The Love2shop Employee Value Report Press Release

ONE-THIRD OF ALL EMPLOYEES IN THE UK – A STAGGERING 10 MILLION PEOPLE – FEEL UNDERVALUED AT WORK

• Eight in ten undervalued employees are looking for a new job elsewhere

• Over half of employees say productivity increases when they feel appreciated

• Rewards including gift cards would help workers feel more valued

• National study by leading multi-retail redemption provider Love2shop

One-third of all employees in the UK – almost 10 million people – feel undervalued at work, according to new national research revealed today.  

The ‘Love2shop Report’ commissioned by Love2shop, was designed to lay bare the scale of workplace happiness in 2022.  

It reveals the true value of employee rewards, with three-quarters of people (75%) saying companies who gift staff regularly are likely to attract a better calibre of employee, and 52% saying productivity increases when they feel valued by their employer. 

The report also found 41% of those who feel undervalued believe regular rewards by their employer would give them a greater sense of value, with the same number saying gift vouchers from their employer throughout the year would make them feel more appreciated. 

Nearly four-fifths (79%) of undervalued employees are looking for a job elsewhere, with that figure increasing to nine out of ten (90%) among the youngest demographic aged 18-24. 

The Love2shop Report found UK companies spontaneously gift employees an average of just 1.3 times a year, despite respondents reporting this number should rise to 2.3 times a year for employers to make staff feel valued.  

There is also a gender divide when it comes to workplace gift giving, with men receiving an average of 1.5 gifts a year compared to women receiving 1.2, the research found. 

Elsewhere, nearly half the report’s respondents (46%) have never received a spontaneous gift from their employer, while more than a third (36%) say their employer never, or hardly ever, acknowledges their work or actions. 

Shockingly, just 12% of employees strongly agree that their employers are generous. 

When it comes to a professional breakdown of happiness in the workplace, employees in publishing and journalism reported feeling the least valued at work, followed by those in the performing arts, then the environment and agriculture sectors.  

At the other end of the scale, property and construction, insurance and pensions, and law were the top three professions when asked about feeling valued at work. 

People in law enforcement and community reported receiving the fewest spontaneous gifts from their employer per year, at just 0.3, while those in business, consulting and management came top, with 2.4 per year. 

In terms of a geographical breakdown, workers in London and Northern Ireland feel the least appreciated, with an average value rating of five  out of 10 closely followed by those the East Midlands (5.5). Employees in the South West feel most valued (6.5), ahead of people in the West Midlands (6.1) and the North West (5.9). 

Elsewhere, a whopping 92% of workers who feel undervalued in the capital are currently looking for a new job, compared to only 42% of the same people in Yorkshire and the Humber. 

When it comes to rewards, six out of 10 employees say that days off, flexible working and gifting multi-retailer gift cards are the best ways of showing appreciation.  

If they were to receive a multi-retailer gift card, a staggering 89% would spend it on food, drink, or clothing – a survey result that experts attribute to the ongoing cost of living crisis – with 30% of them saying they would spend the voucher on their weekly shop. 

Asked about the value of employee rewards, over half of people (57%) say bonuses and regular rewards contribute to a feeling of being valued in the workplace, while 86% would feel valued at work if they received a surprise multi-retailer gift card or gift voucher worth £150, with only 7% saying it would not help them to feel valued. 

Frank Creighton, Director of Business Development at Love2shop, said: “The extent to which UK workers feel undervalued and under-appreciated is alarming.  

“The fact that one-third of staff feel undervalued should be a massive wake-up call for UK business, particularly in light of the report, which found almost half (49%) of people would feel a heightened sense of loyalty to their employer if they felt valued by them. 

“How undervalued employees are resolving this situation poses even greater concern. Our report’s data indicates that many will continue to vote with their feet by finding a business that does appreciate them. 

“This ongoing nationally recognised trend, now known as the ‘Great Resignation’, is costing companies a huge amount of unexpected expenditure in recruitment, training and time and that’s why it’s so important for more businesses to start making staff feel appreciated – by changing their attitude towards rewards. 

“We do understand it isn’t always easy for employers to know when to reward their employees – or by how much. That’s why we’ve compiled the Appreciate Report, which offers valuable insight when it comes to making staff feel valued while maintaining and increasing productivity levels.”  

