Five ways your business can mark the Coronation of King Charles III

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The bank holiday for the Coronation of King Charles III is upon us. Across the UK people are preparing to mark the occasion with street parties, family gatherings and more.

Given we’ve not seen a coronation since 1953, how can your businesses join in with the festivities in a positive way – can this historic event help strengthen your relationship with your employees?

We’ve compiled a list of five ways to bring the coronation to life in your workplace – from themed events to spontaneous gifts – to help you make the most of this rare event.

1: Host a coronation-themed team lunch

Employees want to know they are valued, both for their contribution to the business and as individuals. Holding a coronation-themed lunch is a great opportunity to get together and catch up with our colleagues on a personal level.

You can even enjoy decorating your workplace with bunting and flags together to really get into the spirit of the occasion.

2: Help them celebrate with a surprise gift

The extra bank holiday, as well as the expected national celebrations, may leave some employees worrying about whether they can afford to take part. Others may simply be grateful for a mid-month boost.

Consider offering staff a one-off gift to celebrate the occasion. Under HMRC’s Trivial Benefits rules, we can give each employee up to £50 in gift vouchers tax-free, helping them make the most of the coronation weekend.

Order Love2shop Contactless Gift Cards through www.highstreetvouchers.com to be delivered straight to their inbox the same day, so there is no waiting for the post!

3: Organise an environmental team away day

Before ascending to the throne, King Charles III was a great supporter of environmental causes and charities – and he remains so.

If taking time out is not possible – for example hospitality and retail will be extremely busy over the bank holiday – arrange a team away day later in the month instead. Supporting a local environmental project is the perfect way to celebrate the coronation – plus it’s inclusive as anyone who really isn’t interested in the Royal Family can simply enjoy helping out.

The Wildlife Trusts is a collection of grassroots voluntary groups dedicated to making a positive impact on the environment. Supported by the Prince of Wales Charitable Fund, search for local opportunities to volunteer with them here: www.wildlifetrusts.org/closer-to-nature/volunteer

4: Give them an early finish

There is an extra bank holiday this month, but an unexpected early finish to start the celebrations early on Friday is a great way to help employees start the weekend.

Whether they are preparing for a street party or hosting family or friends, the extra time will ease any stress they feel about being ready for the party.

5: Host a charity fundraiser

The King and Queen Consort are supporters and patrons of numerous charities, so why not have a little fun raising money for one of them?

From a bake sale to a step-count challenge, even a sponsored walk later in the year. Whatever works for our colleagues, fundraisers can be a great way to have fun as a team and increase the feelgood factor at work!

We can support young people to find work or start their own business by donating to the Prince’s Trust – a charity founded by King Charles III.

Alternatively charities that have shared connections to the King and Queen Consort in the past have included Barnado’s and the National Literacy Trust.

However we choose to mark the coronation – or help staff enjoy the extra bank holiday – spontaneous shows of appreciation and gifting at work can have a significant impact on productivity and employees sense of value.

Recent Love2shop research revealed that 52% of employees feel their productivity improves when they feel valued by their employer. With an extra day off this month, that’s surely a good thing!

 

3 ways to maintain productivity if budgets get cut in 2023

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With many HR professionals fearing budget cuts in 2023, how to keep stressed and struggling staff motivated so that your business comes through the recession strong is a real concern.

Across the UK economy, we are seeing workers take action because they are unhappy with their proposed pay awards – and a recent study shows that more discontent could be coming.

Budget cuts

According to a study by HR software company Personio, 55% of HR managers are expecting budget cuts in the coming months and 50% say their senior leadership team doesn’t prioritise employees.

These are worrying stats, as restricted budgets mean low or no pay rises or rewards – which has a direct impact on productivity.

Love2shop’ own research this year revealed that 52% of employees feel their output increases when they feel valued by their employer – so how can you maintain or increase productivity when faced with lower budgets?

Here are three tips to help maintain productivity during times of change and uncertainty.

