Remote work used to sound like fiction to our ears back in the days, I mean before 2020. Before the Covid-19 pandemic forced the world to go on a compulsory lockdown. This unfortunate development led to the rise of remote workers as no employer was willing to put their lives and the lives of their employees at risk. Fast forward to 2022, the world has gradually gone back to connecting physically but working from home is still a thing. Companies that haven’t adjusted to this new trend now look archaic and are losing employees to organisations to enable remote work. In this article, the focus is on identifying the best gift cards for remote employees.
Research shows that people that work from home are 47% more productive than people that work in an office? This kind of output needs some appreciation every now and then to boost morale. So how do you give a virtual worker appreciation gifts? With gift cards, more preferably virtual gift cards.
Since remote workers are mostly indoors doing what needs to be done for the growth of the company it is only right to keep them motivated. Giving your employees gifts for their hard work has its own benefits and they are:
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Improves Productivity
When an employee is rewarded with a gift for putting in extra effort in his/her duties it makes them want to repeat it again.
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Helps Retain Employees
An employee that is appreciated with a gift feels appreciated as in they feel like the company really cares for them. Due to this fact, the employee will feel at home and you know what they say, home is where the heart is. Watch such an employee go hard for the company for a long time.
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It Brings About Satisfied Customers
When employees are appreciated they are happy and when they are happy they are more productive. This will trickle down to your customers as they will always be satisfied by the happy employees.
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It Generally Brings Success To the Company
Taking from the point above, we can see that giving employees gifts causes a positive ripple effect that touches the company’s customers. A happy customer will definitely come back for more of that company’s goods or services, therefore causing repeated sales. This will continue to improve the company’s revenue which will bring about company growth.
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Makes other Workers Put in More Effort
There would always be office gossip, and be sure that the gift that was given to a high performing remote employee will pop up. This will cause other employees to put more effort into delivering quality services as they aim to be giving an appreciation gift too.
Remote workers are mostly indoors all through the week and will probably rest on weekends in order to recharge. A gift card will be a good gift for such a kind of worker. If we are trying to be more precise I would say an eGift card will be most appropriate.
What Are eGift Cards?
eGift cards or Electronic gift cards are more or less digital gift cards. They are delivered to the receiver’s email address as your gift card number and pin. They are mostly used to shopping online. This type of gift card will be a perfect fit for the introverted remote worker.
However a physical card isn’t also a bad idea, in fact, it’s still as effective as eGift cards because they can also be used for online and physical purchases.
Why Gift Cards are Better Remote Employee gifts than Regular Gifts
No doubt, cash rewards are good but there is something extra about rewarding your employees with gift cards. In the case of cash, it will be used for paying bills and doesn’t create lasting memories like the kinda gift card will. As for a regular gift, that’s a major risk because there is a high probability that the employee might like the gift. Gift cards on the other hand solve all the above problems that cash and regular gifts can not solve.
Here are reasons why rewarding your remote employee with gift cards is a better option:
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Gift Cards Give Remote Employees the Power To Buy What they Want
Rewarding employees with gift cards put them in control of picking out the actual gift they want. Unlike the case of regular gifts where the employees are more or less forced to accept whatever gift they are given whether they like it or not.
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It Creates Long Lasting Memory
Gifts obtained with gift cards tend to create a more emotional attachment that therefore leaves good, long-lasting memories in the heart of the employee.
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Gift Cards For Remotes Employees Creates More Interactions Amongst Employees
Gift cards create more interactions between colleagues because unlike regular gifts other employees have no idea what the recipient got with the card. Be rest assured that enquiries will be made during zoom meetings. This kind of discussion helps other employees see how much satisfaction the reward brought to the rewarded remote worker.
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Gift Cards For Remote Employees are Budget Friendly
Gift cards come at different prices, some $10, some $500. So employers can cut their coats according to their budget when it comes to rewarding remote workers with gift cards.
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They Can Be Tax-Free
There are conditions in which gift cards aren’t taxable when used as remote employee rewards. In England for example, if your employee gift cards meet the
Trivial Benefits criteria, it won’t be taxable. So the company and indeed the employees can save themselves some tax money.
Best Gift Cards For Remote Employees
After all said and done you still need to identify gift cards that are appropriate to be issued in a digital work environment. These kinds of gift cards must adhere to the company’s policies. Although every company has different rules that govern them, these gift cards will fit in those policies:
- Visa
- Mastercard
- American Express
- Amazon
- Walmart
- Target
- Nike
- DoorDash
- Spotify
- Starbucks
- BestBuy
- Barnes and Nobles
- AirBnB
- Uber
- Drizly
These gift cards will definitely put a smile on your employee’s faces when they receive them as gifts. So if you are an employer thinking of rewarding your workers, think of gift cards.