Is Giving a Gift Card Just Being Lazy?

 

A very interesting result comes from research conducted by the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology on the relationship between gift pricing and appreciate.  When researchers asked people to recall a gift they gave and then to rate how much they thought recipients liked it, higher prices went with higher ratings. But when people made the same ratings for a gift they had received, price was completely unrelated to enjoyment. 

It seems that function counts. Gifts that are actually usable are far more appreciated than those that aren’t.   Gift givers tend to focus on how pleasurable it would be to use the gift but overlook how easily or often the gift will be used.  Givers might favor the beautiful and dramatic because they think about gifts in the abstract.  Recipients, in contrast, imagine themselves using it, and so focus more on utility. 

Delayed gratification is also okay. Recipients don’t mind waiting, especially for a gift that would be more satisfying in the long term. 

 Don’t be afraid to give people what they ask for. Gift givers think that unexpectedness adds value because it shows thoughtfulness; however, recipients actually think it’s more thoughtful to give a gift that they requested. They see it as showing that the giver attended to and honored their wishes.

 Give experiences, not things. Because people are willing to wait, givers should consider research over the last decade showing that experiences lead to more long-lasting satisfaction than new possessions. A family vacation is a better bet than that diamond necklace. But givers are leery of experiences because they worry it’s more likely they’ll pick something the recipient doesn’t want. The answer is simple, give them a choice. 

When giving gifts it’s always best to set aside your own desires and try your best to anticipate what the recipient wants. Using a vast choice of gift cards is an easy way to avoid all of the above.  They truly give the recipient what they want when they want it.

 

Are Gift Cards Used in Recognition Programs More Effective than Traditional Merchandise Awards?

 

In the fall of 2009, Incentive Magazine compared the effectiveness of gift cards to traditional merchandise awards in employee recognition programs.  Following are the results of that study. 

 

How Effective Are Gift Cards Compared to Merchandise	% of Responses
More effective than merchandise	64.7%
Equally as effective as merchandise	24.5%
Less effective than merchandise	2.2%
Do not use merchandise awards	8.6%

 

The Incentive Research Foundation has conducted this study every year since 2009, and the results have been very similar.  In fact, the data has been within +/- 5% of the original research.  This is not surprising to those of us who implement gift cards award systems in companies.  Gift cards have grown to be the single largest employee award in the industry.

 And the reasons remain the same: 

• Gift Cards aree easy to administer
• Gift Cards give your employees the award they want not the one you think they want.
• With Gift Cards virtually all of your recognition budget gets into the hand of your employees, where it belongs.

 

 

 

 

Gift cards are more effective than traditional merchandise awards for two simple reasons:  they provide the greatest choice at the greatest value to both the client and the award winner.  Nothing else even comes close.  Read more about why gift cards are the #1 incentive award.

 

 

 

 

How Did Getting a Reward Make You Feel?

 

Think about the last time you received a thank you gift for your performance at work.  How did it make you feel?  

Gifts have the power to unleash powerful reactions and sentiments. Tokens of appreciation, whether big or small, can convey gratitude, love, kindness, and comfort. Beyond providing a serotonin surge, in the workplace these symbols of thoughtfulness have been shown to improve engagement and deepen relationships with employees, clients, and other important business contacts. 

Take Advantage of the Power of Recognition with Gifts. 

The benefits are undeniable: 

·       A John Templeton Foundation survey found that 70% of those polled would feel better about themselves if their boss were more grateful, and 81% would work harder. 

·       A Gallup poll revealed that companies that have high employee engagement scores outperform others by 14% in productivity, 18% in sales, 23% in profitability and 66% on wellbeing.  

But there is a challenge. Office rules have changed, but the importance of recognition hasn’t. You need to look for ways to create a culture of recognition and engagement that is future-proof. Don’t let the lack of corporate office time impede your employee appreciation program. By implementing creative solutions, you can keep motivating and engaging your employees through remote gifting and team building – allowing employees to develop stronger bonds while working apart. 

According to a survey by Terminal, 77% of leadership had never managed a fully remote team prior to the pandemic.  Leadership has risen to the challenge of fostering remote relationships, maintaining productivity while still being empathetic to employees’ needs, and inspiring them to continue delivering strong work.

 

Reward Items of No Value Get Thrown Away

This Delbert cartoon Adams raises a very appropriate discussion regarding employee recognition awards.  It is a debate that has been going on for years and years, and no doubt will continue for years and years.   

Why?  Because if you were to draw a straight line continuum to depict the awards industry, advertising specialty items would be on one end of the spectrum and strategic full service employee incentive and recognition programs that included research, training, communications, feedback, awards and analysis would be at the other.

The debate arises anywhere along that line where the advertising specialist sales folks think they carry the type of products that are appropriate as awards.  And they could be right, some of their items could be appropriate.  But unfortunately most don’t, and actually if you prefer to give your award winner a choice of what they can receive, many would choose another award.  But often clients don’t really want to give a choice.  They’ve chosen the item because it fits their need to communicate something; the theme, the company, the outcomes, the goals etc. 

So, when considering awards for your incentive or recognition program, think about this cartoon.  Will the items you choose eventually be thrown away and considered as something with little or no value?  Will they be relegated to the bottom desk drawer or the closet?  What are you trying to accomplish; motivate increased performance or simply communicate something. 

When your award backfires and your employees see relatively little value in it, it can do more harm than good.  Remember, the award categories termed advertising specialties do just that.  They advertise something. 

For more information on Ultimate Choice Inc.’s products or services or other white papers please contact us at Ultimatechoiceinfo@cox.net

Have a Wonderful and Safe Holiday Season

All of us at Ultimate Choice wish you and your family a safe Holiday Season and Healthy and Happy New Year.

Thank you for your support this past year and we sincerely appreciate the trust you’ve placed in us to provide you with the finest gift card recognition award system to achieve your objectives.  

Recognize Good Performance with an Award, not a Gift

                

This may seem like splitting hairs to some and just semantics to others, but an award for performing well and a gift typically have very different meanings to both the giver and the recipient.

What is often common to both rewards and gifts is “Thank You,” although there are times when thanks are not even mentioned for either.  A gift is something you give to someone you care about.  When you give a gift to someone you are not rewarding them for anything you’ve asked them to do, you’re simply adding generosity to “thanks” in a meaningful way.  When you ask someone to improve on performance, and they do, they have earned an award. 

Everyone loves gifts for doing nothing other than being themselves.  Folks also take a great deal of pride in accomplishing something and being recognized for the achievement.  Gifts have no strings attached.  Recognition and incentive programs have lots of strings attached, some so sophisticated that they have to have computer programs to implement and sustain them. 

Incentive and recognition programs are all about changing behavior and producing results.  Without getting deep into the science and psychology of behavior modification, let’s just use this fundamental outline of the behavior model…

• Explain What You Want Someone to Do 
• Tell Them How to Do It
• Measure their Performance
• Provide a Positive Consequence upon Achievement
• The positive consequence you give them is an AWARD, it is certainly not a gift. 

Semantics?  We don’t think so.

If you want a real fun discussion, what is the difference between a reward and an award??  Many think it’s interchangeable, one a verb and one a noun and vice versa.  Webster defines it both ways, and I guess that’s good enough for us.  As long as you give us call when you want to reward some awards.  Then you can buy some gift card awards and present them as positive consequences for almost any objective.  

Thank you to Jennifer one of our most recent clients who asked the question that prompted this post.

For more information on Ultimate Choice Inc.’s products or services or other white papers please contact us at Ultimatechoiceinfo@cox.net