Stockpile rewards

Rewards don’t have to be expensive to have a big impact – and some can be secured now to carry a company through until the next budget review.

Gift cards like Love2shop can be given as tax-free rewards up to the value of £50 per employee, and are a great way to show appreciation on an ad-hoc basis.

As the end of the financial year approaches, you can buy in gift cards in bulk now  so  if your business tightens the purse strings after April, you have enough  rewards to keep employees feeling motivated and valued well into 2023.

Don’t sacrifice the ‘Great Place to Work’ mentality

Everyone knows how the world of work changed through the pandemic, and hybrid models of working are more popular than ever. Keeping employees motivated and happy is not all about money, but ensuring they are happy.

When it comes to work culture, shifting again – either to a full work from home model to save office costs or a full office-based model to utilise your commercial space – is likely to have a negative impact on output.

In research conducted by employee review site Glassdoor, 58% of hybrid workers said their productivity was increased as a result of the working arrangements, while the same proportion said it had also helped them manage the cost of living crisis.

Give benefits that make a difference

From ‘office dog days’ to dress-down Fridays – some rewards and benefits just don’t cut it, especially in this current climate. Instead, look at other ways you can meaningfully benefit your workforce. For example, fresh fruit deliveries or ‘pizza Fridays’ have a real benefit by helping people save on food spend. Take that one step further and offer them an Everyday Benefits Card – a pre-payment card which offers a 7.5% discount on card loads and can be spent wherever Love2shop gift cards are accepted.

What’s more, employees can keep loading them up – always with the discount – to enjoy savings on everyday essentials all year round.

Want to make sure your business offers cost effective, meaningful employee benefits into 2023? Visit www.highstreetvouchers.com to find out more.

 Everyday Benefits Cards and Love2shop are flexecash products. Flexecash is the prepaid card platform that issues flexecash Love2shop Cards. This facility is provided by Park Card Services who are Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to issue electronic money. FRN: 900016.

Love2shop Cards are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and as such we may need to complete an electronic identity check.

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What UK consumers want from their company this Christmas and beyond?

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Every year we explore what employees want from their employers at Christmas, and beyond, and how you can get workplace gifting right – but in 2022 and 2023 it’s more important than ever.

From high earners to apprentices, inflation and recession are having a significant impact on household budgets and lifestyles. Many workers – even those considered to be in well-paid jobs – have swapped where to eat out for where’s the best value for groceries. Rising costs of energy and goods means the money people may previously have splurged at the shops is now going towards increased bills.

With workers under stress, how can you make sure that your Christmas gifting and your general day-to-day reward and recognition programmes are  well-received and makes a real difference to your employees? And importantly, as businesses also face rising costs, can you do it within a strict budget?

Is there still time to deliver a little something for Christmas 2022? Yes – who would turn their nose up at a digital gift card?

Why should you gift employees?

Many business owners may be reconsidering giving employee gifts this year, (Christmas or otherwise), thinking instead about saving money amid the challenging economic landscape. Others may simply not believe in employee gifting – feeling that the salary individuals receive  for their work is reward enough.

But research commissioned for the Love2shop Employee Value Report this year has revealed that 10 million UK workers – around a third – feel undervalued at work and 79% of those are looking for an alternative job.

Compare that to the fact that 76% reported they felt valued or recognised when their employer spontaneously gave them a gift and you can see that getting gifting right is key to retaining talent and reducing recruitment costs. Bear in mind that the vast majority of those looking for a new job have said that they are willing to stay in return for a simple sign of appreciation. It’s like the old adage: Ps and Ts go a long way.

Don’t know what to gift? Listen to your workforce

The Love2shop Employee Value Report for 2022 found that  60% of employees ranked days off, flexible working and multi-retailer gift cards as the best forms of workplace gifting.

