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Employee Engagement

Employee Appreciation Ideas for 2023

employee appreciation day

Workforces across the globe are abuzz with excitement, as the official Employee Appreciation Day is just a few days away. Falling on March 3, 2023, it could be slated as the perfect opportunity to thank and motivate your employees by curating recognition experiences that are fun, heartfelt, and memorable. The enthusiasm of stepping foot into the new year coupled with anticipation for the upcoming employee appreciation season; there couldn’t be a better time to plan and execute your year-round appreciation activities with sure-fire vigor! A Gallup research has highlighted the importance of engagement and appreciation, because businesses with highly engaged teams outperform peers by nearly 150% in earnings per share. Furthermore, in the midst of the great resignation, initiating and professing appreciation where and when it’s due can help create a culture where employees want to stay longer, do better, and traverse the extra mile.

To paraphrase the acclaimed French philosopher Voltaire, ‘Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.’

Remodeling employee appreciation to keep up with changing times

The employee-workplace scenario has undergone tremendous change, compelling business leaders to nurture organizations that engage employees as passionate, creative, and worthy contributors. The lack of physical togetherness curtails the limits of appreciation, hence, employee appreciation methods and processes need to go through a metamorphosis to keep up with the rapid transformations that have occurred over the past year.

Taking this into account, appreciation and recognition needs to be personal, specific, and timely in order to be deemed effective, robust, and meaningful. This blog is your ultimate guide to worthwhile appreciation ideas that can up the ante for your organization whilst revitalizing employee commitment.

Thoughtful employee appreciation ideas for 2023

An employee recognition program is a proven way to boost morale, minimize attrition, and increase engagement- when it comes to retaining and nurturing talent, it’s hard to beat a clever, personalized gesture of appreciation. However, most of the recognition efforts come across as inauthentic or self-serving in recent times, therefore, now is the time to get creative, make your recognition program timely and tailored to the workplace, and have a robust appreciation model in place.

1. Fetch appreciation from your leadership team

It’s important for employees to hear from their leaders; a heartfelt message from the CEO or a personal note from the manager can go a long way in exhilarating your employees. Case in point, 28% of employees believe the most memorable recognition comes from their manager, while 24% want to be recognized by a high-level leader or CEO. Have leaders craft messages that let employees know that their contributions deem them worthy of gratitude and how it transpires to the success of the organization.

2. Recognize all employee facets- Remote, in-office, and hybrid

Whether your employees work in the office, remotely, or in a hybrid model; it is vital to ensure that your appreciation efforts reach everyone indiscriminately. Planning a celebration in the office should be accompanied by dedicated efforts to include remote workers as well through virtual team meets and equalized distribution of rewards, recognitions, and points across all employee facets.

Send a heartfelt emailed note, have a townhall session to celebrate team successes, provide lunch or digital experience vouchers, deliver a personal gift to their homes- there are countless ways in which a holistic appreciative culture can be invoked.

3. Celebrate noteworthy occasions

Occasions such as birthdays, work anniversaries, and familial developments offer the best opportunity to invigorate and elevate employees’ self-worth. Leverage a digital engagement platform to plan, execute, and celebrate special events through collaboration tools.

4. Encourage physical and mental wellness

An impactful but rather underrated way of bestowing appreciation is by keeping a check on employees’ well-being. Bearing in mind that your employees might need an extra push to get them on their feet amidst remote and sedentary lifestyles, employee wellness can be encouraged by adopting a digital engagement platform. Streaming live sessions and virtual talks by wellness professionals, organizing group events with physical activities through employee surveys and polls, and provision of physical health based benefits such as pharmacy vouchers, home-based wellness services are a few ways of showering your employees with affection and care.

5. Personalize your rewards

Broad-based acts of employee appreciation have their own place in an organization; but 2023 brings with itself a pressing need to personalize and make employees feel individually known and recognized. Custom merchandize and gifts incorporated with a personal touch and weaved into an appropriate gifting cycle is no doubt, a strong indication of an appreciative culture.

