When it comes to employee satisfaction in the UK, the stats don’t exactly paint a rosy picture.
According to a survey by ADP, 47% of UK employees expect to change jobs within the next three years, compared to just 34% on the rest of the continent.
In fact, the UK has the lowest number of devoted staff in Europe, with only 17% wishing to spend their entire working lives in their current jobs.
Another recent study suggests that 30% of companies lose 15% of their millennial workforce within just one year of employing them.
No more than 50% of companies participating in the study were able to confidently say that they were able to measure employee satisfaction against the overall performance of the business.
According to research from Harvard Business school, 75% of business leaders believe that employee engagement is poor within their own organizations.
But few of them understand how to tackle the problem. Current popular incentives – such as selecting employees of the month or running awards programs – are seen as quick fixes to keep employees motivated.
But a separate study from Harvard Business School seemed to suggest that that these types incentive can actually be disruptive, demotivating the employees that don’t win awards.
Clearly, things need to change – and that’s where promotions companies come in.
“75% of business leaders believe that employee engagement is poor within their own organizations”
An expert promotions company can assess your business and employee needs to deliver meaningful and engaging incentive campaigns, motivating workforces and directly improving overall performance.
With in-depth insights in running both employee and customer-facing promotional campaigns, a company can design tailored corporate rewards programs that guarantee healthy results.
For example, Opia, a risk-managed promotion company, is working with ODEON to offer businesses and their employees Limitless vouchers, which mean you can see an unlimited amount of films with ODEON, with hardly any restrictions.
Our studies have proven this to be an effective tool in improving employee relations and fostering more friendly commercial relationships.
“An expert promotions company can design tailored corporate rewards programs that guarantee healthy results”
Another of our tried and tested methods is giving businesses the opportunity to buy vouchers and rewards in bulk, which reduces costs considerably, shaving up to 38% off purchase prices, allowing for generosity when handing out, say, events tickets to reward targets being met, or vouchers to celebrate people’s birthdays.
A good promotions company will also be able to guide you through the use of e-vouchers, which removes the HR hassle of time-consuming administration traditionally associated with printed vouchers.
In fact all the other pain-points and obstacles have been removed from rewards and discounts, with fulfilment of gift cards, for instance, taken care of by Opia’s partnership with highly-specialized companies with long experience.
But all this begs the question – how do you, the business owner, benefit?
Well, apart from the positive effects on morale, which generally make your days a little more pleasant, the financial returns are significant.
Studies have shown corporate gifts and rewards really work as motivational tools.
They put the spotlight on excellence, lift the spirits of recipients, and are highly persuasive, improving important relationships right across the business, increasing the likelihood that your employees will do their best and keep working for you – thereby reducing the financial costs of new hires, and preventing your people’s skills from going elsewhere.
By Andy Stone, Account Director, Opia