Incentive - August 2008 - (Page 44) $250 to each of its 7,200 employees—in all, a whopping $1 million—to ease commuting costs. Amounts are based not only on employees’ commuting distances, but also on tenure and performance assessments. Interestingly, some firms that are part of the motivation and incentive industry, and that regularly dole out rewards to employees, are getting unusually strong reactions to gascard programs. “The team was a bit shocked to get gas cards from management, and we received “It makes the other employees want to get them as well.” Along with each card, Murray gives what she calls a “silly homemade trophy” for office display, so that all employees are reminded throughout the month that such an award is available. “Personalized trophies mean a lot more, even though they have minimal cost, and they stay on people’s desks for months,” she adds. “It becomes a contest as to who will get one next.” Creativity has crept into companies’ offers in other forms as well: Some firms now will percent of firms raised mileage reimbursement rates for company sales representatives, up from 13 percent a year ago. Beyond Cash Many more companies, however, cannot afford a gas-card or gas-rebate program, not to mention straight salary increases, the effects of which are negated significantly by taxation. Fortunately, there are a host of other options. In fact, another survey of human resources personnel, this one conducted by Challenger in late May, found that 57 percent of employers do offer some other workplace program to ease commuting costs. Twenty percent said they organize employee carpools (sometimes offering incentives to boost frequency of use), while 18 percent subsidize the cost of public transportation through pre-tax payment plans, agreements with transportation providers, or some other means. But it’s the first and fourth most-used solutions cited by respondents that show the fundamental changes that high fuel prices are bringing to many organizations—solutions that may well result in improved productivity, morale and loyalty. The first: a condensed workweek comprising four 10-hour days, cited by 23 percent of HR personnel. The other: increased telecommuting offerings, cited by 14 percent. There is some work involved with setting up such situations, however. Companies offering formal or informal programs for alternate work schedules or flexible start and end times to the workday will find that “they must confront cultural issues, which take work/life and change management expertise,” says Kathie Lingle, executive director of the Alliance for Work-Life Progress at WorldatWork, an HR/employee-rewards association. “But it requires nothing more than instilling a good management style” that sends clear expectations of what tasks will be done, by whom, and when—and how often communications between employee and manager must take place. “These programs can become part of the employee value proposition, just like a company’s commitment to other aspects of the employment experience,” says Laura Sejen, global practice director for strategic rewards at consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide. Send comments to feedback@incentivemag.com “This gesture was appreciated so much because it was needed.”—Jaki Baskow, Baskow & Associates thank-you letters from several team members,” says Jaki Baskow, president of eventsand destination-management firm Baskow & Associates in Las Vegas. “It became clear that this gesture was appreciated so much because it was needed.” And at Educorp Training & Consulting in Irving, Texas, a new monthly gas-card awards program for extra effort has been a big hit. “You can see how pleased people are to get gas cards,” says president Sue Murray. reimburse all commuting costs for any employees who put company advertisements on their cars. A recent survey by the Society for Human Resource Management found that companies have noticeably increased their fuel-cost remedies over the past year, with 14 percent offering gas-card rewards, versus just 6 percent in 2007. Another 2 percent say they now offer cost-of-living raises as a specific response to gas prices. The survey also found that 42 PUT THE POWER OF GIFT CARDS TO WORK FOR YOU. GIFT CARDS WORK YOUR BOTTOM LINE. The Power of Gift Cards. 877.300.4SVM | www.svmcards.com 44 | Incentive | August 2008 | incentivemag.com http://www.svmcards.com http://www.svmcards.com http://incentivemag.com
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