Diversity and Innovation

in , ,

Diversity and innovation fit together like a hand in a glove. Inspiration thrives where people think differently. The creative process requires looking at the world in new ways, finding hidden patterns and connecting seemingly unrelated phenomena to form new ideas and solutions.

Study after study has found diversity is a key driver to innovation and critical for success in global marketplace:

  • A Harvard Business Review study found “Firms with 2-D diversity are 45% likelier to report a growth in market share over the previous year and 70% likelier to report that the firm captured a new market.”

  • Research from McKinsey & Company linked companies with a gender diverse executive team are 21% more likely to generate above average profitability. That figure jumps to 33% when leadership in an organization is ethnically diverse.

Years of focusing on diversity at Hinda have resulted in a workforce that does more than reflect US demographics today but looks more like the ethnic mix analysts are predicting in the future.

Diversity Chart

We believe our diversity has helped us innovate and our stories prove it:

Thinking+Inside+the+Box.jpg

Some seven years ago UPS moved from shipping charges based simply on weight to dimensional weight. That means charges were based on a combination of the actual weight of the package and the dimension.

Hinda’s ships well over a million rewards each year, making shipping charges a significant expense. UPS’ new costing approach quickly escalated shipping as a percentage of overall costs. Other shippers immediately fell in line with this new pricing strategy leaving operations like Hinda watching margins erode as shipping was taken a bigger bite.

Enter Manny Rios, a Shipping Supervisor in the Hinda Award Headquarters operation. Manny had been with Hinda for about three years at the time and took it upon himself to find new ways to reduce shipping costs.

He knew we shipped about 5,500 SKUs out of our warehouse and stocked 24 different corrugated box sizes to accommodate the variety of products we had to ship. As he further investigated the situation, Manny found the company was spending hundreds of thousands a year creating bubble packs to fill voids in boxes and protect rewards during shipment. He also noticed packers would regularly choose to use a larger box than needed to ensure it fit.

Manny was thinking about these challenges while attending a trade show when he came across a newer company creating custom corrugated packaging solutions. Packsize® developed a scanning technology that could calculate just the right size container needed for a product shipment and make the box instantly on demand. Their model included leases on the scanning and box-making equipment that could be bundled into the price of corrugated board needed to create the boxes. Manny then started doing his due diligence and put pencil to paper to identify the impact this could have on the company. His tireless efforts required him to present his ideas and justification all the way up through our President’s office. But his solution really paid off with Hinda realizing enormous savings:

  • 32% annual savings in shipping expenses

  • Over $100,000 saved annually in bubble packs

  • Dramatic annual savings in corrugated packaging purchases

  • Increased packing efficiency

  • Cut Hinda’s shipping carbon footprint in half

Staking+Your+Claim.jpg

When you ship as many packages as Hinda, items can become lost or damaged during shipment. Our customer service promptly remedies the situation for our participant, but our operations must file claims with the shipper for reimbursement.

Receiving & Claims Specialist, Margarita Virgen, is responsible for making sure we are repaid for lost and items. Each year she handles between 3,000 and 4,000 claims. When she began, claims processing was time-consuming. Each claim required over 20 minutes of handling time.

Margarita knew there had to be a better way, so she took it upon herself to work with her shippers to create one. She began talking with them about using spreadsheets to enter claims electronically rather than the old method of faxing claim forms. Her efforts quickly paid off. Soon, she built new processes with shippers that slashed processing by over 75% to less than 5 minutes per claim. Her streamlined process also meant shippers could remit payment for those claims faster as well.

Diversity drives innovation. Hinda and our team prove this each day with fresh ideas that help our customers, inspire our participants and improve our world.

. . .

Get in on the conversation. Leave your comments below.

Like what you've read? Get our new blogs emailed directly to your inbox — click here to subscribe.