Affordable and inclusive ways to harness the power of employee appreciation

How did you celebrate Employee Appreciation Day?

At Pluxee UK, it was all about sustenance! They do say the way to a heart is via the stomach, after all. We delivered an eVoucher to all our Pluxeers in the morning for them to spend on coffee, lunch or treats with either Costa, Caffè Nero, Aldi, Asda, Sainsbury’s, M&S, John Lewis, Morrisons, Tesco or Deliveroo.

Catering to all preferences and giving such a wide variety of choices ensured that our people could select their nearest or favourite franchise. An inclusive approach like this means everyone can take advantage, even those who prefer to have their lunch come to them!

Why is employee appreciation so powerful?

We’ve referred to the power of appreciation in the title of this blog, and make no mistake – it really is powerful.

66% of employees say they would quit their jobs if they felt unappreciated.

Appreciation boosts employee engagement and increases employee motivation. Engaged employees remain a business essential, and companies with an engaged workforce deliver 147% more earnings per share than their competitors. 84% of HR leaders agree that embedding an employee reward and recognition strategy into your business boosts employee engagement, improves retention rates and helps attract talent. 

Enhancing employee appreciation with an affordable and inclusive reward and recognition strategy = higher employee engagement, motivation, and retention.

When a manager or employer expresses appreciation, employees feel valued, like their efforts haven’t gone unnoticed, and these all have a positive emotional and psychological impact. So, too, does a lack of appreciation.

As positive as an employee feels when appreciation is shown, when it’s lacking or withheld, there can be an equally negative response.

Have you heard of ‘rage applying’? It has its own TikTok hashtag! Unlike quiet quitting, when employees disengage and ‘check out’ for long periods before considering resigning, rage applying is an in-the-moment, knee-jerk reaction to anger-inducing situations in the workplace.

Employees who consistently feel unappreciated, undervalued, or overlooked are at a higher risk of quiet quitting and rage applying, both of which negatively impact a business.

A little employee appreciation goes a long way…

Affordable and inclusive reward and recognition programmes

Having established the importance of embedding employee appreciation into your company culture, let’s explore affordable and inclusive ways to enhance your employee rewards and recognition strategy.  

Rewarding employees requires a financial investment, but rewards don’t always need to be financial. We discuss the benefits of non-financial employee rewards here, but we’ll list a few examples to get you thinking…

• Extra time off
• Training and development
• Career advancement

Expressing employee appreciation by making life more joyful!

The cost of doing business is high, and the cost-of-living crisis is still in the headlines, making affordability and sustainability essential ingredients of your employee reward and recognition strategy.

Whether you reward and celebrate work anniversaries, career milestones, birthdays, high performance, or all these instances, you likely have a budget for employee rewards and gifts.

Is your budget working as hard as it needs to?

Making employee rewards sustainable

Buying eVoucher Codes for specific retailers in bulk can earn you an upfront discount, and with Pluxee UK eVoucher Cheques, we’ll only invoice you for the vouchers your employees redeem.

You want your employees to use their rewards – that’s how they feel the lasting impact of your appreciation. Yet, experience tells us that, for various reasons – some as simple and common as forgetfulness – some employees won’t activate or redeem their reward. We don’t believe you should pay for a voucher that hasn’t been ‘cashed in’, which is why we won’t bill you for them.

Our fair and transparent billing policy = your employee rewards budget stretched further!

The affordability conversation spans beyond business budgets. When employee rewards help make life more affordable, you’re taking significant steps to enhance financial wellbeing in your workplace, boosting your employee appreciation efforts.

Your employees can redeem our eVoucher Codes and eVoucher Cheques with over 150 high street and high-end brands and retailers, giving your people the power of choice. Your reward can go towards a birthday gift, a meal out, a day trip, or even the weekly shop – whatever matters most to the people you’re supporting and thanking.

With this theme in mind, it’s a fantastic opportunity to turn our attention to our Pluxee Card. One of our most versatile solutions on offer, our cashback-earning card, powered by Visa, works as an employee benefit, reward, and incentive.

Making your employee appreciation strategy go beyond the initial thank you!

Instead of gifting an eVoucher, you can load cash onto an employee’s Pluxee Card, and they can then use those funds to buy goods online or in-store wherever Visa prepaid is accepted. The main advantage of rewarding employees via their Pluxee Card is that they can earn cashback when they use it to purchase goods with one of our over 80 participating retailers.

When employees earn cashback on top of your reward, it increases the value of your gift, making even more of an impact on your people.

Once they have their card, which is also available as a virtual-only offering, your employees can add their own money to their account, increasing their cashback-earning potential and stretching their money and yours even further.

Unleash the power of an inclusive culture!

With over 150 retailers to spend their eVouchers with and a cashback-earning card, they can use wherever Visa prepaid is accepted, inclusiveness is at the heart of our employee rewards solutions.

There’s something for everyone, ensuring employees feel your appreciation and understand that you recognise and value their uniqueness.

It’s clear expressing employee appreciation every day of the year is essential, but Employee Appreciation Day is an additional opportunity to make your people feel extra special. Download our Employee Benefits and Wellbeing Strategy Guide for more information on how to build an inclusive reward and recognition strategy.

Ready to embed affordable and inclusive employee rewards into your business?

Whether eVouchers are your reward of choice or you’d like to explore what our cashback-earning Pluxee Card can do for your people and business, our employee engagement consultants will be happy to help. They take the time to understand your business needs and explore the best solutions to achieve your goals. Request a call today!