Gift Card Rewards Even More Popular in a Touchless World

 

Gift card use in corporate America is having a moment. Actually, as the return to offices has been pushed back by most companies due to another spike in COVID cases, the gift cards moment will likely be extended indefinitely.  

The pandemic has generated a steady stream of stories about managing remote teams, and gift cards are invariably mentioned in most. Gift cards were a common component of employee recognition programs prior to the pandemic, but the forced cancelation of incentive travel programs and gift cards’ ease of use in a world that is not working together has produced a significant increase in their use.

 The Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) reported late last year that since the business world went remote in March 2020, there has been a 26% increase in the use of gift cards in workplace incentive programs. Corporate use of gift cards in the past year range from helping workers equip their home offices, to buying team members lunches for Zoom meetings, stocking up for Zoom happy hours, or providing impromptu spot rewards by managers or in peer-to-peer recognition programs. 

The ability to digitize gift card delivery has existed for some time, but more companies relied on these capabilities during the past year and a half for obvious reasons. The IRF reports that many lessons were learned about the power of virtual engagement:

 “Digital options enable immediate, coordinated, trackable delivery of rewards regardless of geographic location, and groups of employees can receive their reward at the same time such as during a virtual meeting. Digital delivery can also increase control, enhance reporting and reduce overall administration time for program owners.”

Recognizing achievements instantly — or as immediately as possible — is more important in the remote work world. Motivation experts also remind managers that recognizing top performers in front of peers has always been critical. That may have to be done during a virtual meeting these days, but it should be done. If you sponsor a peer-to-peer recognition program, make it easy to use and promote it frequently. Companies risk underutilization of a program if it’s not meaningful and easy to use.

Are You Actually Willing to Empower Your Employees?

 

Everyone seems to agree and supports the idea of empowering your employees.  Leaders want to empower their people. But while empowering sounds good and beneficial, not many leaders are actually empowering their people. 

Much of the frustration that people have today with business is that no one seems to be empowered to get anything done.  Why?  Simply because the reality is that giving up control is insanely difficult. In the business world, empowerment can mean giving up control of tasks, embracing an employees’ suggestions, or even using ideas that come from outside your current company.  We are all guilty of not wanting to give up power. 

In a study conducted by Leadership IQ entitled “The State of Leadership Development” some interesting findings were as follows:

• Only 29% of employees say their leader is always open to using ideas/practices from outside the company to improve performance.
• Only 16% say their leader always removes the roadblocks to their success.
• Only 20% say their leader always takes an active role in helping employees to grow and develop their full potential.
• Only 29% say their leader’s vision for the future always seems to be aligned with the organization's.
• Only 27% say their leader always encourages and recognizes suggestions for improvement.
• Only 26% say their leader always responds constructively when employees share their work problems.
• Only 20% say their leader always shares the challenges we're facing.

 If you truly want to empower your employees, consider the following three statements:

When employees give me alternatives, I avoid telling them which one I want. Instead, I ask for their suggestions. 

I’m open to using ideas/practices from outside the company to improve our team’s performance.

I encourage and recognize my employees’ suggestions for improvement.

If you are brutally honest with yourself while considering these statements you’ll discover where you are on empowerment or if you struggle to empower. 

 

Corporate Gifts Remain Popular Rewards

 

For the balance of 2021 and probably into 2022 as well, Incentive Magazine’s Gift Survey reveals that reward planners will continue to offer merchandise in lieu of group travel to motivate performance. According to the Incentive Research Foundation, the use of gifts as a motivational reward skyrocketed by 68 percent in 2020, and that trend is expected to continue. 

There is a lingering uncertainty about the pandemic's effect on travel and some incentive travel programs are still being booked, but many companies have preferred to use gifts instead.

 What are the most common problems when using merchandise gifts?

• merchandise was not always available when needed according to more than 75 percent of respondents 
• more than half of those polled cited frustrating reward delivery delays to recipients.

 These problems can be expected to continue, as manufacturing delays remain a global issue.

 Which gifts are most commonly given?

• 61% of respondents favored using apparel, the vast majority of which was shirts with company identified logos.  Past surveys have indicated that while employees enjoy logoed apparel items, many would prefer a choice of awards
• 59% utilize gift cards or gift card systems that allow the winner to order any of the most popular gift cards in the country, and thus use them to get what they really want, not what someone thinks they want.
• 51% use electronics and food-and-beverage items were used by 44 %.
• Luggage and leather items, sporting goods, outdoor equipment and watches were among other prizes preferred by more than 20 percent of respondents.

 How are rewards being used?

• More than two-thirds of incentive professionals use rewards to recognize employees.
• 55% give awards to thank employees for their performance
• 50% use rewards to thank loyal customers
• 50% use them to build morale and increase job satisfaction
• 43% use them as award to motivate increased sales.

 It is always difficult to pick just the right award, and some would suggest that it can’t be done.  There are too many variables and too much diversity of recipients to get it right.  Many planners voiced frustration about the dearth of new gift ideas.  When you offer a gift each year, it's hard to come up with something new!

 One planner summed up why gifts make great rewards. "Choosing the right gift leaves long-lasting positive impressions and memories — and it generates great PR buzz long after it's given!"

While that is as true as true can be, no one can really tell you how to choose that right gift that leaves all those long-lasting memories.  There is a lot of justification to have a system where the recipients can choose for themselves.

Don’t Lose Your Best People

 

According to research conducted by Ipsos Research at the end of 2020, about 1 in 4 U.S. employees planned to leave their employer as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. 

 

According to Engagement and Retention report, presented by the Achievers Workshop Institute in early 2021, 52% of employees surveyed plan to seek new employment in 2021. 

 

Employees are most likely to leave a current job for one with better compensation and benefits or better work/life balance.  The majority of employees cited burnout as the main reason. 

 

Can you sustain your business if you lose 25% to 50% of your employees?  It is inevitable that you will see a lot of employee movement.  The type of employees you lose will differ by industry, but no one can afford to lose their best people.

 

There are some steps you can take now to mitigate the loss and retain many of your important people.  Here are a couple: 

 

First and foremost, identify all of the top performers that you don’t want to lose and ask your managers to have quality communication meetings with them at least twice a month.  Get as good a sense of their job satisfaction as you can.

 

Then, listen to the employee challenges and look for solutions.  Catch unsatisfied performers before they start looking for and applying for jobs.  Once they start doing that your chance of keeping them are much lower. 

 

If you take just these two steps you will be well on your way to retaining your top employees, and those retention efforts will help in keeping employees in general.