as a whole. For more of our blogs about corporate health and wellness and gift card incentives,
check out our health and wellness blogs. To learn how CVS/pharmacy gift cards are utilized in corporate programs,
check out our CVS Bulk Gift Card site. Source: Employee Benefits News:
Workers willing to trade pay for benefits

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.

Does your company work in the cloud? According to a new Elance Report the number of businesses seeking to hire online contractors doubled in 2011. 83% of the small businesses surveyed by Elance said they plan to hire up to half of their workforce as virtual in the next 12 months. GiftCard Partners was built on a virtual model and has been recognized for its ability to function in alternative ways, free of the constraints of a 9-5 office atmosphere. Here are Elance's predictions for the 10 most popular online jobs going forward

SmartBlog on Leadership reports that only 1/3 of people feel that their company does a good job communicating their benefits to them…these companies are leaving a great company investment un-leveraged. The benefits and incentives, such as the voluntary health and wellness programs you offer, are a huge asset to your company not only when recruiting, but on an ongoing basis for retaining employees and maintaining employee loyalty. "Loyal employees aren’t necessarily those with the most expensive benefits. Rather, they’re employees who understand how to get the most value from their benefits because they received clear, open communication year-round. Employees who think their benefits communication educates them effectively are more satisfied and loyal: 71% are satisfied with their benefits, and 70% feel a strong sense of loyalty." states Jennifer Benz in
Why you should invest in benefits communication. Did you know that a strong benefits & incentive communication strategy could also reduce health care costs?
Click here to start improving your benefits & incentive communications for 2012.

At GCP, we typically blog about how gift cards are being used to incent and motivate employees, customers, or partners, as well as trends around incentives. However, this article by Roy Saunderson of the
Recognition Management Institute  has motivated me to highlight the importance of not just recognizing and rewarding your employees, but… inspiring them. “How do we get them to commit their hearts and spirits to the mission of the company?” Roy asks…we love his answers and we hope they inspire you to truly influence the workplace in a meaningful way all year long. Click here to read:
Incentive Magazine’s, 10 Ways to Inspire Employees at Year End