Employee discount programs are a popular benefit offered by many organizations to provide their workers with below-retail prices on merchandise, entertainment, and other perks.
These programs vary in scope and design, from a simple program consisting of passing along discounts to employees from local or national merchants to more ambitious programs administered by a service vendor that provides employees access to an online portal to make purchases.
Eat, Play… Go!
Eat, Play… Go!, America’s Largest Discount and Savings Network, is just such a program, providing exclusive discounts in every micro and macro market in the US on such things as:
- Hotels
- Flights
- Car Rentals
- Employee Car Buying Programs
- Movie Theaters
- Shopping
- Restaurants
- Theme Parks
- Grocery Coupons
- And more
For less than the price of a cup of coffee each month at Starbucks, employers can implement a robust perks and rewards program that helps employers hire and retain the best talent, show employees how much they are appreciated, and create a work-life balance; all of which leads to better customer engagement and retention, resulting in demonstrable ROI.
According to a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) survey report, more than half of the organizations surveyed (58%) said they had an employee discount program. Larger employers were more likely to have a program than smaller ones, with 94% of organizations with 25,000 or more employees offering a program compared to just 19% of organizations with fewer than 100 employees.
The survey found that most organizations do not use a third-party administrator to manage employee discounts, with 79% of respondents indicating that they do not. The most common goods and services offered through employee discount programs were:
- Computer hardware/software (57%)
- Health/wellness services not covered by health insurance or a wellness program (55%)
- Goods and services at specific retail stores or retail sites such as shopping centers (46%)
- Entertainment tickets (46%).
The survey also found that employees do use employee discounts, with 32% of HR professionals reporting that from 1% to a quarter of employees used at least one employee discount a year, 28% reporting that from just above a quarter to half the employees used the discounts, and 17% reporting that from just above half to three-quarters of employees used the deals.
Employees Value These Discounts
In terms of employee satisfaction with the discounts, 55% of HR professionals reported that their employees highly or somewhat valued these discounts, 27% indicated that employees were neutral about employee discounts, and 18% said that little to no value is attributed to employee discounts.
While it’s unlikely that employees would accept a job or remain with an organization based solely on its employee discount program, it is a low-cost benefit that promotes goodwill among employees.
Show Employees You Care
In an age where work-life balance is becoming a priority for most employees, and losing a great employee costs thousands of dollars, it’s undoubtedly a great way to show employees how much they are appreciated and that your business cares about them.
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