Should Gift Cards Be an Option in Years of Service Programs?

Believe it or not, the latest market research conducted by Incentive Magazine showed that close to 40% of all Years of Service programs use gift cards as some of their award options.

It wasn’t too long ago that you would never see gift cards in employee anniversary programs for several reasons.  First, the major recognition companies spent millions of dollars marketing their traditional awards such as company identified jewelry items, crystal, clocks, watches and the like.  Second they used very sophisticated training programs for their sales forces as well as for clients building a mystique that only deluxe trophy type merchandise would be proper to recognize an employee who remained at a company for a period of time usually in 5 year cycles  starting at 1, 3, or 5 years.  And lastly, they created excellent software platforms that made is very easy for a client to purchase a turnkey employee service award program.

So what changed?  How did gift cards start to become an option in these programs?  It certainly wasn’t because the companies that specialized in gift card systems spent millions in advertising, or marketing or a sales force that was trained to call on the clients. And it wasn’t because they built sophisticated electronic platforms to implement them.  It came about because clients were getting tired of paying very hefty premiums over retail price for these traditional trophy type items and hearing from employees that they were tired of being told an item as valued at $500, but they could see it every day online for a lot less.  Employees simply wanted more choice at a better value. 

With the age of the internet anyone could do a quick search to determine the value of an award, it didn’t take long for the employees to ask why the award that they understood cost $250 or $500 actually had a value of only $125 or $250.  That was the rule rather than the exception.

Gift cards are a part of Years of Service programs because it gives your employees what

they want without incremental cost to you.  If you are going to spend $250 or $500 on an award, wouldn’t it make sense to make sure that your employee receives as much of that budget as possible?  The traditional recognition companies will fight long and hard to keep you from putting gift cards in your program.  They know that once in, they will lose prized profit dollars year after year.  But do you really want to support their Taj Mahal corporate offices at the expense of your employees?

If you would be interested in how to use our gift card systems in your employees years of service programs please contact us at ultimatechoiceinfo@cox.net.

Your Employees Make a Difference!

Shouldn’t the main focus of management be to maintain a work environment that keeps your employees coming back every morning?  Do you believe that the way you treat your employees is also your instruction to them on how to treat your customers?  As Richard Branson once said…

”It’s all about people, people, people!

No matter what industry a company is in,

its employees are its biggest competitive advantage.”

Ultimately successful companies not only know that their employees matter, they act on that principle in very simple ways:

They Know That Every Job is Relevent

If you can’t explain why each job matters, you probably shouldn’t have it in the first place. 

And you need to know how to explain how each job function contributes to the success of the company as a whole

Make Sure Each Employee Knows Why Their Job Is Significant

It’s the job of management to explain to everyone why their job matters and how it impacts the business. Connect the dots for them; make it easy for them to understand their company from the top of the organization to the outside customer.

When Employees Know Their Job Matters, They Do a Better Job. 

It’s difficult to pick up a magazine about human resources and not see an article about the importance of employee engagement.  Employees often become engaged simply when they know how important their performance is to the success of the company 

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

Compare Open & Closed Loop Recognition & Reward Cards

Companies purchasing gift cards for recognition, loyalty, and goal achievement often debate the advantages of purchasing and awarding open loop cards vs. closed loop gift cards.

Open loop payment cards are prepaid cards carrying the MasterCard, American Express, Discover, or Visa logo. These cards may be used like cash wherever credit cards are accepted.

Closed loop payment cards are those limited to a specific vendor and can only be spent at the merchant listed on the card.  Starbucks and Amazon gift cards, for example, are “closed” because they are only accepted at those specific merchants. 

At first glance, it appears that open loop cards are the best solution as they offer the widest range of purchasing options.  But before you make that decision, consider these open loop attributes:

n  Often impose a per card fee above the face value – can be as much as $5.95 per card;

n  Often expire and/or decline in value after 6 or 12 months if full balance is not used;

n  Often impose fees when the card is swiped, when you check your balance via customer service, and other situations included in the “fine print” on the card;

n  Often result in a decline at the merchant location if cardholder does not know the exact balance and the merchant cannot tell the cardholder how much remains on the card;

n  Can be confusing at checkout if the cardholder wants to use an additional method of payment for any outstanding balance on his/her purchase (i.e. a “split tender” transaction).

Closed loop merchant cards, while restricting the cardholder to a speciic merchant, have no declining values and rarely impose expiration dates.  In addition, the merchant can "read" the card and tell the cardholder the exact balance that remains.  The user experience is usually much smoother with closed loop cards than with open loop.

How about a solution that offers the best of both worlds? Award of Choice gives each recipient the open loop flexibility of hundreds of merchants with the ease of closed loop gift card use. One Award of Choice opens the door to over 500 closed loop gift card brands including those that are requested most – WalMart, Target, Amazon, Starbucks, Best Buy, Costco, etc.  With no fees, no expirations, and no minimums, Award of Choice combines the best of closed loop and open loop cards -- offering hundreds of merchant choices, favorable economics, and a great user experience.

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

Reward Managers and Have More Engaged Employees

Managers and supervisors are essential players in any type of employee reward and recognition plan.  In fact a study conducted by Dale Carnegie Training few years ago showed that an employee’s relationship with their direct supervisor is one of the top drivers of employee engagement.

However, it is our experience that while many corporations today have a reward and recognition program in place to recognize the achievements of employees, too few have specific initiatives in place to reward managers for how well they manage and support the recognition system all together.

As supervisors and managers are often involved in the design, implementation performance metrics, measurement and feedback of the programs, they can be reluctant to insert themselves in the reward phase, but that can be counter-productive.

They should be involved, they need to recognized for how engaged they are.  Their enthusiasm will spread to their employees.

• Train them so they understand not only how to explain the program to their reports but
  
  to be excited about its success. 
• Specifically define management engagement and include it as a goal for each manage
• Develop specific performance metrics that encourage managers to encourage engagement
• Give them the authority to make decisions and set the direction of their areas of responsibility
• Be available as a sounding board to help them determine the right course of action.
• Formally reward them with tangible program awards and with greater responsibility when appropriate

Formally recognizing managers or supervisors sends a strong message that giving proper credit and recognition is not a task reserved for a select few, but something the organization values from the top down.

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