Appreciate often, not just one day!

While striking the balance between the soft and hard aspects of the workplace may feel challenging, being patient and implementing feedback on employee appreciation/ recognition ideas will pay off in worker satisfaction. A digital R&R platform can enable tracking of each initiative through analytical reports and insights. Also noteworthy is that great talent management processes are agile, and having the right systems in place gives companies the ability to seamlessly adjust to the workforce’s shifting needs and build appreciation frameworks that align with contemporary trends.

Employee appreciation is a much bigger facet than a day or week. Expressing gratitude, giving thanks, and applauding good work are indispensable pillars to erecting a distinguished organization with influential characteristics. This list can serve as a powerful foundation to plan employee appreciation activities throughout the year- as appreciation cannot be limited to just one day!

Connect with us to find out how an employee engagement platform can assist in realizing your appreciation efforts!

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Employee Engagement

Digitalization of Employee Wellness: Challenges and Opportunities

employee-wellness-program

The ubiquitous role of technology in transforming the professional landscape cannot be emphasized enough. Socio-economic disruptions across the world have further catapulted technology to the forefront, with the onset of flexible and hybrid working. As a result, HR leaders have now affirmed the importance of digital solutions such as R&R platforms and employee engagement software to cater to the ever-evolving employee experience gamut.

On a similar note, it is worth mentioning that the strategic implementation of digital tools as part of employee wellness programs is also a key factor in unlocking the potential of employee wellbeing in the coming years.

Assessing the Employee Wellness Landscape

While the vitality of physical, social, and mental wellness has come to the limelight, there is still an acute gap in the employee-employer dynamic that impacts the perception of wellbeing among people. Here are some statistics worth mulling over:

1. Over 42% of employees globally have reported a decline in mental health

2. Symptoms of burnout and mental exhaustion are increasing among employees and leaders alike

3. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that depression, anxiety disorders, and other conditions cost the global economy $1 trillion per year in lost productivity

4. Although 82% of the organizations have initiated regular communication regarding safety and wellness, two in five say that poor employee understanding is a barrier

A dire mental or physical health condition manifests itself in the form of absenteeism, lack of employee engagement, and decreased productivity. Innovative HR solutions driven by technology can be rudimentary in revolutionizing the employee wellness landscape as they provide personalized support and are equally impactful across diverse geographies.

You may also like: 6 Employee Engagement Activities to Promote Mental Health Awareness

Challenges in Digitalization of Employee Wellness

It is sufficing to say that digitizing the employee health initiatives comes with its’ own set of challenges. The deployment of a digital solution alone is not enough, its’ adoption and sustainability is what makes the difference. Thus, senior leadership buy-in and an all-hands approach is critical for the success of this approach.  

However, leaders tend to be traditionally set in their ways and require an additional push to implement any change, which is where the challenge arises. Managers and mentors across the organization need to understand the imperative part they play as role models, by opening up about mental health and eradicating the stigma around mental health-related issues.

How can you overcome this anomaly? To ensure that a digital employee engagement and wellness platform is trusted and perceived as a safe space for employees to voice their concerns, this is what an adequate solutions provider can do:

1. Regularly communicate any health-related activity, be it physical or virtual through mailers, flyers, and automated notifications

2. Create an acute adoption plan that includes detailed walkthroughs, informative videos, user manuals, and senior stakeholder meetings to encourage participation

3. Offer employees the opportunity to give feedback on the program’s effectiveness through surveys and polls with data-driven insights that can be leveraged for course correction

Opportunities Offered by Digitalization of Employee Wellness

Employee wellness program

Once the challenges of digitalization are listed down and adequately eradicated, the opportunities are endless! Digital solutions such as R&R platforms and employee engagement software can work wonders in reinforcing positive attributes and keeping the overall emotional quotient in check. Here are the key opportunities that can be fixated upon:

1. Convenience, ease-of-use, and accessibility

2. Sophisticated prediction algorithms and sentiment analytics to identify at-risk employees

3. Real-time data to put employee wellbeing at the forefront of HR and employers’ responsibilities

4. Extensive rewards catalog and the freedom to choose health-based services or products that cater to individualistic needs

5. Customizable R&R framework with wellness recognition categories to promote healthy activities

You may also like: HealthTech Meets HR: The Future of Employee Wellbeing

Ease into Digital Transformation with Gratifi!

