Employee Gift Card Incentive Spike Expected
A spike in gift card and certificate giving is expected this holiday season as more employers say they prefer giving gift cards and certificates over cash to recognize and motivate employees.
“Recipients find gift cards more memorable and more exciting to receive than cash,” said Lee Poskanzer of the Incentive Marketing Association’s Incentive Gift Certificate Council, in a statement. “Gift cards are also more compelling because employees feel freer to talk about non-cash rewards than monetary compensation.”
The council cited a study by the Incentive Federation that says gift certificates and cards offer many advantages over monetary incentives because they can be branded, personalized and customized for employees. These types of incentives have been shown to increase sales, improve employee performance and build loyalty according to the study.
Gift card and gift certificate use by corporations grew from 32% in 2000 to more than 54% in 2003 to become the fastest growing segment of the non-cash incentive industry, the study found.
Employers are increasingly recognizing these benefits according to the 2004 survey by Stored Value Systems, which found one-third of employees say their employer has given them gift cards as incentives or rewards. An International Society of Performance Improvement study of incentive programs in 2002 revealed that 92% of workers said they achieved their goals because of incentives.