While this is a consistent finding across such polls over recent years, our report found that, with the recession looming, 89% of workers awarded a multi-retailer gift card like Love2shop would not spend it on luxuries or experiences – in fact, they would use it to buy essentials like groceries, freeing up their cash to pay rising bills.

This is a clear indication of the growing pressure we all face and a sign that the most meaningful gift you can give as an employer this Christmas is something to help your colleagues get by.

It’s also worth remembering that small gifts up to £50 do not need to be declared to HMRC and are not subject to tax or National Insurance, which means no additional burden to your business.

A gift that lasts

With workers more likely to spend any extra money on just getting by, there is a certain employer satisfaction you can enjoy in offering a gift that helps them all year round – the Everyday Benefits Card lets a cardholder with an average family size to save over £1,300 each year

This is a prepayment card onto which you can load funds as a gift to each employee. The loaded funds are subject to a 7.5% discount – so every £100 loaded on only costs £92.50 – and employees can top up their funds all year with the same discount.

Their funds can then be spent in more than 90 outlets that accept Love2shop Gift Cards plus they can access additional savings on items like gift cards for major supermarkets, plus you can also pre-load funds onto their Everyday Benefits Card tax-free (up to the value of £50), to give them a little extra boost.

Over to you

If you haven’t set your Christmas staff gifts in stone yet, it’s worth taking a second to reassess your plans, especially during Christmas week when time is short and before you know it we’ll be in 2023. So if you need a quick fix, many business owners are ordering digital gift cards to bring a smile (and a sense of pride) to their teams.

If you want to talk about it, feel free to get in touch. We’ll be here to talk about Christmas right up until the 23rd of December.

Everyday Benefits Cards and Love2shop are flexecash products. Flexecash is the prepaid card platform that issues flexecash Love2shop Cards. This facility is provided by Park Card Services who are Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to issue electronic money. FRN: 900016.

Love2shop Cards are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and as such we may need to complete an electronic identity check.

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Employee rewards don’t have to be taxing

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Rewards aren’t just for Christmas – with the cost of living likely to remain at historically high levels in 2023 employers can offer a helping hand to their staff all year round.

However, business owners and managers may be concerned about both the cost and the possible tax implications of employee rewards schemes. It’s an understandable fear but one that is easily allayed.

We are now in an ultra-competitive recruitment and retention market. The smartest employers recognise there is more to keeping people happy and productive than just the headline salary.

Hiring and keeping the best people is critical to both business continuity and bottom-line profitability.

Creating a positive working environment where people feel safe and engaged to learn and grow is a big part of it. And offering real and tangible rewards is also a fantastic way to help people feel valued. Not convinced? There’s plenty of up-to-date research to back this up.

This year, corporate rewards and employee recognition specialist Love2shop published its Employee Value Report 2022. It found 33% of all UK employees feel undervalued at work. It added that 74% of people said they would look for a new job if they felt undervalued.

So, rewarding your teams leads to higher productivity, better staff retention and increased profits. What’s not to like? You may be worried about the cost of giving, but consider the cost of not giving.

Love2shop are the experts in this field. They have an impressive track record stretching back 20 years – partnering with more than 150,000 businesses to provide rewards and recognition for both staff and customers.

Via the Love2shop physical and digital gift platform and the Everyday Benefits Card, Love2shop offers a suite of options and tailor-made reward programmes.

But what are the tax implications for you and your employees, including those claiming in- work benefits? Rewards can have implications for tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) but there are exemptions.

Here are the facts from the experts at Love2shop…

 Remember the basics

  • Under HMRC’s ‘Trivial Benefits’ scheme a non-cash voucher (one that can only be exchanged for goods and services) up to the value of £50 is tax-free.
  • Non-cash vouchers are not considered as earnings when it comes to calculating Universal Credit

This last point is particularly important for firms that want to reward ‘gig economy’ workers that may operate on a freelance or casual basis. For example, a private hire taxi firm whose drivers are self-employed but who also claim Universal Credit.

