High performing businesses understand they cannot afford to take their eye off the ball when it comes to employee engagement. That’s because it’s easier to keep feeding positive engagement than try to turn around negative sentiment. Added to which, in the current volatile economic climate, work and personal circumstances can quickly change and employers need a rapid response to show they care about and can respond to employee needs.

Reward Gateway | Edenred offer two reward solutions, Select and Prepaid cards to help employers deliver both goals. Together, they provide employers with fun, fast and easy ways to thank staff, encourage high performance, and to get more money into employees’ pockets – here’s how.

Select reward eCodes

Employers can use Edenred’s Select platform to set up, send, or download, eCodes, which can be swapped for a huge range of eGift cards and gift cards. Participating retailers include John Lewis, Currys, M&S, and many more big brand names.

Select enables you to send a personalised digital reward eCode of any value, to any recipient, in any location in minutes for a more engaging reward experience.

With customisable email templates that cover a wide range of scenarios from a simple thank you to festive celebrations, birthdays, long-service awards, new baby and many more, you can send a message of thanks or congrats in your own words, and in your own brand too.

Prepaid gift cards

Similarly, our fully personalised and brandable range of Mastercard^® prepaid gift cards ensure safe and secure delivery of a gift that offers recipients a huge choice of redemption options.

Our prepaid cards come with a handy app for users and are compatible with Apple and Google Pay for safe and fast digital wallet payments.

• Incentive Award card – spend at the millions of retailers within the entire Mastercard^® network
• Compliments card – a multi-store shopping card that can be use at a huge range of retailers
• Ticket Restaurant – a tasty treat that can be spent in supermarkets, restaurants, and food outlets across the UK.

To maintain a consistent focus on employee engagement throughout the year, its critical for line managers and leaders to have a shared understanding of the full range of opportunities available to them to boost employee engagement. Here’s our top ten.

Ten engagement boosters

1. Recognition Programs: Encourage staff to repeat behaviours known to result in successful business outcomes with a formal recognition program linked to specific values and behaviours. The discipline of giving daily, weekly, or monthly recognition helps to nurture a culture of appreciation that motivates staff to perform.
2. Employee Rewards: A reward system for achieving a specific target or milestone significantly boosts employee motivation. Here, the trick is to offer rewards that cater to as wide a range of employee preferences as possible.
3. Sales Incentives: Get a bit of healthy competition going among sales teams and encourage them to hit targets with performance-based rewards. Done well, a sales incentive scheme reminds staff of their hard work each time they redeem their reward.
4. Monthly/Quarterly/Annual Employee Awards: Roll out the red carpet and regularly celebrate employees’ achievements through awards and recognition ceremonies.
5. Recruitment Referral: In a competitive recruitment market encouraging employees to refer potential candidates is a win-win situation that can save employers a significant amount of money in recruitment agency fees. On the appointment of a suggested candidate, employers can show their gratitude for the recommendation with vouchers and social recognition. In turn this motivates other employees to actively participate in the recruitment process.
6. Long-Service Awards: At a time when retention and recruitment is a challenge for most employers, holding on to good stuff is imperative. Longer serving employees have critical skills, experience, and knowledge to share with newer staff. By signalling the value leaders place on the retention of experience, other staff are motivated others to aspire to long-term service.
7. Personal Milestones: Celebrating birthdays and life events such as becoming new parents or weddings creates a sense of belonging. Thoughtful gifts or gestures during these special moments show that the company cares about the individuals behind the job titles.
8. Suggestion Schemes: Employees often have valuable insights and suggestions for improving company processes. Implementing their ideas and acknowledging their contributions not only fosters a sense of belonging and motivation but keeps the ideas flowing.
9. Financial Support Payments: While the cost of groceries, childcare, mortgages and energy bills remain high, employees really appreciate their employer providing financial assistance for everyday purchases such as lunch, groceries, energy bills as well as big ticket items such as personal development, health and wellbeing. This can be a powerful way to motivate employees. It not only helps them achieve personal health goals but also shows the company's commitment to their well-being.
10. Christmas Gifts and Bonuses: Encourage staff to finish the year strong and make a fast start in the New Year. Employees will leave a traditional office party on a high, for a longer lasting impact, give staff a thoughtful gift or voucher that enables them to choose something they really want and can look forward to spending.