We talk quite often about the benefits of making your employees feel important and integral to your business’ success. It’s impossible to provide good customer service on behalf of a business if you feel undervalued by that company.
Uninspired employees cost organizations money, customers, and employee moral. Ensuring your team remains happy and encouraged is a lot easier than reversing the tide once they begin to feel disenfranchised.
How Local Currency Can Be Used for Employee Recognition
Local currency can be given as employee of the month rewards or rewards for meeting goals. Employees who have gone over and above for a customer or an employee who received the most kudos in a quarter from a customer or peer are good candidates for local currency awards.
You can also use local gift certificates for incentivizing desired behavior. Some employers award them to team members who have perfect attendance in a quarter or year. This encourages people to think twice before calling out or taking an unexcused absence from work. If you want employees to finish a training module, for instance, you can use local currency as rewards for those who get it done quickly.
The Benefit of Local Currency
Employees love local currency because it can be used in dozens of stores. While you may know your employees’ likes, you may not know their needs. That local gift certificate can be used in a number of ways that helps them stretch their budget. Having the costs of daily life covered (like an oil change) may be more important to that employee than a gift card to Walmart.
Local currency gives the employee the choice of how to spend it and where. It doesn’t force more “stuff” on them like it might if you selected one store and got them a gift card for that. They can use local currency for services and food.
It’s also not going to show up on their income statement. When you add bonuses and financial awards to their paycheck, they don’t get to enjoy it all. A gift of local currency can be used in its entirety for their pleasure.
It also helps make them feel good that they are bringing business to a local merchant and anything you can do to make an employee feel good will reflect positively in your business and your reputation.
