GiftCard Partners Blog

Employee expectations around recognition are evolving fast, into 2026 and beyond. Generic gestures no longer cut it; modern employees want meaningful, timely, and personalized appreciation. 

Customer Relationship Management systems are vital to an organization's success. It is how the sales and services teams manage clients and prospects, without whom no company would exist. Some may even so far as to say the CRM system is the lifeblood of the company, with its maintenance being crucial to success, even if it is not a main responsibility. However, many employees are too busy and unmotivated to maintain a current CRM database. The maintenance work is tedious and time consuming and most employees push it off for a slow day that may not come for months. Gamifying your CRM system could be the solution to motivating employees to keep the CRM database as current as possible. Offering point systems that keep track of work done within the CRM system, which employees can then redeem for rewards creates friendly competition among co-workers and real life incentive for employees to get their work done as efficiently and effectively as possible. Offering flexible rewards such as gift cards to a diverse array of retailers such as
The Limited,
The Children's Place,
Boston Market and
NutriSystem gives employees an opportunity to choose from a reward that is valuable for them. Redeeming gamification points, in addition to trying to out play (or work!) colleagues will create healthy competition, increased productivity, and a motivated workforce that is happy to do even the most mundane tasks.

Honorarium payments are voluntary, one-time payments given as a token of appreciation for services outside formal employment, such as guest lectures, cultural performances, or advisory roles. They are typically taxable in the U.S. and can be paid via check, digital gift card, or prepaid debit card.

2013 is upon us, and if you have not created a plan to keep employees engaged and motivated throughout the year consider these tips from industry leaders. There are a variety of small things you can do throughout the year that will motivate employees and make them feel appreciated, and keep them less focused on a large year end bonus.