Posts Tagged ‘award’


STAFF INCENTIVE SCHEMES

 Thursday, August 27th, 2009

The carrot or the stick- the age old question when it comes to staff motivation. In the 21st Century we like to think we’re a little more enlightened – no dark satanic mills for us, no sir. In a job market where the employee is king (well, until the recession came along, that is) it’s been all carrot and no stick.

And whilst the economic downturn may well have “redressed” the balance somewhat, the future is still orange! And it’s not all about money, other factors such as job security (very topical) and career developments are big winners. So what are the key issues to consider?

WHAT’S IN IT FOR THE COMPANY?

It’s very easy to get caught up with what works for the employee. Any scheme or incentive must be aligned with business goals and objectives. As with Investors in People, training incentives must have bottom line benefits for the company.

CREATE OWNERSHIP

Get your team involved up front. Buy in will come from involvement and that will effectively drive performance. Listen to what really motivates them and centre on that and that will effectively drive performance. Listen to what really motivates them and centre on that, especially for goal hungry sales staff.

BE COMPETITIVE

Check out the competition and make sure your scheme is up to scratch. Otherwise …..

MEASURE
If it can be measured, it can be managed. Staff will respond better to specific, measurable targets. Build in those KPI’s (key performance indicators).

EVALUATE

Don’t cast anything in stone; test, evaluate, review and develop. Failing schemes can be de-motivating and may see staff walk.

REWARD AND RECOGNISE

Finally, don’t forget to make individual or team achievements public and visible.
The Corporate Gifts Company has loads of great ideas to help your motivation scheme along. Staff will be highly motivated by awards, plaques, corporate jewellery such as lapel badges, or a well chosen gift to say thank you such as sterling business card case.


Office Beautiful

 Monday, August 3rd, 2009

The place where so many people spend their working lives should have a “social life.” That sounds like jargon doesn’t it, but it means that people in office should have easy access to one another. Instead of regarding the workplace as the dump where they have to work for eight hours every day, they should see it as the place where they interact with colleagues, in a stimulating and rewarding way. This is the office of the future; the desktop has a key role. Flat computer screen are fast replacing those huge monoliths, so that the surface has more room, and indeed the desk can be smaller. The result is that you are nearer to your closest colleagues. Look around the modern office and you see fewer divisions and partitions, because they represent rigidity and hierarchy. Chance encounters in the corridor or by the drinks machine are more fruitful than organised meetings. So, if colleagues bump into each other and want to talk about marketing or advertising they need to scuttle into a hole. Hence tomorrow’s office should have enough space to have one to one chatting. Décor will have to be high on the agenda too. Shabby conditions depress many office workers and dull their minds but clean discreetly coloured walls are an aid to calm, constructed thoughts. The colours, however, should be natural, so that staff are able to adapt the walls so that they can match their own taste and personalities – with photographs, posters and whatever else you might like to put into your office to feel more comfortable.
Generous use of glass is another means of brightening up the office. The theory is that large windows physically let in more light and psychologically encourage cleaner
Thinking. If there is more glass there should be fewer venetian blinds, which symbolise the opposite of transparency.
Electronic record keeping is so much more efficient and it saves space. Designers say filling can easily be cut by 50% in most offices.
Sick building syndrome needs to be eliminated as this can make people ill. The answer maybe is to insist on water based paints and minimal use of toxic chemicals and also adhesives. Consequently employees stay with a company, they feel better and the staffing difficulties and recruitment costs are reduced.
So a desirable office environment is not too difficult to achieve; de – clutter, take down unnecessary divisions, add some natural colours on the walls and you’re nearly there. And with all of the extra space you should have on the desks, why not co –ordinate some great looking desk items from The Corporate Gifts Co; here are five great example from our website.
1) Lunar post it holder
2) Boomerang letter opener
3) Star desk award paper weight
4) Decision maker pen stand
5) Chrome puzzle globe


Staff Incentives – Help your staff help you… and save money at the same time.

 Thursday, January 22nd, 2009

And cost effective way of inspiring your staff into going the extra mile is to reward them for working hard or well. Don’t just give everyone in your company a gift to say thank you (although that does work), it is far better to target your best workers intelligently, in this way you decrease your spend and maximise the effect.

