GiftCard Partners Blog

Virtual workforces, like the atmosphere we share at GiftCard Partners, are becoming more and more common as we can work together and share projects through digital channels. However, virtual workforces need alternate forms of employee engagement and motivation. Fostering team camaraderie and sharing common goals requires innovative solutions from organizational management. Here are 5 ways to motivate your virtual workforce, from an employee of a virtual company who couldn't help writing about such a relevant topic!

CVS & GCP webinar: Healthcare Reform’s Impact on Wellness - How to Incentivize Employees to Engage in Healthy Behavior with Jonathan Edelheit, Editor in Chief of Benefits Live Magazine, incorporating National Healthcare Reform Magazine, Vanessa Cullerton, Senior Manager of Employee Wellness for The Hillshire Brands Company, Stacey Nelson, Manager of Health and Welfare for Sprint, and Edward Shulkin, President of Gift Card Partners, Inc.

As the recession eases, and companies begin hiring again, there is optimism amongst organizations bringing in fresh faces and growing again. However, as we see employment numbers improve we see employee engagement steadily decreasing.

Incentives and rewards platforms are often evaluated on one simple promise: make it easy. Easy to launch. Easy to distribute. Easy to manage. But in practice, “easy” at the start can quietly introduce complexity later, especially when programs grow, budgets increase, or leadership scrutiny intensifies.

In an innovative use of gift cards as incentives came not in the workplace but in a public health and wellness initiative. As part of the Affordable Care Act California received $10 million to incentivize citizens who receive government subsidized health care. This grant is meant to help steer this population toward healthy behavior, including quitting smoking. The State of California has used part of this grant to provide gift cards to select individuals who participate in a smoking cessation program over the next five years. The program isa cutting edge smoking cessation trial, in which individuals are given $20 gift cards good at major retailers as a carrot for enrolling and participating in the program, and a larger pool will receive $10 gift cards to help relapse prevention. A pilot of  the program executed in the Sacramento area has shown positive results. The gift cards are a small but sufficient motivator to get people to sign up, and it is having an overall impact on the health of the city and state, and helping to control costs of Medi-Cal, California's public health assistance entity. The gift cards the grant is providing are proving to be a successful motivator on a large scale. These types of small but sufficient rewards can also be applied to smaller health and wellness reward executions, such as in an individual office. These programs will help the company manage healthcare costs as well as make the whole employee population healthier. These small rewards have an obvious ROI for employees and employers alike.  
For more information on the smoking cessation case study in California check out this article in the Sacramento Bee.