GiftCard Partners Blog

Employee loyalty is harder and harder to come by these days. And it has been for a while. There's no such thing as working at the same place for 30-40 years and retiring with a pension anymore. So how can employers keep employees engaged and hungry for more within their current company?
You reward them. However, the rewards are no longer for longevity. No 5, 10 or 20 years of service luncheons. Since employee loyalty is no longer a motivator, with the average junior employee holding a single position for only an average of 18 months, it's time to evolve past employee loyalty.
Identifying desired behavior and rewarding execution and consistency is the new "loyalty." You can't help that careers are ever-shifting and people get restless (which is more encouraging in today's job market). So worry about what you can control. Make your employees the best they can be, and when they are, reward them for it. Use what is beyond loyalty, short term performance, to motivate your staff toward organizational goals. Employee loyalty doesn't need to be paramount to run a team full of people working well together towards a common goal. If longevity isn't in your organization's 2015 outlook, don't panic. Just find employee motivators you can control and look to performance, even short term, to reward employees for good work.

We are entering an age of great workplaces. A job is no longer just a job, but a good fit in environment and skills between employer and employee. Due to more transparency given by employers and more trust in the employee/employer relationships employees are happier in their workplace. What does this mean? Generally, it means better business results. Awesome, right?

Recognition in the workplace is a powerful motivator, providing employees with a sense of purpose and accomplishment. Studies consistently show that peer-to-peer recognition plays a crucial role in employee engagement, productivity, and retention.

Sometimes in the enormity of running a retail operation it's easy forget about the front line employees. These are usually the hourly wage earners who may not be the most senior employees but are the employees who have the most impact on consumer experience and can dictate how loyal your customers are. Here are 3 key components to arm your front line associates with to ensure your consumers expectations are fully met. 1.
Tools. Give store associates the tools they need to be successful. This may mean arming them with a tablet with inventory software or ensuring there is an extra manager on duty during your busiest days to keep things running smoothly. 2.
Technology. In today's ever evolving retail landscape this could mean a number of different things. It could mean having mobile devices on the floor in places where beacons are pushing messages to consumers, or having associates armed with tablets to execute mobile checkouts in areas other than the traditional cash registers. But remember it's not all about having the latest and greatest technologies. Find out what spots are weak or need improving on and the right kinds of gadgets that can help improve these areas to see success. 3.
Training. The most important thing to arm store associates with is knowledge. Equip them with the know-how to handle any situation. This builds confidence and autonomy that is usually more valuable in situational problem solving than any piece of technology or tool.
For more information on how to arm your front line store associates with the three T's and beyond head over to Loyalty360.