Reality Service Awards

You know, I just started a new job. My calendar is crammed full of stuff that has to be done this week. We have open enrollment, six new hires to process, and two transfers to another branch.

To top it all off, my boss just dropped the bomb--our service award program must be launched by the end of the month. How am I going to get it all done?

I'm Sooooooo Busy!
Sure, I've done it all before. Hey, I’m no slouch! At the last company I worked for, I contacted the recognition company, gave them a list of names and anniversary dates, requested the appropriate number of generic brochures, and waited (a little nervously) for them and a congratulatory letter to come in. Then I checked everything against my list, and mailed all of the award letters and catalogs to our 26 branch locations. Last time I did this it took me hours to complete!

Now let's see…I have to wait for all the order forms to be emailed or faxed back to me, check them against my list, and submit the whole thing to our recognition provider. I sure hope they have all the gifts we order. It's such a hassle when we have to replace something--contacting the employee and hoping they can find another suitable gift. It’s looking like I’ll probably have to work this weekend to complete it all. So much for a fun-filled weekend in Chicago! If there was only a better, faster, more efficient way to take care of service awards….

Online Service Awards
When my predecessor left, she told me about the recognition company that we use, The Green Company. She said they reduced the administrative time required by moving our service awards program online. Our employees place their own orders over the Internet and I can even track who has and has not ordered. I liked that idea because our whole company is moving online anyway, utilizing the tech revolution for ordering, purchasing, inventory control, and benefits administration.

If this works like it’s supposed to, I can hit the Windy City like a storm instead of pulling a weekender mailing all those gift packets to our branches. Hmmm, worth a try! I wonder if there is anything in my Outlook contacts for "recognition" or "service awards". There it is "service awards"!

I'm going to contact them and see if they can really save our company that much time. OK, here’s a link. I’m going to try it.

http://tryme.thegreencompany.com
(User Name: Reduce Password: Admin)

World Class Service
I received an email the very next day. Attached was a complete timeline and simple MS Excel template to merge with our database. I've sent it back to The Green Company, and they are telling me they can send out email notifications or conventional gift award letters. We still use the conventional paper award packets because our CEO believes a luncheon ceremony is more fulfilling than an electronic notification. It's our choice. I like that….a choice. Since we use award luncheons, I'll request the conventional packets. They told me I’ll have them in a week.

Speaking of choices, I was really surprised when I called our customer service representative. Our rep told me I can select our gifts online and match them to our associate profiles, or the rep said he'd do it for us based on our purchase history and budgets if I didn't have time. I think I'll have them do it. I have to be at open enrollment all afternoon.

Recognition
When I finally got back to my desk from open enrollment, there was another email from The Green Company. Our program has already been built and is ready for approval or modification online. I logged on, and checked the program, http:// youchoose.thegreencompany.com. It looks similar to last year and they even added iPods to the gift selection! Great, but what about my 45 year recipients? They may not have gone to Woodstock, but sure enough The Green Company even has Waterford crystal and grandfather clocks for my more mature workers. I'm impressed! I can’t wait to show this to management. No more worries, it looks like the program is right on time and budget.

Management approved the updated awards program. The Green Company says they can have our packets here by next Wednesday--that's only one week away! I should be able to disburse them around the country by Friday using inter-company mail. Great! Friday I’ll be leaving by five. I can’t wait to get to Chicago.

Ordering
Well, the service award gift packets arrived right on time, sorted into nice neat little bundles by location, year, and name. Let's see: the luncheons are Monday and our CEO said he wants to limit ordering to two weeks. It’s great I don’t have to worry about ordering as each employee will place their own order online. The maintenance staff--I almost forgot they don’t have computers. I remember the rep saying something about they can contact their supervisor and supervisors can even place orders for employees who don’t have computers. The letters provide both the time frames and the ordering process. Terrific!

Order Tracking
All of our service award luncheons launched on time. I’m looking like a genius! Let’s see if this online order tracking really works......amazing! I pull up this online Orders Report and it shows me who has and hasn’t ordered, including the date the order was placed. I can even get an email of every order confirmation if I want.

Oh look, more detail. This Orders Report provides the percentage of our associates who have and who not ordered. Wow! We have 81% redemption after 5 days being live and online. It must be the broad selection of gifts we chose. I sure like choosing the gifts rather than living with what an awards company gives us.

One of the best features about this Orders Report is that it tracks the most popular gift by level and sorts the gifts in order of popularity. I can see where this will come in handy next year when we want to add and remove gifts from our program, and it sure beats going through a stack of invoices and adding up the results.

I like this Orders Report. It really saves me time.

Service After The Sale
It’s now two weeks since we launched the program and I’ve only had to notify 4% of the employees via email and remind them to place their order. Not too bad considering some were on vacation and some on medical leave.

I was a little worried though. Today I got a phone call from our Phoenix office and the manager said they were missing a BBQ grill one of her employees ordered. The online tracking shows the employee had ordered. Better email our rep at The Green Company. The next day I got an email with the tracking number! For that order, it turns out the grill was in the back of the warehouse. Receiving wasn’t sure what it was. I’m impressed!

Just as I thought we had this program put to bed, I get another email from our Denver office. One of the clocks they received does not keep accurate time. I assured them our service award company helps us with the manufacturers’ warranty. Our Denver office even received an electronic call tag from The Green Company to insure a timely pick-up...how efficient! Green will pay for return freight and either replace or repair the clock. That’s important to me as I don’t have time to get involved in all of these service details. Service after the sale is one of the main reasons our company chose The Green Company as our service award provider. Peace of mind… priceless!

I Had A Great Time Friday Night In Chicago
We danced until the wee hours of the morning; we turned in just as the sun was coming up. I’ll leave the rest of the story to your imagination!

The Green Company, Inc., Lenexa, KS 66219 913-888-8880
sales@thegreencompany.com