Hinda Announces 2012 Golden Carrot Award Winners: Apple and Mach 1 Global Services

Hinda Incentives has announced the winners of the prestigious Golden Carrot Award, which were presented at the Hinda Incentives headquarters today in conjunction with the Motivation Show

Apple and Mach 1 Global Services, Hinda’s home delivery carrier, were selected as this year’s winners by demonstrating a solid commitment to providing innovation, service and cutting-edge products to the multi-billion-dollar incentive market. Hinda’s Golden Carrot Award recognizes its supplier partners who have consistently demonstrated dedication to the field of incentives.

"When you put two top companies like Apple and Hinda together, it results in a great partnership,” says Rick Bowen, Hinda’s Merchandise Manager. “Candice Lacrosse (Senior Account Manager, Corporate Gifting and Rewards for Apple, Great Lakes Region), has worked very hard with our team to include Apple products in our programs in a timely manner. We are both dedicated to delivering the best product and the best service to our award winners. Candice and Apple have been supportive and are an important partnership."

“It's an honor to receive the Golden Carrot Award,” says Lacrosse. “We’re very excited about it. We have built a solid relationship with both Rick Bowen and Michelle Flores (Merchandise Buyer and Hinda) and only see that relationship growing. Both are a pleasure to work with and they definitely keep us on our toes.”

Winning the Golden Carrot Award was a sweet surprise for Kari Thomsen, District Manager for Mach 1 Global Services.

“We are so happy to receive this award because we had to work hard to earn Hinda’s business,” says Thomsen. “I went to see Benito [Bustamante, Hinda’s Warehouse Manager] every Thursday to promise him the world. It took a lot of work to gain his trust and earn some business, but after six months he finally gave us an opportunity. Now I feel like we are an extension of Hinda.” Mach 1 Global Services CEO, Jamie Fletcher, who is based in Phoenix, also attended the award presentation.

Bustamante did finally give Thomsen an opportunity, but admits they tested Mach 1 with some really difficult deliveries.

“We gave Mach 1 some very challenging shipments and they stepped up to the plate,” says Bustamante. “Kari goes above and beyond. She’s on call 24/7 for us. She gets it. She knows we are delivering awards and how important that is. At Hinda, we deliver a superior customer experience.”

Selection for the Golden Carrot Award is very competitive. The extensive list of criteria for winning suppliers include high-quality products, innovation, timeliness of deliveries, prompt follow-up, the ability to provide updated product information and reliability, among others.

Check out pictures from the ceremony here!

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Recognizing the Pulse of Your Office

Today marks the 60th anniversary of Administrative Professionals Day®, a noteworthy day within the workplace that began in 1952 as Professional Secretaries Day, according to the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP). Over the course of the last six decades, the role of the administrative assistant has grown and evolved to adapt with changing times, technology and tasks within the office setting. This particular job title has grown from the sometimes-negatively-connotated “secretary” into an indispensable role that no office can efficiently run without. As such, the theme of this year’s Administrative Professionals Week is “Admins, the pulse of the office.”

Here are some fun stats about Administrative Professionals Day according to the IAAP web site:

  • Today, Administrative Professionals Week is one of the largest workplace observances outside of employee birthdays and major holidays.
  • In the year 2000, IAAP announced a name change for Professional Secretaries Week and Professional Secretaries Day. The names were changed to Administrative Professionals Week and Administrative Professionals Day to keep pace with changing job titles and expanding responsibilities of today’s administrative workforce.
  • There are more than 4.1 million secretaries and administrative assistants working in the United States, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics, and 8.9 million people working in various administrative support roles.

Now, we know what you’re thinking. “This is all well and good, but what can I do to show my appreciation for the administrative professionals in my office?” Great question. According to IAAP members, administrative professionals prefer recognition in the form of opportunities for growth and learning. Some examples are:

  • Tuition reimbursement to attend college classes and work toward a degree
  • Membership and participation in professional organizations
  • Reimbursement for online training programs in technology, administrative and management skills
  • Registration for appropriate conferences, seminars and continuing education workshops
  • Attainment of professional certification. IAAP’s Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) or Certified Professional Secretary (CPS) programs are widely recognized standards of excellence

Remember, Administrative Professionals Week is always the last week of April, so be sure to mark your calendar for future years! Read more about Administrative Professionals Day here.

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Visualizing Employee Motivation

Sometimes, it's easiest to learn a concept through visualization. Take employee motivation for example. There isn't a solid, clear-cut definition of it out there. Often times, it involves trial-and-error practices and personalization in order to be successful. But, to aid in our understanding, IncBlot has created the following infographic. It explains the theory and ideas behind motivation, the motivation equation in the workforce, action steps, questions to consider and useful statistics.

Some notable takeaways:

  • 30% of executives say that motivating their employees is their toughest job
  • "People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily." - Zig Zigler
  • Action Step: Ask a team member what non-monetary rewards they might find motivational.
  • The average American employee wastes 2 hours and 5 minutes of an 8 hour day

As an employer, how do you motivate your employees? As an employee, what motivates you to work? Leave a comment and let us know!

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Engagement Down in the Ad Agency World

You hear about ad agencies being a place full of creatives and creative workspaces for some organizations. A recent article from Advertising Age suggests that employee engagement within many agencies is actually down.

In an article published March 8th a bottom line statement noted that agencies in general don't do a good job of communicating, training or motivating employees. As Andrew Bennet stated within that article:

"We are a people-focused industry but we don't embrace that with our employees."

The ad world is an industry almost famous for its turnover rate. Though these organizations push the fact that talent is the number one asset, it seems to be a mentality not held well for many agencies. In a 4A's and Arnold survey, 90% of the employees within those agencies felt that they had to train themselves in what they do from day-to-day. They didn't feel motivated or very engaged by their upper management.

"The average Starbucks barista gets more training than the average communications employee," Benett said.

Employee turnover is a costly business endeavor. No matter what industry you are in, employee communication is a crucial part of business success. In the article, Bennet is quoted as saying how revenue is taking a priority over people for many agencies in the biz.

If you put the people first, the revenue will follow suit. Not having to front the costly recruiting and re-training will cut costs significantly for any organization. Engagement is a crucial component for a company bottom line.

What do you all think?

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