HMRC’s Trivial Benefits rules are easy to understand and well worth knowing. As above, a non-cash voucher up to the value of £50 is tax-free.

However, to qualify for the exemption it cannot be a reward for service or recognition of employment. It cannot be included as a contractual obligation and there can be no expectation from an employee it will be offered.

Typical examples could be a voucher to recognise a cultural or religious festival such as Christmas, Diwali or Eid. It could be a voucher given to an employee for a celebration such as a birthday, wedding or new baby. Or perhaps for someone who is unwell.

Most importantly in this tough economic environment, the tax-free exemption applies when an employer wants to support their teams amid the cost of living crisis. This allows the opportunity to provide a lifeline in terms of vouchers for essentials such as food.

And it is vital employers are aware the exemption is not available for rewards that incentivise work performance such as meeting sales targets or to an ‘employee of the month’.

Long service rewards

Many employers like to offer rewards for long-serving team members and HMRC offers an exemption for precisely that scenario. It is useful to know that such a reward could be worth up to £1,000.

To meet the criteria, it must be in recognition of at least 20 years’ service and the employee must not have received a long service award in the previous 10 years. The value of the voucher can be no more than £50 for each year. Which means a 20-year service award could be worth up to £1,000.

Annual events

There are also HMRC exemptions covering annual events – this may typically cover a Christmas party or a summer barbeque. To qualify for the exemption, the event must be annual and has to be open to all employees.

The total cost per head can be no more than £150 (VAT inclusive) and, is it vital to note, this figure is the figure per year not per event. So if you held both a Christmas party and summer barbeque the combined aggregate value must be no more than £150 per head.

PAYE Settlement Agreements

So, we have learned about the £50 voucher limit and the other exemptions. But it is important to bear in mind that rewards or vouchers outside of those exemptions are considered taxable earnings by HMRC.

Employers would ordinarily report the face value of the voucher on the employees Form P11D so it can be recovered by HMRC by adjusting the tax code or via a self-assessment tax return. NICs are also payable on the vouchers during the pay period they are issued.

However, the good news from Love2shop is that there is another way in which employers can minimise the tax liability of their employees and avoid reducing the value of the rewards.

Employers can choose to enter into what is called a PAYE Settlement Agreement (PSA) with HMRC to settle the tax and NIC on behalf of their employees.

This is a binding agreement with HMRC whereby an employer agrees to settle the tax and NICs of its employee. It covers benefits that are considered “minor or irregular” or where it is considered impractical to operate PAYE.

HMRC generally considers non-cash vouchers to be irregular and allows them to be included on a PSA.

An Employer can apply to HMRC for a PSA by setting out in writing the benefits which they want to include and also the tax year in which they wish the PSA to start. The address is:

PAYE Settlement Agreements HM Revenue and Customs BX9 2AN

PSAs are what is known as “enduring agreements”. This means they will remain in place indefinitely until an employer formally cancels the arrangement. If you have a PSA agreement already in place that doesn’t include non-cash vouchers you will need to contact HMRC to amend the agreement.

You will need to undertake calculations to work out the tax and NIC due under the PSA. This is calculated on a grossed up basis which can be a complex calculation. Before making any agreement you must contact HMRC or your own tax advisor to discuss how this will affect your business specifically.

Rewards for non-employees

Giving vouchers to non-employees, as per the example above – a taxi firm with self- employed drivers – will also see them liable to tax and NIC payments – although if they are claiming Universal Credit, they will not affect how that is calculated.

Similar to the PSA, an employer can enter into what is known as a Taxed Award Scheme (TAS) with HMRC.

Under the TAS you can select to pay tax on behalf of the individuals at either basic rate (20%) or higher rate (40%) tax. The tax will be due on the grossed-up value of the vouchers provided. To set up a TAS contact:

HMRC Incentive Award Unit

National Insurance Contributions & Employer Office Revenue & Customs

BX9 1BX

Telephone number – 0300 200 3200

Frank Creighton, Director of Business Development at Love2shop, explained that he and his team has the necessary know-how to quickly and simply set up an employee rewards scheme.

