Across industries and companies—from small businesses to large enterprises—organizations are constantly searching for ways to improve corporate culture and boost employee engagement. However, in large, dispersed companies, providing employees with the personal touch needed to maintain motivation can be particularly challenging.
In a PaymentsJournal podcast, Julie Gu, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, North America, at Prezzee, and Jordan Hirschfield, Director of Prepaid at Javelin Strategy & Research, examined key trends in employee incentive programs, the challenges organizations face, and how customized gift card program can effectively drive engagement.
Don’t Skimp on the RICE
Just as important as understanding what employees bring to the table at work is recognizing who they are as individuals. This is why organizations are increasingly interested in their employees’ hobbies, wellness, and inclusion interests.
As companies explore ways to boost employee engagement, there is an acronym—RICE—they should keep in mind.
“You know I’m Asian, so I never skimp on the rice,” Gu said. “What that means is that ‘R’ is for rewards and ‘I’ for incentives. ‘C’ is for celebrations—and that’s celebrating moments big and small, professional, and personal. Then, there is ‘E’ for engagement, which is making sure you’re forming a daily habit throughout, and that transcends all the aspects.”
Fostering engagement on a daily basis can be difficult in a busy office—and even more so in virtual or hybrid teams.
“We’re very virtual in our organization, so I joined a running group,” Hirschfield said. “I’m a poor runner, but it motivates me to run. Someone just ran a marathon, so it’s a great opportunity to celebrate that. With all these groups, we’re getting updates on coworkers who are having babies or weddings or things that humanize the organization. You don’t want to be an organization that’s robotic.”
Reinforcing the Right Behaviors
This shift toward interest groups is a key engagement trend. While many companies have already implemented enterprise resource groups (ERGs) to foster inclusion, interest groups can be more enjoyable and feel less obligatory than ERGs.
One of the most common types of interest groups is step challenges. However, many organizations are evolving past simple challenges like reaching 10,000 steps in a day. Micro-challenges, such as hitting 500 steps in a day, can be even more impactful.
“The micro-goals are important because that person who hasn’t been participating in an exercise program might be intimidated by 10,000 steps,” Hirschfield said. “I look at myself—I work at home, so I’m not walking from my car to the elevator, which adds a couple hundred steps here or there. Getting to 10,000 steps can be difficult for some people, but when you have attainable goals, they get that feedback and engagement.”
In addition to setting smaller goals, more companies are creating groups around shared experiences. As they organize these activities, organizations should ensure they support interests that positively impact their company.
“The first step is to think about what behaviors are already happening around the organization that you want to reward?” Gu said. “What do you want to continue to validate and celebrate? Who can you showcase as a great example of somebody who’s already living our core values who we can show as an ideal value ambassador? You want to reward those behaviors and make that a daily habit.”
Once organizations recognize existing behaviors, they can begin identifying the activities they want to incentivize. For instance, many employers emphasize mental health and wellness initiatives, as a healthier workforce tends to be happier and more productive.
“Think about which ways you want to reward versus incentivize, and from there, cascade down to the snackable ways (you) can start, so you can start small,” Gu said. “It shouldn’t feel like this big three-year-long, road-map project that you have to tackle, because that’s where budget constraints and a lot of challenges start to happen.”
Closing the Feedback Loop
As companies refine their employee engagement plans, one of the most important aspects to consider is the employee themselves.
“I have three keywords—feedback, feedback, feedback,” Hirschfield said. “Employees want to feel like they’re being heard. Incentives are going to boost morale—Javelin has a lot of data that proves that—but what also boosts morale is giving employees what they want. That doesn’t mean you need to cater to their every whim of the employee; it means you’re listening to them.”
If employees see that even one program is introduced based on their feedback, it will make them feel that their voice matters and that they belong within the organization.
However, as organizations shift their incentive plans from being employer-driven to employee-driven, it’s important not to overlook the link between the two.
“People leave companies, but they stay for managers,” Gu said. “It’s critical to empower managers when we talk about employee rewards and engagement and incentives. It’s about how do we make sure that employees’ direct support every day is empowered. It makes them feel that they have a sense of community, and that they have this closed feedback loop and can feel heard.”
This community isn’t possible if the manager themselves doesn’t feel equipped with the tools or support needed to reward their teams effectively. One simple, turnkey way to empower managers in driving employee engagement is by enabling them to deliver gift card rewards.
Many companies have adopted this approach using small-denomination gift cards. For example, a manager could send a $5 gift card to recognize a team member for excelling at a task or contributing in a meeting—an appreciation that can have a greater impact than a simple kudos.
“A $5 card when it came from my manager probably feels a lot better than $25 coming from some generic HR inbox or a person who I’ve never met,” Hirschfield said. “The opportunity to make that connection is a huge step. If it’s an HR department that controls these budgets, it may be empowering managers to have access to it and make it easy for them to personally provide those rewards. It’s critical in terms of making that human-to-human connection.”
Beyond Monetary Value
Personalized incentive programs that utilize gift cards are an integral way to create connections and make an employee feel appreciated. Not only are gift cards the most popular gift among recipients, but they can also be tailored to the employee in many ways.
“You can include additional messages so that when I send you that gift card—even though it’s only for $5—the message that I send is that I noticed that you are training for a marathon, so here’s $5 towards your training regime,” Gu said. “It’s not really the monetary value, it’s the fact that you feel heard, seen, noticed and appreciated—and you feel supported for something that’s a big task.”
When giving a gift card, a little extra thought goes a long way. If the employee is training for a marathon, they might appreciate a $5 gift card to Starbucks. However, a gift card to a Dick’s Sporting Goods along with a personal message could have a much stronger impact.
“When you personalize it, you provide that reward or incentive or celebration that speaks to what that employee is doing, so making sure those are choices available to the HR department or the manager who is providing that opportunity, those are key,” Hirschfield said.
A Means to an End
For many organizations, implementing a personalized engagement program that leverages gift cards can be a daunting task. However, companies like Prezzee offer solutions that tailor incentive plans to an organization’s specific needs.
“We make your goals our goals,” Gu said. “Where are you struggling to find engagement or retention? Are you having attrition issues? In terms of employee engagement, we are constantly thinking about it every single day, from our employees to your employees, and we think of the gift card as a delivery vehicle—and a means to an end.”