At the Corporate Gifts Company we talk to end users everyday about their needs, a case in point which illustrates the above comments is that of a regular client of ours… The company in question is an independent Estate Agent in London, every year the company spends £20 on a Christmas gifts for the people who work there. This year was different because of necessary cost saving procedures. The MD still wanted to show his appreciation to his staff and ask me how… So I suggested that rather than the usual ~ £500 spend, why not run a internal competition with 5 Engraved Star Awards costing at total of: £200. Each of the 5 awards would be given to a member of staff once a month, at an impromptu and fun awards ceremony at the end of each month. The award could be kept on the recipient’s desk until a new winner is chosen the following month.

The Awards are:

  • Best Monthly Sales
  • Biggest Individual Sale
  • Best Customer Service
  • Best Administration
  • Silliest Comment

This initiative increases productivity within the organisation; it evolves a fun environment to work in without taking it too far.


What a Mock Up!

 Thursday, January 15th, 2009

We just thought that we’d spend a little time showing some of our mock-ups off…

We often get companies asking us for bespoke products, awards, keyrings, jewellery, bottle stoppers and just about anything you can imagine! Our normal process is to get our graphics department to design a mock-up based on the logo & brief, we then get a quote based on mock-up.

Below are some examples of our recent concepts.

If you have a requirement for bespoke products then give us a go, we can normally get a design to you within 1 hour.

Some of our most popular bespoke items are:

  • Bespoke Jewellery, in any shape or finish
  • Custom Jewellery in precious metals
  • Bespoke Awards in any shape
  • Bespoke Awards in any size or material
  • Bespoke Cufflinks:
    • Engraved
    • Hard enamelled
    • Soft enamelled
    • Epoxy domed insert
    • Die Stamped
    • 3D Moulded

Awards & Trophies Galore

 Monday, January 12th, 2009

The Corporate Gifts Company visited The Trophex Exhibition at the NEC today, in order to get lots of new ideas for Awards and Trophies for our clients. So watch this space… We have already been providing a bespoke awards service and are planning to massively increase this capability shortly.

So from Slate to Silver and Glass to Gold we’ll be able to help. In order to keep lead-time short, we’ll be stocking a selection of appropriate & easily personalised Awards to complement our premium range.

So if you have an awards evening coming up or perhaps a sporting event email us with your requirementa and we’ll get straight back to you with as many options as you’ll ever need.


UK vs FAR EAST

 Wednesday, December 31st, 2008

When the Corporate Gifts Company started in business almost 20 years ago, all our promotional items and corporate gifts were either made by us, or other UK manufacturers. As with a lot of industries, we found we couldn’t compete with Far Eastern imports and reluctantly hung up our manufacturing boots, so to speak, and joined the masses importing from the Far East. We ensured we only worked with quality suppliers and the range of our products grew and grew.
With recent “reversals” in currency exchange rates (from an importers’ perspective of course) and soaring costs out of the Far East, suddenly “Made in the UK” is now less of rose tinted view of past times and more of a reality.
We at the Corporate Gift Company are only too happy to grab the opportunity of manufacturing again in the UK, and we are currently working on lots of new ideas to launch in the new year. There are lots of benefits that will directly effect the service and product we can offer.
1. Made in the UK means a vastly reduced carbon footprint – no shipping a promotional product from one side of the world to another.
2. Although we always strive to work only with ethical suppliers (as you can see from our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy, manufacturing ourselves or with well known UK companies means that ethical issues are even more assured.
3. Faster turn around times. Obviously when we have an item in stock our turnaround times for plain or branded promotional items are second to none. But the time for replenishing stock from the Far East is becoming longer and longer. Items made in the UK will be faster.
4. Bespoke Items (awards, trophies, plaques, corporate jewellery) will become even more flexible with more options and faster turnarounds.
So, watch this space. There’ll be loads of new and exciting product launched on the website in January.


New Products Coming Soon

 Saturday, December 27th, 2008

Here at the Corporate Gifts Co we are always working to develop and expand our product range, and despite all the economic doom and gloom, we are striving forward with some really exciting new promotional product ideas for 2009. After all, promotional activity is essential to drive your company forward, whatever the economic outlook, and when it’s this bad, you need new and cool incentives and premiums to drive new sales.
So what are we working on?
Well, we are developing a range of eco-friendly, ethically sourced awards which will be available in standard models “off the shelf” and also bespoke options using our free design service.
My favourite is a new innovative range of promotional aluminium folders and office accessories manufactured in the UK. Again, these will be available off the shelf and as special bespoke orders. These will be great for promotion of documents and product launches and, well, the list is endless.
More Sterling Silver; our current range of sterling silver promotional items is proving so popular we are working hard on significantly expanding the range.
That’s just a small selection of the new promotional incentives we’ll be launching next year. Some are already available so if you’re particularly interested in any of the above, give our promotions sales team a call. As they say, watch this space!


