According to research, corporate social responsibility and aligning with the organisational purpose as well as supporting local initiatives are important considerations for R&I. Over the last 12 months, 80% of organizations have made changes to their reward and incentives initiatives. Support for local businesses is important to 89%
According to a new study, organisations continue to adapt their reward and incentive programs to meet changing employee needs and organisational requirements as well as changing working practices.
Miconex conducted a research study in August 2024 with more than 4000 organisations and their employees. 80% said that they had changed something about their incentive and reward initiatives within the last 12 months. This was prompted by changes to employee needs (62%), working practices (22%), and organisational needs (16%).
94% of respondents said that their rewards and incentive programs aligned with the organisation’s purpose and values. Supporting local businesses/their communities was important to 89% of respondents and 84% stated that corporate social responsibility had become more important for their organization over the last 12 months.
Reasons for supporting local given by organisations in the research included that it enabled them to take an active role in the success of their community (20%) and because it was important to their staff/customers/clients (30%). Participants in qualitative research discussed how local support positively affected their perception of their organization, creating a “halo effect”.
Qualitative research conducted with organizations revealed that employees are looking for rewards that will be ‘genuinely useful’. This includes rewards that can actually be used. 89% of organizations said that giving employees a choice in rewards and incentives is important.
Gift cards are the most common reward/incentive used by 77% of organizations. 39% of organisations offer incentives and rewards at Christmas. 35% do so all year long and 18% are offered at the end the tax year. Most organisations (70%) offer rewards that are expected by their staff. 66% of the organisations surveyed said they expect their R&I budgets to increase by 2025.
Miconex is the founder of Town & City Gift Cards, which operates in more than 100 UK and Irish cities. The cards are available for national brands as well as independent businesses within certain towns and cities. This allows the spend to be restricted to local areas. Organisations such as Ocado Retail Hub Ltd, allpay Ltd Shell, and Robert Gordon University use the cards to reward their employees.
Miconex’s new technology, introduced in October 2024, allows organisations to send multiple digital Town & City gift cards online at the same time to different recipients. This can be done immediately or later.
Colin Munro said: “ While down from 100% of organizations who changed an aspect of their reward-and-incentive initiatives in 2023. Our 2024 research shows that organisations still tweak their R&I initiative, with local support and CSR playing a major role. We are seeing an increasing trend in organisations moving to local gift cards. This allows them to demonstrate their values and beliefs.
“More and more large organisations are looking for rewards that can be used by all employees regardless of where they live. This often leads them to gift cards from Amazon or a single retailer. Our new digital technology has been introduced to help organisations support local businesses, even if they have dispersed employees.
Employees also value the ability to choose. Town & City Gift Cards combine independent and big-brand businesses to give employees a wide range of local choices and support local businesses.
The original version of this article 84% say that CSR is more important than ever in the last 12 months appeared first on Human Resources News.
