GiftCard Partners Blog

We all learned in Psych 101 about
Maslow's hierarchy. The same way that you can't worry about your safety if you can't breathe, employees can't focus on their work if there is no employee motivation. When employees become stagnant in their positions they start to focus on everything but the task at hand, not to mention focusing on finding other more motivating job opportunities. Below are Brian Ward's, co-founder of Affinity Consulting and Training Inc., 
seven key motivators. Employee motivation fits these criteria in a unique way.

Employee activism is a new movement that goes beyond customer satisfaction and employee engagement, and is becoming an underlying foundation in successful companies.  Many employees are defending their employers from criticism and acting as brand ambassadors for their companies, both online and offline. It all begins with social media.  Many companies are intrigued about ways to enhance employee engagement, but highly concerned about an employee’s use of social media, especially during the work day.  But rather than limiting an employee’s media usage, companies should be promoting the benefits and encouraging their employees to become activists for the brand they represent. Many companies still remain somewhat skeptical, and not without reason. Reasons for caution include valid concerns about privacy, cybersecurity, productivity, and actions by rogue employees that could go viral. This behavior is the exception to the rule and most companies already take a lot of care in building their culture with people they can trust , so why not trust them to advocate as well? Here are some tips to successfully build employee activism:

Employee development is an underutilized human resources tool. Putting an emphasis on manager coaching and development at all levels of an organization can be the best way to build a great culture and make your organization a great place to work. Employee development begins with clear and open communication, giving employees the resources they need and giving employee autonomy where possible. Avoiding micro-managing in favor of long-term employee development not only makes your workforce stronger as individuals, but it breeds a culture of loyalty, trust and advancement. As you can see below,
only 46% of employees feel that their managers communicate openly and clearly. Ensuring that employees are getting honest feedback and that expectations are being set and communicated appropriately are two of the most important things a manager can give an employee to help further develop their careers. A solid foundation will lead to a long future for your employees and your organization. When employees are happy, satisfied and feel like they not only work each day, but learn and improve, productivity and job satisfaction also improve.

Last week on the blog, we covered how employee recognition can help employers lower salary costs. Well this week, we take a less optimistic (but equally useful!) approach to the issue. As employers struggle to raise salaries, they need to keep in mind that employee benefits are part of compensation as well. Going beyond the "expected" benefits like health insurance, boosting an employee benefits program can be more cost effective and lead to employee satisfaction in the case of financial limitations. Adding benefits like a commuter program to help curb the cost of commuting or parking, or an organizational health and wellness initiative, or a company-wide employee recognition program that is well communication and used often can all be great ways for employers to boost benefits packages without boosting salaries. Adding these types of additional benefits allows employees to feel like they are getting something extra from their employers, while employers can apply fixed costs to these programs. Commuter programs can put a dent in employees' cost of commute. Health and wellness programs are a great way to motivate employees toward healthy behavior and maintain their own personal healthcare by offering preventative health screenings. Employee recognition programs are another way to provide non-cash bonuses in the form of a gift card or some extra time off that allow employees to indulge. Since all of these can be applied to an annual budget and used incrementally throughout the year it can put much less financial strain on the organization's total budget.
For more information on maintaining employee satisfaction through employee benefits check out Employee Benefits News.

Social media has become and integral part of all of our lives, whether we like it or not. Using social media to engage employees can be a great tool, it's become a staple for many Americans in their day to day routine and requires voluntary participation by definition. Here are four great ways to use social media to stimulate employee engagement, no matter your organizations size.