GiftCard Partners Blog

"Finding a company that allows me to work from home has allowed me to organize my life with my family my way. But it takes vision and commitment from the top down." by Stacey Sicurella.

My recent company-wide meeting brought it all together for my co-workers and I – how we have found a way to have our version of work-life balance. We gathered in the comfortable
Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, conference center, most of us having just met for the first time. We did some getting-to-know-you exercises and learned that a sales rep from Oregon is thankful to see the sun of Boston; another from Florida was happy to feel the cool air; our sales VP  relaxed amidst the lack of bustle compared to her New York City office; our VP of Marketing lived in 17 different places.  And I found that I was happy to be with so many co-workers who are much like me–90% of them to be exact. We learned a great deal about our company culture, how that culture came about and why we were all attracted to our employer. I suppose this is the goal for any corporate off-site or team-building event, but for us, it was much more personal. We are a small company made up of professionals who have chosen to work for a company on the cutting edge of work environments…entirely virtual.

One of the healthiest and best possible workplace incentives is the feeling of moving closer to work-family-life balance. This is a topic that we at GiftCard Partners (GCP) know a lot about, not just because we provide gift card incentives to companies across America; but GCP is an entirely remote workplace. This allows us to achieve the best possible work and family balance. Forrester Research’s U.S. Telecommuting Forecast notes that 43% of the American workforce could be remote by 2016¹. This may not be or become a reality for your company, but there are steps all companies can take to promote work-family-life balance.

Telecommuting; the term was coined in back in 1973, but it took recent cloud computing technologies for many employers to jump on board telecommuting wagon.
GiftCard Partners (GCP) has an entirely remote workforce, so we understand the benefits to our employer, to ourselves as the employees and the Earth. Companies like
GCP are making a difference in society with a very small carbon footprint and in work life balance by offering telecommuting as an option. But with a remote workforce, how can you be sure that recognition and motivation for your telecommuting workforce isn’t lost?

Virtual work-force Promotes Company Growth, Family Values and a Healthier Environment

WELLESLEY, Mass.,
Aug. 16, 2011
/PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Today
GiftCard Partners' (GCP)
Ed Shulkin and Deb Merkin announced 10 years of vision coming to fruition as their virtual workforce now stretches across all regions of the country.
Massachusetts,
New York,
California,
Florida, and
Oregon are just a few of the company's remote workplace "home" offices. Read the rest of the PR Newswire release here:

GiftCard Partners Expands from Coast to Coast with Entirely Remote Workforce.

It’s always good news to hear that the reward you are presenting to your employees or loyalty program participants is still the strong choice. A new study released by First Data called “Consumer Insights Gift Card Survey Results”, announced that “prepaid gift cards are still a popular choice for gifts in the United States”. This is good news for those purchasing gift cards in bulk as you know you are making a good choice. Other indications that gift cards remain a strong trend in the B2B market is the study’s conclusion that more consumers are reloading their gift cards. This means that consumers (your employees and rewards participants) are loyal to their cards, be-it a physical plastic card, eCert (virtual gift card) or mCert (mobile gift card). It’s also nice to know that by participating in the B2B gift card market, we are infusing the economy with additional shopping dollars. Consumers are inclined to stand by the gift card and reload it, which increases sales opportunities for retailers. The First Data study also announced that “35% of those who reloaded closed-loop gift cards said they visited the store more often, and 20% said they spent more money during each visit”. All good news for our economy, but re-loadable and technology based gift cards are also great for our environment.
Check out our Are Gift Cards Going Green? Blog. The full study is available at
First Data’s website.