“The benefits of rewarding employees are clear in terms of increased productivity and retention. But this impact is enhanced by exceptions that enable rewards to be provided to employees with no tax and National Insurance burden for the recipient,” he said.

“Furthermore, Love2shop rewards and the Everyday Benefits Card offer a straightforward route in helping you to help your employees cope with a cost of living crisis that isn’t going away any time soon.

“We have all the expertise to help you set up a reward programme which can integrate seamlessly into your business processes and be delivered for a relatively low cost.

“Our Everyday Benefits Card offers a 7.5% discount to employees on their day to day spending. It can also help with larger one-off purchases. We have calculated the average family can save more than £1,300 a year via the card.

“We can deliver it swiftly to your employees at their workplace or even their home. There has never been a better time to start rewarding those people who are vital to the wellbeing of your business.”

Disclaimer:

This article is published solely for informational purposes. It is not intended as, nor should it be construed as, financial advice. It has no regard to the specific financial situation or needs of any person or business. Before taking any decisions related to business investment or tax, you should seek independent financial advice.

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Experts explain clear benefits of employee and customer rewards

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 Families across the UK could save a whopping £1,300 a year on their everyday spending if employers rolled out reward schemes to their staff.

 That was one of the revelations that came out of a webinar organised by leading corporate rewards and vouchers business Love2shop. An audience of businesspeople heard how rewarding their staff would lead to a happier, more productive workforce and a thriving business. 

 The Success Through Adversity webinar featured a number of expert speakers outlining how employers could help people within their organisations weather the worst cost of living crisis in a generation. 

 Increasing positive engagement through rewards 

 Love2shop offers several options for employers looking to reward and incentivise both staff and customers. For a relatively low cost and simple set-up, products such as the Everyday Benefits Card and the Love2shop Engagement Platform can help transform a business. This is in addition to the range of Love2shop gift cards, e-gift cards and vouchers that have been used by businesses for staff and employee rewards for many years. 

 Frank Creighton, Director of Business Development at Love2shop, explained how Love2shop has been used by millions of people for 30 years and can be a key tool for businesses looking for efficient ways to offer rewards. 

 “Vouchers, gift cards and e-gift cards help businesses of all sizes across multiple sectors attract and retain both employees and customers,” said Frank. “Love2shop has supported organisations from the NHS to care homes, professional services, manufacturers, financial services and every size of business from small to FTSE-100s.
 “They all have the same need: to reward, engage and incentivise people. Research has shown that if employees are rewarded, they are more likely to be engaged and productive and that is a win-win.” 

 Supporting employees through economic challenges
 Addressing the cost of living crisis, Frank explained that it was more important than ever to support their staff through what is a very worrying period. 

 “From speaking to businesses we know they are keen to support their people. Fortunately, we do have the products and services to help employers support their staff at this time,” he added. 

 Frank outlined how the Everyday Benefits Card could make a real tangible difference to people’s lives. It covers many leading high street and online brands included in the Love2shop platform. 

 He said: “It is a real solution for employers who want to support their staff during the cost of living crisis. The way it works is very straightforward. 

 “It’s a prepaid card that allows employees to load funds at a 7.5% discount. It can then be spent in 90+ high-street stores that are part of Love2shop. It also opens up access to discounts on selected supermarket gift card loads, which employees pay directly from their debit card and which can reduce the cost of their essential spending.  

 “With Christmas coming it can also help with one-off purchases. We have calculated the average family can save more than £1,300 a year via the Everyday Benefits Card. 

 “It can be used for everyday essentials, meals, days out or bigger purchases such as holidays and we can offer employers a free trial card if they get in touch.” 