Digitalization has certainly taken the business environment by storm, and HR professionals stand a golden chance to accelerate the employee experience by digitizing their employee health initiatives. A holistic employee engagement platform such as Gratifi can serve as a one-stop solution for all your employee-centric needs, ranging from R&R, engagement, and wellness.

Connect with us now to explore our myriad offerings and understand how our digital solution can helps boost mind and body productivity within your organization!

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Employee Engagement

6 Employee Engagement Activities to Promote Mental Health Awareness

employee-engagement-activities

Employee engagement programs are quintessential to the overall success of an organization as they impact a multitude of business aspects such as the organizational culture, employee experience, productivity, and performance. Interestingly enough, apart from these palpable benefits, employee engagement is also proven to have a positive influence on the mental health of people.  

The budding awareness and realization around the importance of mental and emotional wellbeing has permeated workplaces worldwide, and with good reason- Mental health issues negatively affect an employee’s ability to work, lowering job productivity by as much as 35%. Thus, it should come as no surprise that many organizations are devising multipronged employee wellness strategies to keep the emotional quotient of their workforce in check.

Here are 6 employee engagement strategies to manage mental health at work.

1. Administer Mental Health Surveys and Polls

Conducting surveys and polls is a great start toward assessing the psychological condition of your employees as it can help evaluate the stressors that they may encounter at work. Is your workforce chronically disengaged or demotivated? Is there a chance of burnout? Are your employees thriving in the organizational culture? Such burning questions can be addressed through confidential surveys that can be created and administered using an employee engagement platform.

Collecting anonymous feedback from employees about their level of psychological safety in your workplace can offer valuable insights that can be leveraged to determine the improvement areas and accordingly formulate improved policies and structures.

2. Normalize the Discussion Around Mental Health

Considering how prevalent mental health issues are, especially now; the colossal stigma attached to talking about them in the workplace is alarming. This trepidation stems from the fear of repercussions such as loss of trust and being seen as unreliable. The Harvard Business Review found that most employees are least comfortable disclosing their apprehensions to HR.

Set your organization apart by destigmatizing mental health- Encourage leaders to lead by example and initiate open conversations with their team members. You can use employee engagement tools available in an R&R platform to facilitate this process, such as wellness E-cards and health-based rewards.

3. Encourage Random Acts of Kindness

Performing random acts of kindness not only provides a momentary happiness to both the giver and the receiver, but also boosts emotional wellbeing in the long run. Being kind- whether by opening a door for a colleague or offering to help with a project- can keep you as well as others engaged and happy, courtesy a ripple effect. 

Check out our blog on the importance of kindness in the workplace.

4. Extend Access to Mental Wellness Professionals

Offer opportunities where your employees can discuss their personal wellbeing confidentially, whether that be a virtual discussion forum or a hotline number for counselling. You can also invite healthcare professionals to conduct awareness seminars and coach employees with psychological issues. Connect with us to understand how an employee engagement software can assist your wellness strategies!

5. Conduct Team-Building Activities and Contests

Get creative with your team events by turning them into an engaging mental health awareness activity. You can conduct an org-wide contest with the hashtag #MentalHealthMatters where employees can post facts, inspirational quotes, or self-help tips over the R&R platform’s social wall.

The most helpful and insightful entries can be awarded with a relevant reward or recognition along with a mention on the leaderboard as a proverbial “pat on the back”!

6. Physical Activity is Key!

Consider arranging physical activities as part of the overall employee engagement program. Some interesting ideas include meditation, yoga, sports, karate sessions, and adventurous activities. Research has proven that being physically fit plays a major role in streamlining mental health, so spur the employee experience in your organization by planning a tasteful mix of physical and virtual activities!