To read the report, visit: https://business.love2shop.co.uk/appreciate-employee-value-report-2022/

Media enquiries to Alec Doyle, Senior PR Executive on: [email protected]

NOTES TO EDITORS 

Survey data taken from a poll of 2,000 employed UK adults in August 2022 

About Love2shop   

Love2shop is a leading UK employee and customer engagement company. Its Love2shop products offer a fantastic choice of multi-retailer gifting rewards, helping businesses attract and retain employees and customers.  

With its award-winning digital platform, Love2shop enables clients to plan, launch, communicate and maintain incentive or reward programs with minimal effort while delivering performance improvement. 

Love2shop Business is part of Paypoint, home to many of the country’s most-loved gifting, pre-payment and engagement solutions including Park Christmas Savings, highstreetvouchers.com and Love2shop, driving digital innovation in gifting.   

Read more here: business.love2shop.co.uk

flexecash is the prepaid card platform that issues flexecash Love2shop Cards. This facility is provided by Park Card Services who are Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to issue electronic money. FRN: 900016. Love2shop Cards are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and as such we may need to complete an electronic identity check. 

 

 

Press Release

Love2Shop Partners With Payment to Provide Vulnerable Brits with Emergency Support Amid the Cost of Living Crisis

Digital e-Code allows local authorities to efficiently deliver essential goods

Leading multi-retail redemption product provider, Love2shop, has partnered with digital payment expert, PayPoint, to help provide some of the UK’s most vulnerable residents with emergency support amid the cost of living crisis.

The new partnership will see both parties expand their range of solutions to provide local authorities across the country with a new way of servicing the most financially at-risk people within their communities.

The all-digital initiative sees local authorities equipping residents with emergency e-Codes that are selectively issued to vulnerable residents for spending in three essential categories within the Love2shop Essentials Range: Food, clothing, and electricals, and a fourth one allows users to draw upon two of the Essentials or more.

Within each of these categories, there is a select number of high street retailers from which users can exchange their Love2shop Essentials e-Code given the Love2shop choice. These include choice from Asda, Sainsburys, Tesco, Primark, and Argos.

The initiative means residents who need urgent assistance with a purchase, such as a fridge freezer or clothing, will have a way of accessing funds, while the Love2shop Essentials Range provides authorities with an efficient new alternative when it comes to supporting communities.

This type of flexible financial support is needed now more than ever, according to the experts, as the cost of living crisis continues to grip millions of UK households, with living costs soaring and prices across the board increasing at their quickest rate in decades.

That’s why Love2shop and PayPoint have worked to ensure the service is quick, simple and effective for both the user and the participating authority, which allocates which category, (or categories), the e-Code can be activated within.

Local authorities order funds online on behalf of a resident, which are delivered as an e-Code via SMS, email or in the post. Once provided to a resident via email or SMS, users go to the Love2shop website and activate or register their account, before entering the supplied e-Code.

After the code has been activated, users simply select ‘Exchange’ to view the list of available retailers, before adding a selected retailer to their basket and checking out. The retailer’s e-Gift Card will then be emailed within 48 hours.

Frank Creighton, Director of Business Development at Love2shop, said: “Love2shop is delighted to deliver the Love2shop Essentials Range for PayPoint as it strengthens its work with local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales.

“When enabling vulnerable communities to receive critical funding to support them at a time when they need it most, local authorities can rely on Love2shop Essentials Range to deliver funds quickly, securely and safely.

“We provide a broad range of UK retailers through our Love2shop retailer partnerships allowing recipients of the funds to select their essential items from reliable brands, whether that’s food, clothing or electrical goods.

“As it is a digital activation and redemption process from start to finish, it is more secure than the cash equivalent, and can be used online, in addition to in-store, with the majority of the selected retailers.”

Danny Vant, Client Services Director for PayPoint, said: “This new scheme is simple for both the local authority and for the recipient of the funds. If a resident needs urgent help purchasing a new fridge, for example, the council will set up the e-Code to be used in one of four high street electrical retailers.

“However, if they need help buying food, the e-Code can be allocated for use in any one of five main supermarkets. With the cost of living crisis deepening, this type of flexible support is more important than ever, and it needs to be provided quickly to ensure the funds are available to help people immediately.”

