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.

Today’s workplace is more age-diverse than ever. For the first time in history, five generations are working side by side — from seasoned Traditionalists to Gen Z digital natives. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 165 million people make up the civilian labor force, and participation among those over 75 has more than doubled since 2000. Meanwhile, Gen Z and Millennials now represent nearly half of the U.S. workforce and are reshaping what engagement, flexibility, and purpose look like at work.

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.

Employee safety and wellness are fast becoming a top priority for organizations. In a given year, companies spend over $170 billion in costs associated with occupational injuries and illnesses. To reduce these costs, and to keep employees engaged and healthy, you need a successful safety incentives program, but that will not create itself. Employees do not just see a safety program and buy in 100% for an indefinite amount of time. Employees need to be incentivized to engage in the programs that you are putting out there for their, and your, benefit.