Employee Wellness is the Stepping Stone to Business Success!

According to the WHO, “Workplaces that promote mental health and support people with mental disorders are more likely to reduce absenteeism, increase productivity, and benefit from associated economic gains.” Thus, when mental health awareness is brought into the spotlight with lighthearted yet impactful strategies, it can have a profound impact on your workforce.

Reach out today to understand how our novel employee engagement platform can contribute to the mental wellbeing of your employees!

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Organizational Culture

5 HR Trends that will Define the Work Culture in 2023

work-culture-trends

In the last couple of years, workplaces have witnessed a plethora of challenges ranging from economic volatility, the Great Resignation, employee moonlighting, the shift to remote work, and global upheavals. HR leaders rose up to the forefront during these disruptive times, and learned on the fly as they mitigated unanticipated tribulations.

As we step into a brand-new year, HR will continue to play a key role as organizations navigate through change and figure out their risk management strategies. Trends such as flexible working, diversity and inclusion (D&I), and employee wellness will assuredly reverberate in the next year as well, now with an evolved, enhanced, and fine-tuned outlook.

What to Expect in 2023?

2022 was mostly wrought with crisis management, steadfast solutions, and temporary fixes in order to keep the organizational engine running amidst uncertain circumstances. Employee expectations also underwent a radical shift, with amass workers demanding a better work-life balance, leadership buy-in, and a shared purpose to thrive at the workplace. The contingency? Employers across the globe fixated on the gamut of employee engagement post-haste to avoid a long-term rise in attrition.

With the new year upon us, it is time to drill-down and expand on the employee-centric elements such as rewards and recognition, company awards, engagement activities, and collaboration tools, with the intention of perfecting a people-first work culture. This blog highlights the top five HR trends expected to shape the workplace in 2023.  

1. 2023: The Year of Employee Experience

A Gartner survey of HR leaders found that 47% cite employee experience (EX) as a top priority for 2023. EX has emerged as a salient indicator of the workforce’s happiness quotient and satisfaction levels, due to which it is expected to be one of the most sought-after HR trends going forward. In essence, it is the sum of all the touchpoints throughout the employee lifecycle at a particular firm.

Thus, HR will need to take a granular look at all of the interactions experienced by their workforce, ranging from recruitment and onboarding to retention and exit; and devise a strategic employee engagement program for the same.

Read more about how the employee experience can be enhanced throughout the employee journey.

2. Humanizing Work Relationships

Employee as well as employer expectations have been undergoing a dynamic shift, courtesy the evolving nature of the professional environment. As an integral part of this, the roles and responsibilities of leadership have also become increasingly complex; the transactional manager-employee relationship is no longer suffice enough to keep up with the transformative work culture.

Thus, a much-needed trend of “humanizing” work relationships is expected to gain traction in 2023, where leaders would be more authentic, approachable, and empathetic in their demeanor.

To accomplish this feat, HR will be focusing on deploying digital collaboration tools and employee engagement software that can help managers strengthen their team bonding in a hybrid workplace. Features such as instant employee recognition, automated award nominations, 360-degree performance feedback, social wall, team events, and virtual discussion forums can come in handy to forge deeper connections between all the stakeholders.

3. The Evolving Role of the CHRO

2023 brings in a ray of hope and ambition across the Indian HR fraternity, as the role of the CHRO has finally gained recognition as a crucial business leader indispensable to organizational success. CHROs are now seen as stewards that drive the EX and facilitate employee retention through innovative solutions such as digital transformation of R&R.

Connect with us to understand the capabilities of our digital R&R platform in supporting today’s CHROs!

4. Scalability and Modularity in HR Software

Cloud-based SaaS solutions for streamlining HR processes have been witnessing a steep curve of growth in the last few years. The ability of such software to integrate with on-premise systems such as HRMS, HRIS, and CRM, optimize HR workflows through automation, and reduce administrative overheads is what makes such technologies an advantageous venture.  

