GiftCard Partners Blog

Sending employees out for business lunches or dinners is a great way to offer some flexibility and change of atmosphere to employees. Help them get out of the office, put them in a neutral and more personal setting, and new ideas will flow. However, the moment the check comes so does that awkward question of who picks up the tab?

Employee expectations around recognition are evolving fast, into 2026 and beyond. Generic gestures no longer cut it; modern employees want meaningful, timely, and personalized appreciation. 

Managers and employees often share the same office space (or Zoom screen) but experience the workplace through very different lenses. SurveyMonkey’s 2025 Workplace Culture and Trends report shows just how wide that gap can be, especially when it comes to transparency, promotions, productivity, and motivation.

Maintaining open communication with employees is crucial to a positive working environment and and engaging employees in the job roles. Creating open communication is a way to be open and honest with your employees, which provides them with meaning and a clear purpose for even seemingly mundane everyday tasks. Making employees feel a part of something greater than themselves is an easy and cost-free way to engage and retain employees. Providing a constant information flow both to and from employees regarding goals, company vision, desired company cultural aspects, and individual and team objectives are some of the ways to keep employees engaged. Also, communicating rewards and recognition for accomplishments of goals or exceptional contributions to the company are equally important. Rewards do not have to be big, small denomination gift cards and a team email is a great way to reward an employee's accomplishment, and recognize the accomplishment among the employee's peers. How do you communicate with your employees? How do you think your organization could improve their employee communication?

Headlines about the “end of hybrid work” keep coming, but the latest Gallup research paints a different picture: hybrid isn’t going anywhere. Since 2022, the percentage of U.S. employees in hybrid arrangements has held steady at around half of the remote-capable workforce — a clear sign that flexibility is here to stay.