Gift Cards Motivate Skills Building

Skills building is an attractive element of today’s workforce for employees and employers alike. According to a 2023 Mercer Skills Snapshot Survey, roughly two out of three employers report integrating skills in career development, talent acquisition and performance management.

While training can be viewed as a reward itself for today’s skills building-hungry workforce, many companies also use incentives to entice their workers to complete training. In a 2023 survey by Training magazine, a sister entity of Sales & Marketing Management, more than half (51%) of respondents stated they use incentives to reward workers who complete training.

Forty-seven percent said they use incentives to reward workers who achieve certification, 23% offer incentives in gamified training competitions, and nearly 13% reward workers who take elective training courses. (Respondents could check off as many statements that apply.)

Gift cards were the most common category of awards in the study, used by 60% of all respondents. A non-cash award with public recognition is used by 44% of respondents, and 42% said they use branded merchandise.

Of those who use gift cards, 47% stated the value of each reward is between $25 and $50. Thirty percent use gift cards valued between $5 and $24. — Paul Nolan

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