GiftCard Partners Blog

The incentives industry is thriving with 84% of U.S. businesses now using non-cash rewards to recognize and motivate their key audiences. Non-cash rewards come in many forms: from award points, gift cards, incentive travel, to merchandise, and more. In 2015, businesses spent $90 billion for these rewards and sales and employees are the largest audiences targeted when it comes to these non-cash rewards.

We recently discussed how 63 percent of companies were spending more than $100,000 annually on employee travel expenses. With more and more employers using telecommuting and teleconferencing, the need for business travel has slowed down, but not by much. Employee travel has grown by about 3 percent in recent years, while the average travel budget has stayed the same.

Business travel expenses can really add up quickly. In a 2015 study, PayStream Advisors reported that 63% of companies surveyed spent more than $100,000 annually on travel and expense costs. There is a critical balance between keeping employees happy on the road and protecting your bottom line. Keeping in mind that travel expenses include everything from meals and lodging, special events, and airline tickets, to gas and taxis, take a look at these tips to save money on your employees’ business travel.

According to the new #HRWins study done by George LaRocque, employee engagement is a top priority for HR departments. But when it comes to Finance dedicating dollars, core HR initiatives like professional development and learning and training initiatives still garner more budget than engagement initiatives.

Loyal Employees are important for a number of reasons. It’s always better to have happy people working for the health of your business. Having loyal employees makes your business better and stronger over the long term. Here are three ways employee loyalty can actually improve your business.