How do you motivate and reward your employees? Some employers give a once per year bonus or gift, celebrate birthdays with treats or bring in pizza every few months. It’s likely that your company’s culture directly impacts the programs you create to keep employees engaged and excited to come to work everyday.
One company that does employee recognition really well is our customer, Innovative Office Solutions here in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St.Paul. In fact, they do it so well, they were named one of the 2017 100 Best Companies to Work For by Minnesota Business Magazine. What’s more, this is their sixth consecutive year receiving the award!
Keeping and Retaining Great Employees
More people today desire more than just a paycheck and good benefits.They also crave a sense of belonging, real challenges, the ability to make a difference and a chance to flourish and grow. Innovative Solutions has a “Relationships Matter” system that puts their employees at the heart and soul of their company. Not only does the CEO and co-founder, Jennifer Smith, create and retain happy employees with this program, she knows that happy employees = happy customers = a more profitable, sustainable business. Innovative Office Solutions is in its 16th year in the very competitive office supply/solutions industries, but continues to grow its product and service offerings, therefore providing stability and a future for their employees.
Custom Handmade Mugs as Gifts
When we first met Lauren from Innovative, we worked with her to create a custom mug to use as customer gifts at the end of the year. The mugs were not only a hit with the customers, but the employees wanted in too! She quickly placed an additional order of custom mugs to be used as employee incentives. Not just merely as ‘good job’ gifts, but in a more meaningful, fun and engaging way.
Game On!
Any company can hand out a cheap branded coffee mug as a gift to employees, but Innovative Office Solutions clearly values their employees more. Rather than just hand out mugs to their employees, they decided to ‘game it’ by creating an fun and engaging process where employees earn company swag along the way after completing clearly defined goals.
The game is called ‘Clued In’ and was designed to encourage and develop employees to be “all in” at work. Based loosely on the board game “Clue” the employees solve mysteries and clear themselves as suspects to move on to the next step, with the chance to earn company swag along the way including a handmade coffee mug, cozy fleece blanket and sturdy backpack. All employees who complete the game will be entered to win the grand prize, a vacation!
This game just goes to show Innovative Office Solutions isn’t just innovative its product offerings, but also innovative in creating an amazing workplace. We are honored to work alongside such outstanding businesses making a difference in our community. If you are thinking of starting or already have an incentive program for your employees, considering ‘upping the ante’ and include handmade custom mugs that they will treasure for many years.