Jon Stevens joined Incentivesmart in December 2020 as Head of Operations. He's certainly no stranger to the industry... 20 years on and he's still loving it! 

As Head of Operations, Jon is the go-to man for all things (you guessed it!) operational. From managing existing supplier relationships and onboarding new ones, managing the Operations team, enhancing our catalogue offering, owning certification projects, (just to name but a few things!) Jon is already proving to be an amazing addition to the Incentivesmart family.

A rugby fanatic, a keen traveller and of course, an incredible leader, we're excited to have Jon join our team!

The simple answer is YES!

39% of employees rate respect and fairness as the most critical attribute of a strong company culture. Companies that practice fairness in the workplace experience higher levels of employee retention, engagement, and performance. When impartial and honest feedback is amongst the core functions in an organisation's culture, employees are far more likely to be engaged and motivated to help the business achieve its goals.

Your company's core values will play a huge role in determining its long-term success. They'll have a hand in your organisation's vision for the future, marketing strategy, its product and service development, investments, and the kind of people you bring on board to join your team.

When embarking on improving the culture of your business, one of the first places to start is with defining your core values. However, your work doesn’t end there.

According to research conducted by TAB, 86% of organisations surveyed believe that company culture helps their productivity – and with good reason. Environments that support collaboration, communication, creativity, and work-life balance tend to attract and retain the best employees.

For businesses that want to create successful workplace cultures, a reward and recognition programme is an indispensable tool. According to Deloitte, companies that reward and recognise positive behaviours have a 14% higher productivity and performance output compared to organisations that don't.

As with any initiative to get the desired behavioural outcomes from your employees, it's important to clearly identify the problems your organisation is facing and tailor your approach to targeting those issues.

Introducing a reward and recognition platform into your organisation is an exciting time – a smart step towards better employee experiences and improved engagement. 

Traditionally, human resource departments would handle the administrative operational functions of a business. In response to the changing demands of businesses and employees, however, HR now has a more strategic role in shaping the workforce of a company, managing conflict, encouraging high performance, job satisfaction and boosting retention.

Whether remote working has been long established in your company, or you're suddenly embracing this model to ensure that your team remains productive in the current climate, many positives can emerge from this initiative – for businesses and employees. 

Since no one really knows how long the lockdown will continue, or what the transition back into a normal working day will look like, it's a good idea to explore the benefits of remote working and keep employees engaged for the duration.

Has your company made a sharp swerve into the remote working lane? Many organisations have undergone an almost overnight transformation to enable employees to work from home – an essential business survival tactic in the current climate.

Remote working isn't a new concept. In 2015, 4.2 million people in the UK were already regularly working from home. Many companies have adopted (or were considering) this model long before recent events. However, if the current global situation has preempted the transition into remote working for your business, you may be tackling some novel challenges. 

We all know those who are satisfied with their jobs report being happier overall, however, the benefits of being a satisfied employee may extend even further than previously thought

Employee satisfaction means lower staff turnover and increased productivity, sure, but recent studies suggest that, for those that love what they do, it even has long-term health benefits. Workplace satisfaction speaks into concentration, focus, physical and mental health, and the ability to manage personal finances and relationships outside of work.

The second of our two-part series that highlights how gamification can be an opportunity for boosting employee engagement. Jen Norton shares with us a check-list to support your employee engagement journey.

Ah, that perennial ‘employee engagement challenge’ that continues to confound HR and internal communication teams around the world. Jen Norton believes that gamification is part of the solution. Here are her suggestions on implementation for increased engagement

Rich White writes on how to leverage your profit and growth through customer loyalty

Let’s demystify a common bit of management jargon right out the blocks – starting with ‘Service Profit Chain’. It’s about how the value that your business ultimately provides is actually driven by your employee’s satisfaction, loyalty and productivity. In the search to reach the maximum customer satisfaction you should turn your thoughts to how you engage with your employees.

There’s a reason you get up, go to work and work hard, right?

Everyone’s reasons and motivation for going to work will vary to some degree. Yes, it would be fair to say regardless of job or profession most people’s motivation to work is underlined by financial circumstance, the basic need to provide shelter, food and of course Wi-Fi for themselves or their family.

The festive period almost seems like a blurry and distant memory but now we are all propelled forward into the new working year feeling refreshed and exuberant.

It can be difficult bringing in the new year with the expectation of starting something new and we understand that even just thinking of a resolution can seem pretty daunting.

Social media platforms used for engagement, such as Twitter and Snapchat aren’t for everyone. But one quick dip into the sea of celebrity and influencers can show you just how good these people (or their social media managers) are at marketing.

We all know what it feels like to be recognised for achieving.

It’s great to be praised and rewarded for a job well done. But we also know how important it is to be recognised in good time. Leave it a little too long, and we feel ignored, like the work we’ve done has just swept away in the masses, and in worse cases it can lead to a disgruntled work-force.

In life, we know to follow the Golden Rule “Do as you would be done by”; simply put ‘treat others as you would want to be treated’. But internally in business this is far too often forgotten.

All companies have guidelines and best practices for how their customers should be treated. Repeat custom and loyalty is so important to a thriving and successful, long standing business, but many companies don’t catch onto the fact that these same best practices should be extended to staff, and that the type of service staff provide to each other will be directly reflected in the way external service is provided.