An increasing number of organizations have adopted digital platforms for seamless HR functioning, especially amid the advent of flexible working and the diversification of workforce to include on-roll, off-roll, and contract workers. Now that the socio-economic and geopolitical factors have come to a rest, it’s time to upgrade and enhance the capabilities of these solutions. For instance, a digital R&R platform would now be assessed based on its’ scalability, modularity, and ability to adapt to a firm’s unique needs, apart from the basic R&R technology. In 2023, the demand for innovation and customization will continue to rise, and HR practitioners will be more aware and particular about their requirements as their familiarity with digital tools improves over time.

5. Employee Visibility

The hybrid working model is here to stay, and while it incurs a myriad of benefits from the financial and administrative standpoints, it also poses significant challenges in the form of measurement and tracking of employee performance. This is where visibility and transparency come into play, as blanket solutions for employee engagement and performance assessment can no longer be deemed effective. Instead, a centralized platform that is easily accessible to everyone, is equipped with digital performance feedback tools, facilitates instantaneous employee recognition, and enables seamless rewards delivery is the way to go!

Visibility is also extremely important in achieving D&I goals. Read about the best practices for fostering diversity and inclusion at the workplace.

Work Culture Trends for 2023

Emphasizing the ‘Human’ in Human Resources

2023 is HR’s window of opportunity to revolutionize the function’s value proposition and guide organizations through the dynamic and fast-paced employee-employer markets. Use the top trends mentioned in this article to articulate your unique EX strategy comprising of adequate tools and technology to support your R&R needs.

Gratifi’s R&R platform is equipped with cutting-edge scalability, modularity, and flexibility. Its’ functionalities help HR make data-driven decisions and leverage the power of recognition to build winning work cultures. Learn more about Gratifi and get in touch with our team to experience the platform in action!

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Rewards and Recognition

4 Rewards and Recognition Ideas to Boost Employee Engagement over the Holiday Season

rewards-and-recognition

With the holiday season upon us, HR professionals across the globe are busy ideating their business goals for a brand new year and reflecting on their efforts over the past year. This encompasses various crucial people-centric elements of their organizations, including employee engagement, total rewards, and the overall employee experience. While this is rudimentary for organizational development, there is another responsibility on the HR’s plate- ensuring productivity and boosting morale over the holiday season.

A sure-fire way to keep your employees engaged during this phase is to deploy an intricately-designed R&R program. This blog discusses 4 ways in which HR can uplift the emotional quotient using a tasteful mix of holiday-themed R&R strategies!

Importance of Employee Recognition during the Holiday Season

Recognizing good work and appreciating your employees’ contributions should be a year-round activity, but its’ significance considerably ascends during the holiday season. It is worth mentioning that the last quarter of the year offers a golden opportunity for employers to end the year on a note of gratitude, motivation, and optimism.

One of the most important reasons why employee engagement should not be sidelined is because, the holidays are not the same for everyone. Personal situations, familial dependencies, and emotional upheavals are just a few of the factors that contribute to mixed feelings and disruptive idiosyncrasies among your employees. Hence, using R&R to bring a diverse workforce together and celebrate their achievements is the best way to make them feel included, secure, and cared for. 

While employee appreciation may not be a permanent fix for organizational and personal discrepancies, it certainly makes a profound difference! As Gallup research states, “Recognition for good work releases dopamine in the brain, which creates feelings of pride and pleasure.”

Holiday-Themed Rewards and Recognition Ideas

Now that we’ve covered why employee recognition during the holidays is impactful, let’s take a look at a few creative R&R ideas that can up the ante for your year-end employee engagement strategy. 

1. Host a Year-End Awards Ceremony

Awards are the best way to spruce up the holiday spirit and give the office atmosphere a flair. Organize an awards ceremony and consider including some light-hearted, fun-filled awards instead of the conventional dyed-in-the-wool titles. For instance, you can create awards such as “The Office DJ” for a music buff, “Energy Drink Award” for the most energetic team member, “Mission Impossible Award” for a colleague who achieved a phenomenal target, or “Foodie of the Year” for someone who is always snacking.

