The new "Employee Benefits" from RGIS, a PR strategy?

Dear everyone:

In May 18, Blackstone Group has sent email campaign to tens of thousands of RGIS employees across the globe, about a new exclusive employee benefit called, "Overwhelming New Employee Benefit."

Most of you may have received the said email. But for the benefit of those who do not have email addresses, or have failed to receive the email, I am providing here a copy of the email:

When I opened the email campaign for the first time, I thought with great anticipation, "Wow, is this for real ?" I mean, how many times RGIS has offered "employee benefits" in the past and none of those benefits are actually benefits in a real sense, but "business opportunities" clad in beneficial terms. Do you think RGIS is dead serious about employee benefits this time? I will tell you a short background about it and you decide whether or not it is good for RGIS hourly employees:

Last month, Blackstone has agreed to get the services of Next Jump Inc. You can visit its website here. To give you an idea, Next Jump Inc. is the premier provider of merchant funded loyalty rewards programs. What it means is that the company provides services in terms of reward programs to consumers, corporations, affinity groups, and marketers. These reward programs can be obtained in the form of personal electronics, and wearable products such as shoes and clothings.

"If one day, this reward program has

proven to counterbalance the high

 dissatisfaction level of its employees,

 then RGIS has done a good PR job."

Top merchants such as Best Buy, Home Depot, BOSS, Adidas, Nike, Macy's, Dell, to name a few, have agreed to promote their products at an impressive low price (compared to actual retail price). Now, the only way Blackstone Group and RGIS can take advantage of these extremely low deals is to get the services of Next Jump Inc., which in turn acts as the legitimate middle man or agent for the two.

For RGIS employees, in order for you to benefit from this reward program, you must enroll with the program by creating your own personal account. Once you have created it, you will get the privilege to access more than 28,000 merchants' products and services thru Next Jump's employee's program website at Corporate Perks.

Here, the website has the look and feel of amazon.com webpage. It looks very attractive and offers computers and electronics, Apparel and accessories, Travel, etc.

It is tempting to ask whether this reward program that RGIS has promoted exclusively for its employees contains no catch whatsoever. We can give RGIS the benefit of the doubt, but in this case, we need to examine any hidden agenda or corporate strategy. When a business group or individual offer us with a great product or service, we cannot but to ask, "What's the catch?" We normally ask this question over and over again from these people, not because we distrust them, but it is a question of transparency.

So, why would Blackstone Group/RGIS has exhibited an interest by promoting this reward program to its 40,000+ strong employees? To be honest, Blackstone Group/RGIS pay Next Jump Inc. the service it provides. The rewards program does not have a "commission-based" or affiliate-based marketing strategy. Which give corporate entities the ability to get a small "percentage" for every sale they generate from their employees. So,it is not a question of getting profits.

So the only thing I could see a reason behind is something intrinsic for Blackstone/RGIS:

RGIS has recognized that there is a growing level of employee dissatisfaction over the years. These dissatisfied employees are more disheartened than ever, given longer hours to work for less money and fewer, if not, no benefits at all. RGIS realized that a satisfied employee is an effective employee and that it must find affordable ways to invest in them. RGIS thinks that it is a cost-effective way to realize the goal: job satisfaction and therefore, longer employment period.

Whether or not this program is really effective for RGIS employees given the culture and work ethic is yet to be seen. If one day, this reward program has proven to counterbalance the high dissatisfaction level of its employees, then RGIS has done a good PR job.

Otherwise, RGIS will have to go back to strategic table and devise a true and workable employee benefit package that would propel a good level of job satisfaction by being true to its philosophy that hardworking employees are the number one asset that every great company must have.

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