Corporate Social Responsibility

 Monday, December 15th, 2008

The Corporate Gifts Company are delighted to publish our CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) on our website.

The Corporate Gifts Company are members of SEDEX; The Supplier Ethical Data Exchange which aims to provide transparency in supply chains to the standards of the ETI base code (the internationally recognised standard for ethical trading). Check out our policy at;

http://www.corporate-gifts-co.com/acatalog/corporate_social_responsibility.html

This is an ongoing process and The Corporate Gifts Company will soon be able to guarantee ethically sourced product clearly labelled on the website – watch this space!

Of course, a lot of our product is already responsibly manufactured and sourced. For example; sterling silver items are made in the UK so carbon footprint is lower than imported items, any waste material is recycled, and the products themselves can be recycled (if anybody would actually want to do that with one of our sterling silver gifts). Check out our range at;

http://www.corporate-gifts-co.com/acatalog/corporate_gifts_sterling_silver.html

Leather is a natural material, the waste or offcuts are made into smaller leather items or can be recycled into bonded leather (as can the finished items themselves). See our exclusive range of leather promotional items at;

http://www.corporate-gifts-co.com/acatalog/corporate_gifts_leather.html

And if you’re looking for an award with a conscience, why not try our slate or marble options; 150 million years old, UK quarried and manufactured. The look fantastic too.

http://www.corporate-gifts-co.com/acatalog/corporate_gifts_bespoke_awards.html

For any enquiries about specific products or recycled, recyclable, or ethically sourced options, please call our sales team.


SAY THANK YOU!

 Thursday, November 6th, 2008

We can’t get away from gloomy economic news, and there’s no doubt that company staff will really need to pull together to get through these challenging times. Keeping morale high when all around you are losing theirs is no small task. So how can you keep the momentum going? At the Corporate Gift Company, we have a few ideas for affordable premium incentives.

Big Ideas : we all need to be thinking hard about how to save costs or find new customers. Reward good ideas with an engraved gift as a token of appreciation. This star paperweight is perfect and The Corporate Gift Company can engrave individual items; http://www.corporate-gifts-co.com/acatalog/corporate_gifts_star_desk_award_paperweight.html

Team Building; it doesn’t have to be a trek through the Amazon rain forest, you can effectively team build in all sorts of ways (even a night out bowling will do the trick). Comemorate or recognose the event with a celebrational item like this champagne bottle stopper; http://www.corporate-gifts-co.com/acatalog/corporate_gifts_celebration_champagne_stopper.html

Celebrate Birthdays; it gives a real lift to everyone when their birthday is recognised in the workplace; what about this travel clock engraved with the person’s name… Employee of the month? An old cliche (and brilliant film if you haven’t seen it yet), but still effective; This star award was made for this http://www.corporate-gifts-co.com/acatalog/corporate_gifts_star_trophy_award2.html

Say thank you to the team for hitting a target or getting a big order; just a little thankyou like this torch keyring will go a long way; http://www.corporate-gifts-co.com/acatalog/corporate_gifts_torch_keyring.html

And that’s just a few ideas, the list of opportunities is long and the list of our products that will help you make it happen is even longer, so give our expert sales team a call or browse the website to give you some inspiration.


GREEN AWARDS

 Monday, November 3rd, 2008

There’s so much misinformation and misunderstanding about what makes a product green or eco friendly that when sourcing promotional products that need to be ecologically sound, you need to take a step back and really consider what you’re being told.

At the Corporate Gifts Company we have a range of promotional awards to fit any budget and fulfil any brief. And if it’s a “green” award your looking for, then we’ve got just the thing for you. http://www.corporate-gifts-co.com/acatalog/info%5fcorporate%5fgifts%5fbespoke%5fawards%5f8%2ehtml

This is an example of green slate; a totally natural material, 150 million years old, mined and manufactured using traditional craft techniques in the UK. This traingular shape has been laser engraved directly into the surface.

 Also very popular is our black slate. We can also use metal plates and designs to give your promotion maximum effect; http://www.corporate-gifts-co.com/acatalog/info%5fcorporate%5fgifts%5fbespoke%5fawards%5f6%2ehtml

Slate or marble can be cut into any shape and size and has a very high perceived value.

Other award options can be found at; http://www.corporate-gifts-co.com/acatalog/corporate_gifts_engraved_awards.html

 Ask our experienced sales team for ideas on how we can help with your promotional award requirements.