You can leverage the digital award nomination module of an R&R platform to streamline and fast-track the process for seamless awards delivery on the big day. Connect with us to explore our platform’s robust award nominations feature!

2. Conduct an Employee Appreciation Drive

“Appreciation can make a day, even change a life.”

Professing appreciation towards your colleagues may sound like an insignificant gesture, but it goes a long way in instilling a sense of belonging, pride, and purpose in one’s life. In the spirit of the new year, how about shining a spotlight on one new employee per day by recognizing them for a key skill or achievement?

Even better, you can conduct an org-wide employee appreciation drive through an R&R platform, where employees can recognize and reward their teammates on-the-go with the click of a button. Also, don’t forget to award the employees who give and receive the maximum number of recognitions!

3. Decorate to Celebrate!

If your employees are working from the office, why not leverage the physical space for a fun, collaborative activity? Consider conducting a decoration contest in which teams can deck up their respective locations, in groups or individually. They can also bring life to their own holiday traditions through their decorations and add their own touch to it. Teams can click pictures of their set-up and post them over the organization’s R&R platform with a relevant hashtag, as a virtual contest. The post that gets the maximum number of likes and comments wins!

Suffice to say, hoisting a Christmas tree coupled with other delightful trinkets and baubles can transform the office environment and drum up the excitement for the holidays!

4. Volunteer as a Team

Building a company culture of volunteerism pays valuable dividends in the form of employee morale and brand perception, according to a Deloitte study. Since the holidays are all about gratitude, generosity, and togetherness, why not make the most of this spirit by giving back to the community as a team?

You can administer a survey through an employee engagement platform to gauge your workforce’s preferences regarding CSR activities and decide upon a worthwhile cause that would appeal to everyone. 

Happy Holidays, Indeed!

Use the above ideas to design your own, unique R&R program for an illustrious welcome into a fresh new year. Wondering how a digital R&R platform can help streamline these activities and reduce the manual HR effort? Schedule a demo of our cutting-edge solution to explore our digital employee recognition and employee engagement tools today!

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Employee Engagement

3 Employee Engagement Strategies to Tackle Burnout amongst Employees

Employee experiencing burnout

Employee burnout levels have been alarmingly on the rise for the last few years. However, with the unforeseen challenges brought about by the pandemic, it has become the biggest challenge employers have to tackle today. With remote working teams and minimal inter-team interaction, employees are going through a socially and emotionally taxing time. Consider these statistics from Gallup- Employees who experience high levels of burnout are 63% more likely to take a sick day, 13% less confident in their performance and are 2.6 times more likely to be actively seeking a new job. Moreover, a Microsoft study declared Indian employees the second-most burned out in Asia, with one-third of Indian workers facing increased burnout.

What exactly constitutes burnout at the workplace? According to experts, burnout is characterized by lack of energy, sense of distancing from one’s job, apathy, lack of ownership and a sense of futility, often leading to reduced job efficacy. Given the current working environment, employers need to find new ways to prevent burnout from occurring. This blog talks about a 3-step strategy to help wrestle burnout using digital engagement tools:

Preventing Burnout through Recognition

Setting up a healthy culture of appreciation and instilling a sense of community is a must to prevent burnout from occurring in the first place. The right employee engagement software can help managers and peers recognize each other for their day-to-day contributions, via voice, video or text, making the appreciation feel memorable. Rewards and recognition for teams can be instrumental in promoting bonding as well as teamwork. Physical gifts can also be sent to employees’ homes, thus acknowledging their importance to the organization during these trying times.

Assessing Burnout through Pulse Surveys

Burnout is a gradual process and is difficult to track unless it results in drastic consequences like absenteeism, ill-health, attrition, or sustained underperformance. Thus, it is important to put metrics in place which will caution teams against unhealthy practices like unrealistic targets, lack of training and undue criticism. These can then be structured in confidential online surveys to get a pulse of the organization. Installing a simple mood-o-meter for when employees log into their work apps can also give critical insight into the employee journey; angry, numb or sad moods can point to a potentially burned out employee.