 Keeping hold of talented employees 

 Love2shop recently published its Employee Value Report, a revealing snapshot of the level of worker happiness across the economy. It made for stark reading for employers. It calculated that across the UK 10m employees felt undervalued by their employers with eight out of 10 seeking a new job elsewhere. 

 “It is well worth a read,” added Frank. “It shows how rewards and recognition are now more crucial than ever. An engaged employee is more productive and will generate more profit.” 

Love2shop Engagement Platform is an online tool which offers a relatively low-cost way of implementing and managing an employee and customer rewards and incentive schemes. It’s flexible, so businesses can choose either an off-the-shelf platform or have one tailored to the specific needs of their business. 

 Many employers are concerned about both the costs and logistics of setting up a rewards programme as they believe it may be too time-consuming and expensive. 

 “They have to be able to show a return on investment,” said Jamie Clarke, head of the Love2shop Engagement Platform. “Our platform manages most of the administration and monitoring of a reward scheme for the client.  

“We offer a modular approach with a platform offering all the functionality required to get any incentive, loyalty or employee recognition scheme up and running super-fast with lower costs. It is simple to use and we can work with employers to tailor the platform should they need to.” 

 As well as employee engagement, Jamie talked about how Love2shop can also help with customer retention. He referred to Love2shop’s relationship with Brakes, which is one of the UK’s biggest wholesalers to the hospitality industry. 

Using the Love2shop Engagement Platform, Brakes customers were offered a blend of discounts, cashback, charitable opportunities and Love2shop rewards as part of the ‘Help for Hospitality’ campaign in 2021. 

 It was such a success it was awarded Best Channel Partner Programme at the 2021 Incentive Awards. 12 months later, Love2shop has just retained that award for their work with another client – Buildbase.  

 “Implementing a programme does not have to be complex,” added Jamie. “Once we understand your needs we can project-manage everything. We deploy modules to help you set goals and targets and generate automatic communications. 

“We also have mechanisms for data exchange. It means you can input raw data into the platform and it will crunch the numbers. It can take anything between four to 12 weeks to implement and ultimately these schemes pay for themselves – they deliver results and a strong return on investment.” 

 Those attending the webinar also heard from former England football international Jill Scott MBE. The ‘Lioness’ told the audience how critical reward and motivation was in sport. 

 Also speaking was Rebecca Stevens, a business psychologist and founder of Work Brighter. She has worked with hundreds of businesses and leaders across multiple sectors. 

 She told the webinar that creating motivation and engagement was a common topic when she spoke to business leaders  

 “People have intrinsic motivations, such as satisfaction and pride about a job well done and extrinsic motivations, such as a promotion or a pay rise. Extrinsic things can help reinforce behaviour and we need to move towards a positive reinforcement of the behaviours we want to see in a very personalised way.”

Referring to the Love2shop Employee Value Report, Rebecca said the finding that 75% of people believing that companies that offer rewards were more likely to attract a better calibre of employee did not surprise her, adding: “The reward strategy has to have an individualised aspect to really work.” 

 Concluding the webinar, Julian Coghlan, Love2shop’s Interim Chief Executive Officer, said: “Not only is reward and recognition a key element of any successful business model, it is also crucial to the morale and loyalty of individuals. We are here to help… we can offer a real benefit to your business in the current economic climate.” 

 Everyday Benefits cards and Love2shop Cards are flexecash products. flexecash is the prepaid card platform that issues flexecash Love2shop Cards. This facility is provided by Park Card Services who are Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to issue electronic money. FRN: 900016.  

Love2shop Cards are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and as such we may need to complete an electronic identity check. 

Physical Love2shop vouchers, Love2shop e-gift cards and reward codes and Love2shop Holidays gift cards are not regulated by the FCA. 

Read our previous blogs…

What is customer acquisition

What is Customer Acquisition?

50 Employee Perks

50 Employee Perks to Offer Staff

What is customer acquisition

Customer Acquisition Strategy

The crucial trick to motivating and engaging your remote teams

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A year ago, a great deal of blog space was still being dedicated to pondering and postulating about home working. How will we scale security? Will employees be motivated at home? Will our company culture suffer? Will productivity take a nosedive?