About Love2shop

Love2shop is a leading gifting, prepayment and engagement company, and expert at creating joyful experiences and connecting people to the things in life they enjoy the most. Its purpose is to create more joy in the world by being trusted to help our customers with celebrating and rewarding. Love2shop is home to many of the country’s most-loved gifting, pre-payment and engagement solutions including Park Christmas Savings, highstreetvouchers.com and Love2shop, and is fast-becoming the home of digital innovation in gifting.

About PayPoint

For tens of thousands of businesses and millions of consumers, we deliver innovative technology and services that make life a little easier. The PayPoint Group serves a diverse range of organisations, from SME and convenience retailer partners, to local authorities, multinational service providers and e-commerce brands. Our products are split across three core business divisions.

If you have any media enquiries, please contact Niamh Gallagher, PR & Content Executive, at [email protected]

Case study – Digital rewards make sure healthcare heroes are recognised

Summary

A large UK healthcare provider, whose portfolio includes numerous care homes, found themselves unable to safely reward their staff with plastic gift cards following the outbreak of COVID-19 in the UK.

 

The challenge

For more than three years previously, the client had been enjoying our Love2shop Gift Cards. While we always discuss our digital reward options with clients, in this case, our client was understandably reluctant to change a winning formula – their reward scheme was producing good levels of engagement and positive feedback with using plastic gift cards.

While the client was happy with their status quo, the COVID-19 outbreak forced a change. Not only was there a sharp increase in the demands placed on the workdays of their employees, meriting more recognition and reward, but there was no safe way to distribute physical gift cards to their employees. A solution had to be found, and fast.

“Crucially, we’ve been able to keep engagement high, and keep rewarding our amazing staff, through a difficult time.”

Love2shop’s solution

After a conversation with their account manager,  Jackie Reynolds, about these difficulties, we recommended they switch to our  digital reward codes.

Our codes are an end-to-end digital product, meaning  there’s no physical interaction between our clients and their staff  when  buying or delivering them. Clients order them through our Self-Serve portal, and they’re delivered digitally. The codes themselves come to employees as emails or text messages, and those employees redeem them online. Perfect for sending rewards when physical contact is dangerous.

As it was unthinkable that our client’s incredible staff would go without rewards for their work during this difficult period, these digital rewards were a natural fit. Jackie helped them through an initial transition, and made sure the client got right back to thanking their employees with exciting rewards as soon as possible.

“The codes are so simple to use that our staff have had no trouble making the switch.”

The outcome

Most importantly, our client was able to lift morale among their staff in a trying time. For Love2shop, this is one of the aspects of our work we’re most proud of. Employees doing great things deserve to be recognised and celebrated. It’s a privilege to help deliver that for our clients.

However, the rewards have also been a success in other ways. For instance, our client’s staff have enjoyed their digital rewards so much, they are considering continuing to use digital rewards even when contact is safe in their workplace again.

The digital ordering and delivery process for our reward codes also deliver significant advantages in fulfilment and ordering. Especially when centrally managing a nationwide scheme. Our client would previously order their gift cards, and have them delivered to their central office. From there, the client would separate the rewards and send them to individual facilities, creating a time-consuming administrative task on top of postage fees.

Our simple ordering process, and digitally fulfilled rewards, massively simplified that process, removing the need for physical fulfilment. The combined effect is less time, and less money, being spent to deliver better rewards.

Jackie Reynolds, the Love2Shop Engagement Consultant who managed the project, added: “What’s good to see is how easily their staff have adapted to their new rewards. Many clients have concerns about changing their staff rewards, especially if it involves technology, but our experience is usually that employees adapt quickly to the switch. It’s heartening to see that’s also the case for this challenge, given how important these rewards are to the client.”

Our contact inside the company said: “All our worries about switching from plastic to digital evaporated straight away. The codes are so simple to use that our staff have had no trouble making the switch. Crucially, we’ve also been able to keep engagement high, and keep rewarding our amazing staff through a difficult time.

“Love2shop, and our account manager Jackie, have done a great job helping us quickly make the change, and making sure that our incredible staff get the thanks and rewards they deserve so much during this difficult period.”

 

 

*At the request of our client, this case study has been anonymised.