GiftCard Partners Blog

Trust is crucial to the success of your company, and the satisfaction of your employees. Companies where there is trust between management and staff are more successful, produce more valuable stock, and have more successful employees. Here are 3 key ways to building trust with your staff:
Involve employees in decisions that affect them. This shows that you trust your employees capability. This does not mean that you need to pull everyone in on every minute decision. However, involved people in decision making that is going to have an affect on their work responsibility, even if they do not make the final decision, shows management's confidence in employees ability.
Be transparent and consistent in your actions. This shows reliability to employees. It allows employees to understand management patterns and thought processes.
Pay attention to relationships. Employers understanding what employees want is critical. The connection between employees and managers often dictates how engaged and satisfied employees are, and maintaining that relationship should be one of management's top priorities to ensure success.
For more information on building trust and the importance of maintaining trust in your organization check out this article from FastCompany.

Check out this video below from the founder and CEO of Tout. I hope as an employer that you take what he says to heart. Inspire your employees everyday, and show them you care. Don't always focus on money or day to day transactional behavior. Look beyond that once in a while and inspire your employees to do what they do because YOU believe in it, and you believe in their ability to accomplish strategic goals. Inspiring employees, whether you give a quarterly status report, offer rewards large or small such as extra time off or gift cards, or offer regular professional development training, is the most important thing you can do to ensure high retention rates and job satisfaction.
How have you inspired your employees today?

Employers and employees alike are hit hard by their company’s limited funds. Keeping a motivated workforce doesn't have to drain your budget. And it doesn’t have to drain your time and energy either. If raises and bonuses are out of the question, employers are forced to get creative in order to keep motivation high, and to reward and recognize their employees. Forbes recent article titled, “5 Ways to Keep Your Employees Motivated Without Breaking the Bank,” outlines several ways for employers to implement creative ideas, that are also unique, and most importantly budget-friendly. One such idea is, have a ‘Boss Does Your Work’ promotion. This fun incentive works great in an office with a break room and bathrooms that employees are in charge of keeping clean. Consider offering employees the chance to have their managers take over these chores for the month, in turn for meeting specific goals. If you know your employees are looking for a little extra, gift cards to SUBWAY for a healthy lunch can work perfectly. Or, say ‘Thank You’ to them and their family with a night out to dinner with Boston Market or The Cheesecake Factory gift cards.
Discover more creative ideas for motivating employees without ‘Breaking the Bank’ by reading the full article here. Can you think of anymore?

Creating a culture of professional development is key to an organization. This is a great way to show employees that you invest in their best interests, the way they invest themselves in their work and the goals of the company. Here are some tips for how to maintain a culture of development in your organization. • 
Identify your stars: Focus on rewarding and recognizing top performers. Providing spot rewards for desired behavior, such as a gift card or an extra day off is a low-cost way to show employees you care. These rewards and recognition can lead to higher retention rates and workplace satisfaction. • 
Get upper management involved: Visibility of senior management during professional development, to provide guidance and mentoring is another sign of organizational support to employees. • 
Invest in development: Providing training sessions, professional development opportunities, and even tuition reimbursement helps employees grow, which will make it more likely that employees will stay and grow with your organization. • 
Broaden their skills: Make sure skill sets are round, and that employees understand organizational functions outside of their day to day responsibilities, this will help them think strategically about their current role, and ways to advance themselves in the organization.
For more information on creating a culture of development in your organization check out this article in Ragan's HR Communication.

Thinking you can’t afford an employee incentive and rewards program? Incentives don’t have to be expensive and you can pair them with the financial needs of your employees. A recent study from researchers at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) suggests that employees could “choke” if the stakes or rewards are high. They  liken this performance phenomenon to a sports event in which people become afraid of losing their reward. “It is a somewhat unexpected conclusion. After all, you would think that the more people are paid, the harder they will work, and the better they will do their jobs -- until they reach the limits of their skills”, states Science Daily. However, these researchers have found that the more that is at risk, the more performance could be hindered, therefore demotivating and working against larger company goals. Digging deeper, their  research also revealed that “performance improved as the incentives increased -- but only when the cash reward amounts were at the low end of the spectrum. Once the rewards passed a certain threshold, which depended on the individual, performance began to fall off.” This speaks volumes about “knowing thy employee”. Interesting science that is easily parleyed into the concept of providing more incentives, in smaller amounts, like gift cards. Gift cards can be purchased in bulk in any increment, but cards like
SUBWAY,
Boston Market, and
CVS at $20 or $30 per gift card offers your employees small incentives that they can really use. They will grab lunch on the way to their summer destinations, bring dinner home for the family and stock up on sunscreen and first aid for the season. Source:
ScienceDaily Online – Science News