A year later, those questions are going through a global stress test. According to YouGov, 38% of the pre-crisis workforce are now working at home. The interesting part is, they don’t particularly want to go back, either.

A massive majority of workers simply do not want to go back to the office full-time, according to some recent research by Okta. And that’s while the rest of the world slowly takes the shape of normality.

Eggs and flour are regular features on the supermarket shelves again, along with your favourite craft beer and wines. You can even pop out for a pint and see your friends in the park. But the country’s staff aren’t gagging to give up remote working.

What this tells us is that we’re past the point of adjusting to a crisis. The shock has passed, and most of us are pretty happy with this version of “normal,” at least when it comes to our work. That means it’s time to address one of the downsides of a remote workforce – isolation. Our company, Love2shop, have had to address this ourselves and find a way to make sure everyone’s engaged and motivated at home.

Not just the chat and banter, and the office friends. But the sense of camaraderie, company culture, and the feeling that we’re all contributing to something wider than the narrow furrows we plough. The one thing any company can, and should, do to combat the feeling that staff are plugging away in their own little world is communicate.

Communicate to engage a remote team

If it’s not too gauche to blow our own horn, Love2shop, have done a great job of handling the sudden dispersal of our teams. At group, department, and team levels, we have tactics to keep employees engaged and connected.

Group-level communications

Weekly round ups

Every week, Group and Human Resources put together a round-up of news and views from around the business and push it out to staff. That might include blogs written by people in our company, surveys to get opinions and feedback from staff about their work and their response to Group efforts, news on how the business is responding to COVID-19 developments, and any human resources developments that might affect staff.

Podcasts

Some of the leadership figures around Love2shop have been putting together podcasts talking about what’s happening in their corner of the Love2shop universe. That might be our senior leadership team fielding questions from the staff, our design managers talking about our latest product developments, or even just some stories of kindness to cheer everyone up.

Team/department-level

Meetings are not the word that fills everyone with the sense of thrill and wonder, we know. But we’re not trying to blow anyone’s socks off, we’re trying to keep everyone connected to each other.

Weekly meetings

Weekly meeting are where department-level discussions happen. They’re where we talk about what the individual teams that make up the wider departments are doing, what projects are being delivered, and how we’re performing as a division against our targets. We also run through news, introduce new hires, and talk about what’s happening at Group level and how it might affect our day-to-day work.

Daily meetings

Our daily catch-ups give us a chance to see some friendly, familiar faces, talk about what we’re doing inside and outside of work, gripe about some things, gloat about others. It’s also crucial for making sure everyone is on the same page with their tasks.

Which is useful because one of the of the downsides of working remote is that it’s hard to just turn to someone and ask a question. It’s just that much harder to do that at home.

Having a time every day where you can ask some stupid questions to make sure everything is going in the right direction gives you a bit of psychological runway. That runway pushes back doubt and uncertainty, letting staff get through their work with confidence and satisfaction about their efforts.

Don’t let grumbling put you off

You might be thinking “everyone hates meetings though”. Which might be a fair point, but in our experience everyone’s still on time for them, which wasn’t always the case when they were face to face. And they still contribute.

We’d happily err on the side of having one meeting too many, one podcast too many, one email too many, than risk staff feeling like they’re twisting in the wind or not valued.

And ultimately, that’s what why communication and inclusion produces motivation and engagement. We’re putting every day, every task, every role into a wider context. Showing that other colleagues appreciate and depend on their work, and demonstrating that what they’re doing has value.

Cash-value rewards, recognition software, and incentive systems do work, but only prosper long-term when employees are motivated by more than a transaction. That’s why you need to embrace communication to keep engagement and motivation in good supply in the home office.

