Multinational analytics and advisory company Gallup Inc. has studied the employee experience for 25 years, highlighting the value of making employee engagement a priority.
Gallup reported that, in 2023, employee engagement “stagnated” across the globe and that “…low employee engagement costs the global economy $8.9 trillion [USD], or 9% of global GDP”—again, underscoring the critical need to support and empower employees to better achieve organizational success.
Gallup’s most recent employee engagement meta-analysis, State of the Global Workplace, The Voice of the World’s Employees, looked at 180K+ business units and teams in 90 countries across more than 50 industries. One of its findings revealed that highly engaged business units/teams achieved more positive outcomes, such as a 10% increase in customer loyalty/engagement—as well as greater productivity and profitability and lower turnover, absenteeism, and shrinkage/theft.
Loyalty professionals and brand marketers know employee engagement is critical for brand and customer loyalty success—from frontline employees to those supporting loyalty efforts and strategies through day-to-day tasks to internal colleagues and C-suite sponsors voicing program buy-in and/or funding. While most brands clearly understand the value of authentic employee engagement, some struggle to deliver effective training in support of their programs while providing true incentives for employees through recognition, perks, and experiences.
Loyalty360 invited its supplier-member experts to share insights on what strategies are being implemented by today’s successful brands to increase employee engagement within their organizations and where brands should start if they are just beginning to plan or begin employee engagement initiatives.
Article contributors:
- Clarissa Schealer, SVP North American Sales & Partnerships, Capillary Technologies
- Ben Sterling, SVP, Growth EMEA, Capillary Technologies
- Katie Cassidy, Associate VP of Strategic Consulting, Kobie
- Denise Holt, SVP – Strategy, Experience & Research, Phaedon
- Katie Berndt, VP – Strategy, Experience & Research, Phaedon
- Amy Farsht, Senior Director, Partnership Marketing, The Lacek Group
- Nowell Outlaw, Chief Executive Officer, Switchfly
How Should Brands Empower Employees?
Ways to engage, train, and motivate employees continue to evolve rapidly. Brands are leveraging new tools and technologies—for example, conversation simulators or virtual reality experiences—in addition to traditional training and digital programming. Loyalty360 asked the experts what kinds of
innovative employee training are being leveraged by the brand clients they serve.
Phaedon’s Berndt advises brands to consider different learning styles by making training flexible and interactive. She offers a nod to microlearning—making content modular and bite-sized—as an effective training strategy that can be enabled in various formats such as videos, podcasts, quizzes, and more.
“Virtual learning platforms can include gamification elements that incentivize employees to learn and track their progress in a less formal manner—making the training more fun and engaging,” explains Berndt.
Kobie’s clients are leveraging a variety of approaches to enhance frontline associate readiness and enthusiasm for loyalty programs. Regardless of the tool, the key success lies in its accessibility and integration into daily workflows. This approach minimizes disruption by allowing associates to engage with bite-sized training modules while performing their regular duties.
“Recently, a client realized significant success when implementing an internal app for loyalty coaching and training,” says Kobie’s Cassidy. “The app’s user-friendly interface made it easy for frontline associates to access valuable resources and engage in training sessions without leaving their operational roles. Leadership teams, corporate associates, and frontline teams were all aligned to the same critical messages. The result was heightened awareness and enthusiastic support among associates, demonstrating the power of integrating accessible tools into everyday workflows.”
Capillary’s Sterling believes brands looking to engage employees effectively should create a clear and compelling experience that aligns with both the organization’s goals and the personal aspirations of employees.
“For example, offering continuous learning and development opportunities and making employees feel valued and invested in their career growth—which, in turn, improves employee output,” says Sterling. “Programs should be communicated consistently to ensure employees understand how their roles and performance contribute to the overall success of the company and how the rewards are earned to recognize employees’ achievements in meaningful ways.”
Offering an alternative perspective to training, Switchfly’s Outlaw notes that brands don’t often think of traveling as a strategy to train employees, but he asserts that travel is more than a mental break.
“When employees travel, they gain new skill sets and communicate with new people they wouldn’t otherwise have access to in their everyday environments,” says Outlaw. “We’ve seen the results — employees who travel come back with greater creativity and motivation, inspiring innovation and productivity within the organization.”
Increasing Engagement with Unique Experiences
Many of today’s best brands seek to develop unique experiences to increase employee engagement. Some brands offer access to special events, providing unforgettable memories as rewards to recognize employees and share in the brand’s overall success. The right experiential programs and incentives can enable brands to build loyalty and emotional connections with their employees.
The most effective brands know employee engagement can make or break a consumer loyalty strategy. Prioritizing the ability to track employee engagement and participation within a program is critical. Cassidy believes this approach not only helps brands gauge employee participation but also enables them to tailor rewards accordingly.
“One of our brand partners regularly provides early access to high-value special offers exclusively to loyalty enrolled and active employees,” shares Cassidy. “This not only allows employees to personally experience the benefits of the loyalty program but also makes them advocates of the program for the customers they interact with.”
Of course, one size (reward) does not fit all.
“Experiential programs and incentives can help brands build loyalty and emotional connections with employees, but it’s important to remember that no two employees are alike,” cautions Berndt.
She suggests that brands provide flexibility, when possible, to give employees who earn rewards the freedom to choose how those incentives are delivered. Like customers, some employees may prefer to redeem rewards as soon as milestones are earned, while others might prefer to save what they’ve earned until they reach one of the highest rewards possible—such as access to special events.