Curing Burnout through Cultural Leadership

Mitigating the effects of burnout can be a gradual process involving a complete shift in focus on a cultural level. Organizations need their employees to feel like their well-being matters. Providing virtual counselling sessions, wellness events as well as rewards for keeping fit can be a good start. Features such as on-demand digital content delivery on wellness tips also reminds employees to maintain a work-life balance. On a team level, leadership coaching can be facilitated through an employee engagement platform to help managers lead with empathy. In fact, leaders and managers should set the right example by prioritizing their own well-being and turning empathy inward first. A burned-out leader can only produce burned out teams.

According to Forbes, employee burnout is a leading cause of attrition, and can wreak havoc on workplace culture. Having the right mix of leadership training, appreciation, employee listening and wellness practices can help re-orient business focus to be more employee-friendly, which is the need of the hour.

Looking to instill a people-first work culture in your organization? Get a free demo of our employee appreciation software today!

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Employee Engagement Software

5 things to look for in your Employee Engagement Software in 2023

employee-engagement

The HR technology space looks more exciting than ever more organizations undergoing ‘virtual digital transformations’ and recognizing the potential of SaaS solutions to empower HR processes. The recent focus on positive employee experience as a prerequisite for attracting and retaining talent is well-founded and, when combined with people-centric leadership, is a force to reckon with. However, most HR leaders are still grappling with getting the right technology for their organizations- one that fits their culture and is adopted by employees extensively. Statistics from Forrester show that 54% of HR folks globally are dissatisfied with their current Human Capital Management suite, including employee engagement softwares. While the pandemic has clearly highlighted the need for digital tools to ensure business resilience, the focus must now shift to building sustainable partnerships with technology providers in order to ensure a happy and engaged workforce in the long-term. Below are 5 things that you should keep in mind while selecting your total rewards software in 2023.

1. Innovation

Artificial intelligence is beginning to play an increasingly important role in modern employee R&R softwares in the form of intuitive workflows, predictive analytics and hyper-personalized experiences for employees. For example, an admin can receive alerts in case of low platform usage or attrition risk, thus resulting in immediate action and a quick feedback loop. Having a provider that is technically adept to keep up with the changing workforce algorithms gives a firm a significant competitive advantage.

2. Communication

Communication is the single biggest function that has undergone the maximum transformation in 2023, thus putting pressure on business tools and applications to humanize and enable better collaboration. Features like audio-visual recognition, interactive digital walls and virtual events are crucial to engage a remote workforce and increase the adoption of your R&R platform.

3. Behavioral Insights

Employee listening is another big theme when it comes to creating a future-ready workplace. Engagement technology now enables employers to understand employee sentiment based on data gathered from sources outside of pure formal surveys and polls, such as a mood-o-meter. With a robust collaboration feature, information sharing patterns can also be analysed and acted upon appropriately.

4. Usability

Employee recognition platforms that are easy to access and use will see higher adoption with young and senior executives alike. Features like a user-friendly mobile application, gamification and easy integration with other internal applications will help the software blend into an employee’s regular working day.

5. Flexibility

Perhaps the most important of all, your total rewards platform should have the capability to change with your organization, be it to accommodate workforce changes or new features. Look for technology that can be tailor-made to your organization’s requirements, instead of having a wide gamut of features that no one will use. A vendor with a good track record, clear roadmap and consistent post-launch support can help create a truly effective employee engagement program. COVID-19 has resulted in a series of ongoing shifts in the global market as well as internal workplace dynamics. This requires organizations to work with employee appreciation software tools that are dynamic and can evolve quickly to meet new demands. Additionally, the move towards ease of use and personalization needs to continue in the form of on-the-go recognition moments, curated rewards/experiences and quick, ongoing performance feedback between managers and employees. Performance data can now be linked to rewards disbursal, resulting in a fair, transparent, merit-driven culture for employees. In other words, the right employee engagement software can help your organization attract, develop and retain talent in a measurable way, while creating an employee-centric work culture in 2023.

