GiftCard Partners Blog

GCP serves many kinds of incentive and gift card programs, including corporate health & wellness programs, workplace safety programs, employee motivation and recognition, benefits and sales incentives, and customer loyalty and rewards programs. This white paper is the result of a comprehensive survey and includes gift card usage success stories offered by HR professionals, sales managers, healthcare administrators, non-profit organization managers, and more. You will find this report full of innovative ways to incent and reward your employees, partners, customers, and volunteers to incentivize and build loyalty.
Click here to visit GCP’s 2011 Gift Card Usage Whitepaper page to download

It is widely known and accepted that employee engagement is critical to productivity and improving your company's bottom line.  As 2011 draws to a close and we look to 2012, and a (hopefully) improving job market, employment agency Randstad released some concerning numbers this week. In their annual "Employee Attachment Index" survey, which measures employee-employer attachment, it appears that employee engagement is decreasing and that many employees are looking to move on, as soon as the market is more stable.

For many small businesses staying open on the holidays is a key way to compete with major retailers. In doing so, this often causes obvious strain on employees and employee relations. It is essential to the success of the company that these difficult situations are handled properly, and that employees needs are kept in mind. There are some pretty simple ways to say "thank you" to employees. When assigning holiday shifts, keep flexibility in mind. Things like allowing employees to request certain shifts or switch off holidays among employees can go a long way toward boosting morale and making workers feel appreciated. Another way to say "thank you" is by giving small denomination gift cards, as a token of appreciation. Giving small gift cards is like a small bonus, and the trophy value makes employees feel like they have done enough to earn something as a reward. This motivates employees beyond the holidays, and into the new year. Be sure to be sensitive to your employees this holiday season and it will benefit your organization long after the holidays have ended.  
To read more about employee rewards and holiday shifts check out the Fox Business article. 

We’ve been hearing a lot about how gift cards have become the most coveted gift this holiday season, as well as their rise to the number 1 spot for workplace incentives, but; do gift cards have a strong hold on the most redeemed item in loyalty programs? Really…we want to know! A recent study released in the United States, called “Born This Way: The US Millennial Loyalty Survey”, concluded that Gen Y, AKA “Millennial” consumers (those born between the mid-1970s and the mid-1990s)  “will change the way companies and brands build sustainable customer loyalty”. HOW?

Perhaps you have heard about the benefits and healthcare insurance savings for companies participating in health and wellness programs. And, perhaps you understand the benefits of incentives (like gift cards) for desired healthful behavior in order to keep company premiums in check. However, if you are not up to date on the above realities; you may not be in line to include health insurance penalties for those participating in UNhealthy behaviors. What is the next trend for corporate health and wellness programs? It could be falling in the employer's court and cost the employee more out-of-pocket.