“We’ve found that offering a variety of rewards demonstrates empathy and respect for a diverse employee base with different preferences,” adds Berndt.
Making Tier Achievement Easier
Some brands not only offer employees the opportunity to join their loyalty programs but also provide additional perks, such as removing a requirement or “barriers” to attain a higher tier.
“We are seeing brands leverage their loyalty program as an incentive and recognition tool by creating a separate tier for their employees,” says Phaedon’s Holt. “This allows employees to fully experience the loyalty program and may include promotional or always-on earning accelerators, redemption promotions, discount pricing, and some experiential or soft benefits that are typically reserved for VIP customers.”
When barriers are removed, and employees can fully participate in a brand’s loyalty program, it makes it easier for employees to advocate for the brand and communicate program value across tiers in a more compelling and authentic way.
Lacek’s Farsht shares that when planning its new
loyalty program, PetSmart had a clear vision to include associates in the journey.
“In April 2024, when the new PetSmart Treats Rewards Program was announced, associates were given the highest level of membership (VIPP - Very Important Pet Parent),” says Farsht. “The goal was simple: ensure associates are knowledgeable about the program and benefits so they can personally help grow customer loyalty.”
More importantly, when communicating the new program information to team members, PetSmart asked,
“How can we help you get ready for Treats Rewards?” This proactive communication facilitated important stakeholder engagement to ensure everyone had the opportunity to be heard.
Capillary’s Schealer reports that many of the company’s partner brands are thinking outside of the box, abandoning tier mechanisms altogether, or providing access to higher tiers in creative ways, such as participating in training or activities aligned with core company values.
“One key piece of advice for engaging employees in supporting your
loyalty program is to make them champions of the program; by integrating employee incentives into team building and creating a culture of enthusiasm, employees become the best advocates for the brand’s loyalty initiatives,” says Schealer.
Cultivating Employee Emotional Loyalty
Employee engagement and building emotional loyalty with team members are priorities for many brands, especially in QSRs, where employee turnover is often high. In industries with higher employee turnover rates, the most successful brands are making concentrated efforts to foster engagement and increase employee emotional loyalty.
Certainly, creating emotional loyalty among employees does not happen overnight—it’s in both the big and little moments. Phaedon asserts that establishing a universal language around emotional loyalty and its key drivers—trust, reliability, appreciation, investment, empathy, and shared values—is a crucial first step in creating strategic alignment across the organization.
“For example, brands can cultivate
emotional loyalty by demonstrating empathy through regularly asking employees for feedback—seeking to understand employees’ wants, needs, and ideas,” says Holt. “Giving employees a voice helps them feel more emotionally connected to the brand and loyalty program, creating brand advocates and increasing retention.”
Employee Loyalty Programs
Some brands develop special employee loyalty programs that offer unique and memorable experiences designed to recognize and reward employees. Farsht cites Lululemon as an example.
Store ambassadors for the athletic apparel retailer are responsible for promoting the brand and encouraging in-store sales. They receive access to development tools and new products, host in-person events, and post on social media.
She lists fitness footwear and clothing brand Reebok as another example.
“Reebok encourages employees to share social posts, videos, and workout updates with the hashtag #FitAssCompany,” says Farsht. “Employees help increase user-generated content (UGC) for the brand and promote products to their social communities.”
Switchfly formed a partnership with a company that provides rewards for over 12 million employees globally.
“They utilize our white-label employee
travel rewards program to offer unmatched experiences around the globe and in their backyards,” says Outlaw, adding that Switchfly leverages machine learning (ML) to unlock information that customizes the employee experience, tailoring offerings that are unique to their wants and needs. “This kind of personalized travel loyalty program can make employees feel seen and heard as individuals—something they value greatly.”
Advice for Brands
As brands turn inward to implement initiatives and programs to better engage employees in support of the organization’s overall goals and customer loyalty program, Loyalty360’s supplier-member experts share their advice.
“Think outside of the box and avoid one-size-fits-all approaches,” recommends Outlaw, noting that travel and experiences are also ways to appreciate and reward employees. “We know 65% of employees prefer non-monetary rewards.”
Farsht wants brands to focus on simplicity and identify one goal they’d like to achieve through employee engagement.
“Whether it’s to deepen brand love, grow program awareness, or develop employee-generated content, choose one that will help move the business goals,” directs Farsht. “Then, narrow in on one to two tactics to support the goal, measure the results, learn from the mistakes, and iterate on what worked.”
According to Cassidy, brands that prioritize employee engagement as a foundational element of their
loyalty strategy rather than treating it as an afterthought or obstacle will be successful. This commitment to engaging employees and cultivating their advocacy as integral to the program’s DNA or core mindset sets them apart from other brands.
This commitment manifests in various ways, including:
- Integrating employees as a distinct segment in customer research to gather feedback on member-facing initiatives.
- Incorporating employee engagement metrics as critical Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to assess the overall effectiveness of the loyalty strategy.
- Establishing “champion” programs to foster advocacy, particularly in organizations with diverse staffing compositions like part-time or temporary employees.
“My single piece of advice is for brands to embed employee engagement deeply into their operational mindset and strategic planning,” finishes Cassidy. “Doing so will significantly enhance the success of their loyalty strategies.”
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