It’s not always fancy, but it is effective

The importance of talking and communicating with your staff can’t be understated. These are simple tactics, but sticking with them is how you’ll be able to communicate culture, talk about your values and make sure everyone feels connected.

Like we said in another blog recently, you can’t put this genie back in its bottle. We all know now that we could have done this before. It just won’t be possible to tell a workforce in the future that home working isn’t realistic. At least not with a straight face.

Baking these habits into your company now is how you’re going to keep, and strengthen, company culture and staff morale as you navigate the world during, and after, COVID-19.

As always, if you want to talk about motivating and engaging your staff, get in touch. We’re always happy to chat.

Case study – Digital rewards make sure healthcare heroes are recognised

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Summary

A large UK healthcare provider, whose portfolio includes numerous care homes, found themselves unable to safely reward their staff with plastic gift cards following the outbreak of COVID-19 in the UK.

 

The challenge

For more than three years previously, the client had been enjoying our Love2shop Gift Cards. While we always discuss our digital reward options with clients, in this case, our client was understandably reluctant to change a winning formula – their reward scheme was producing good levels of engagement and positive feedback with using plastic gift cards.

While the client was happy with their status quo, the COVID-19 outbreak forced a change. Not only was there a sharp increase in the demands placed on the workdays of their employees, meriting more recognition and reward, but there was no safe way to distribute physical gift cards to their employees. A solution had to be found, and fast.

“Crucially, we’ve been able to keep engagement high, and keep rewarding our amazing staff, through a difficult time.”

Love2shop’s solution

After a conversation with their account manager,  Jackie Reynolds, about these difficulties, we recommended they switch to our  digital reward codes.

Our codes are an end-to-end digital product, meaning  there’s no physical interaction between our clients and their staff  when  buying or delivering them. Clients order them through our Self-Serve portal, and they’re delivered digitally. The codes themselves come to employees as emails or text messages, and those employees redeem them online. Perfect for sending rewards when physical contact is dangerous.

As it was unthinkable that our client’s incredible staff would go without rewards for their work during this difficult period, these digital rewards were a natural fit. Jackie helped them through an initial transition, and made sure the client got right back to thanking their employees with exciting rewards as soon as possible.

“The codes are so simple to use that our staff have had no trouble making the switch.”

The outcome

Most importantly, our client was able to lift morale among their staff in a trying time. For Love2shop, this is one of the aspects of our work we’re most proud of. Employees doing great things deserve to be recognised and celebrated. It’s a privilege to help deliver that for our clients.

However, the rewards have also been a success in other ways. For instance, our client’s staff have enjoyed their digital rewards so much, they are considering continuing to use digital rewards even when contact is safe in their workplace again.

The digital ordering and delivery process for our reward codes also deliver significant advantages in fulfilment and ordering. Especially when centrally managing a nationwide scheme. Our client would previously order their gift cards, and have them delivered to their central office. From there, the client would separate the rewards and send them to individual facilities, creating a time-consuming administrative task on top of postage fees.

Our simple ordering process, and digitally fulfilled rewards, massively simplified that process, removing the need for physical fulfilment. The combined effect is less time, and less money, being spent to deliver better rewards.

Jackie Reynolds, the Love2Shop Engagement Consultant who managed the project, added: “What’s good to see is how easily their staff have adapted to their new rewards. Many clients have concerns about changing their staff rewards, especially if it involves technology, but our experience is usually that employees adapt quickly to the switch. It’s heartening to see that’s also the case for this challenge, given how important these rewards are to the client.”

Our contact inside the company said: “All our worries about switching from plastic to digital evaporated straight away. The codes are so simple to use that our staff have had no trouble making the switch. Crucially, we’ve also been able to keep engagement high, and keep rewarding our amazing staff through a difficult time.

“Love2shop, and our account manager Jackie, have done a great job helping us quickly make the change, and making sure that our incredible staff get the thanks and rewards they deserve so much during this difficult period.”

 

 

*At the request of our client, this case study has been anonymised.