Boost your employer brand and stay ahead of the curve. Get a detailed walkthrough of our cutting-edge employee engagement solution today.

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Corporate Gifting

Employee Gifting 101: 5 Benefits of a Corporate Gifting Platform

corporate-gifting-platform

Gifts have been a way of expressing love, respect, and care since the beginning of time. The tradition of exchanging gifts among families and loved ones is a widely popular practice, mostly due to the feel-good element that comes with it. Similarly, within the workspace, corporate gifting essentially entails an emotional quotient that helps forge deeper connections with employees. It is certainly one of the most effective employee engagement strategies used by organizations across the globe to build brand awareness and foster brand loyalty.

In recent years, the gamut of corporate gifting has undergone a tremendous change, with many organizations adopting a corporate gifting platform to digitize their manual R&R processes. Beyond the apparent advantages such as ease-of-use and reduced manual overheads, we have enlisted some additional benefits offered by a digital solution in this blog. Read on to know more!

Automation

Automation is the ability to choose, customize, pack, ship, and track your gifts with reduced manual interference. The best corporate gifting platforms allow organizations to send occasion-specific gifts in bulk to amass employees, or even curate personalized campaigns for employee-specific gifting. Seamless integration with HRMS, ERP, and other in-house systems further eases the process, including automation of time-intensive factors such as shipping and tracking.

Scalability

Scalability is a paramount characteristic of corporate gifting platforms, as it allows a wide range of organizations, from SMEs to MNCs, to leverage the power of digitization. Thus, regardless of the growing volume or size of your business, a digital gifting solution is equipped to function congruously, in line with your dynamic requirements.

Personalization

As professionals, we spend a considerable amount of time with our colleagues, employers, business partners, and other stakeholders. It’s only natural to show them that their presence and contributions are valued and appreciated. The key to a long-lasting impact with a corporate gift is to make it personal- for instance, a simple logo imprint can transform a gift into a meaningful, engaging, and responsive experience.

There are several other ways of adding a dash of personalization, and this is where a digital corporate gifting solution really shines! Robust integrations and behavioral analytics can help devise a thoughtful gifting strategy based on individual preferences and buying patterns.

Read our blog on how digital corporate gifting solutions can help boost the employee experience for further insights!

Gifting Catalog

Sociology and behavioral psychology dictates that the significance of a thing is lost when you are overly familiar with it and if it is ubiquitous or mundane in nature. Likewise, organizations that resort to the customary chocolate boxes and sweets for every occasion have hit the deadpan with their employee engagement initiatives.

To be precise, the success of your corporate gifting strategy depends on how diverse, extensive, and unique your catalog is. Adopting a digital solution is one of the best ways to ensure that your corporate gifts never go out of style, as such platforms give you access to a comprehensive catalog that includes every perceivable gift- ranging from physical products, digital vouchers, gift cards, and experiential rewards.

Logistics and Reporting

A gift’s true value can be realized if you are able to view and measure its’ impact on the recipient. With a corporate gifting platform, you can ensure last-mile delivery and real-time tracking of gifts, courtesy the vendor’s robust logistics network. Furthermore, reports on gifts redeemed, delivered, and ordered can be generated with ease, that can help parse data and understand your employees’ preferences and needs.

Digitize the Art of Gifting with Gratifi!

The bottom line is clear- corporate gifting platforms are the enablers between an organization and its’ stakeholders as they help augment the employee experience through the art of gifting. It is worth mentioning that personalized corporate gifts also contribute to a more positive work culture brimming with happy, loyal, and engaged employees.

Gratifi gives you access to a global catalog of over 15000+ products across 500+ brands in 20+ categories with the option of onboarding specific vendors of your choice. Connect with us today to experience our corporate gifting module in action and explore the endless possibilities offered by digitization!