The I Love Rewards softball team, the Brutal Bats (named as an homage to our famous “Confronting The Brutal Facts” quarterly meetings) had a great inaugural season in the TCSSC recreational division. The Bats played hard all year and wound up in second place in the division in regular season play. This cast us in the role of the “lovable underdogs” in a winner-take-all championship battle last Wednesday against the undefeated Toronto Booze Jays. We tried our best, but our opponents were formidable competitors, and unfortunately the Gold-Glove stylings of outfielder Zaid (”Vernon Wells”) Rasid and shortstop Greg (”Johnny Mac”) Moore, and the clutch hitting of Zakir (”JEEEEEEEEEEEEANNNNS”)  Hemraj and inspiring leadership of coach Jerry (Cito) Mulloor weren’t enough to get us the win. However, we had a lot of fun (and post-game beer and nachos and wings) this season. Employee participation was very high, and we even had some I Love Rewards fans in the stands cheering us on at the championship game.

We’re already looking forward to a new sport to take on this fall. Any suggestions?

The current Incentive Performance Center newsletter, The Performance Executive, just published a great summary of survey results that demonstrate the value and importance of employee engagement. Here’s what they had to say:

For those companies still looking for evidence of a dollars-and-cents return on efforts to engage employees, channel partners, and customers, here’s a rundown of recently-reported survey results:

• A recent BlessingWhite study found a clear correlation between engagement and retention, with 85% of engaged employees indicating that they plan to stay with their employer for at least the next 10 months.
• Towers Perrin found that high-engagement firms experienced an earnings-per-share (EPS) growth rate of 28%, compared with an 11.2% decline for low-engagement firms.
• Gallup research indicates that public organizations ranking in the top quartile of employee engagement had EPS growth more than two-and-a-half times greater than organizations that were below average.
• Data from Best Buy shows that stores where employee engagement increased by a tenth of a point (on a five-point scale) experienced a $100,000 increase in annual sales.
• JC Penney has found that stores with top-quartile engagement scores generate roughly 10% more in sales per square foot than average and 36% more operating income than similar-sized stores in the lowest quartile.
• A Manpower survey of call-center customers and employees revealed that centers with high employee satisfaction also have high customer satisfaction, whereas centers with low employee satisfaction have low customer satisfaction.
• A report by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) estimates that by strengthening engagement, Molson Coors saved more than $1.7 million in one year – citing one example where the average cost of a “safety incident” for an engaged employee was $63, compared with an average of $392 for a disengaged employee.
• Gallup research has also shown that engaged employees are more productive, profitable, safer, create stronger customer relationships and stay longer with their companies than less engaged employees.

What are you doing about employee engagement in your organization?

I Love Rewards is big on the idea of setting goals, making them measurable and then going about attaining them.  Each year we choose something that we want to accomplish, it’s a personal challenge that doesn’t necessarily have to do with the company.  Some people choose to write their GMAT, some to buy a house, some to find love.  I’m proud to say that in October 2007 I committed to taking part in the Tour for Kids and to raising $5,000 to help send children living with and beyond cancer to summer camp.  Today, August 19^th, 2008 I can say that I’ve achieved my personal Top 1 for the year and thanks in large part to the support and generosity of friends, family and colleagues I can also say that I exceeded my fundraising goal. 

A little about the Tour For Kids. 

The 4-day EPIC tour travels over the scenic country roads of Ontario’s cottage regions. Starting in central Mississauga, just west of Toronto and winding north through the granite outcroppings of majestic Muskoka. Bending east, the route rolls over the hills of Haliburton before entering the glacial moraine and cedar forests of the Kawarthas. The final leg runs westward through farm country back to Mississauga.  In total cyclist participating in the 4 day event cover 852 kms of road all in an effort to raise funds for three camps dedicated to allowing children living with cancer come to camp and “just be kids.”  The camps we ride for are Camp Oochigeas, Camp Trillium and Camp Quality, in my opinion there are not more amazing places in the world.  Staffed by loving people who take time out of their schedules to come and let kids be KIDS.  The impact is remarkable.  (To learn more about the tour check out www.tourforkids.com)

Each of the 4 days starts with a reminder of the cause we are riding for and a dedication is given.  Stories are told of how Oochigeas, Trillium and Camp Quality have changed children’s lives.  I can attest there wasn’t a dry eye in the group of 400 cyclists; it was a heavy way to start the day but certainly set the tone for why we were riding the tour. 

Day 1, we left Mississauga bound for Gravenhurst, 230 KM’s of beautiful country roads with the sun shining down.  Everyone had a fabulous day, rode very hard, very fast and arrived at our destination 71/2 hours after we left Mississauga.  It was a great day on the bike meeting new people and challenging each other to ride faster.  A number of riders in my group had taken part in the Coast to Coast ride against Cancer, a 9,000 km, 19 day journey from Vancouver to Halifax.  Needless to say, they were strong, fast and very fun to ride with.   Meeting them encouraged me to set my goal for 2010, more on that to come. 

Day 2, a 6:30 am start sends us out for a 100 km loop around Muskoka we then make the trip over to Hailburton.  It seemed a little unfair having to ride 100 km just to get back to where you started  but the ride around the Muskoka’s was fabulous, the lakes were beautiful and hills were challenging.  As we leave the campground my heart is heavy thinking of all the kids who not through any choice of their own end up going to camp Trillium, the camp we dedicated the days ride to.  People who have not experienced cancer do not know how lucky they are.  I count my blessings as I leave the camp.  I can’t focus for long on this feeling as the ride heats up quickly and we start flying towards Bracebridge, the hills cruise by, the lakes and rivers of Muskoka are sensational.  Then I crashed. 30 km’s into the day, a bus brushed a number of cyclists, it didn’t touch us but sent shock through the pack, people slammed on their brakes and a few of us piled up on the road.  Everyone was ok and carried on.  I was cut and bruised but otherwise fortunate enough to be able to continue riding.  After catching my group and then riding 200 km’s in total we arrived in the pounding rain at our destination in Haliburton.  I was tired and beat up but the volunteers from the Tour for Kids were fabulous, they had thought of everything.  They even had hot chicken noodle soup ready for us as we pulled in.  The night in camp was hosted by Camp Trillium, we had fun, played games and eased our aching muscles….. 

Day 3, Today I hurt!! As I warm up I realize that sitting in the saddle doesn’t feel right, my legs ache, my back is stiff.  After the dedication from Camp Quality we set out for a fabulous but painful ride through the hilly country around Haliburton.  It’s challenging terrain and from the start things are falling apart.  Our pace group immediately starts having mechanical problems and we are forced to wait for one another (a cyclist riding any distance is always smarter to ride with others as it greatly decreases their energy output) parts are flying off bikes, tires are going flat, people are getting tired!! We ride the first 100 km’s in what feels like an eternity.  When we arrive at lunch we discover that the mechanical curse has been happening to most groups and that the mechanics from the Gears Cycling shop have been run ragged.  After a big lunch and more repairs to our machines we set out bound for Peterborough.  Everyone wants to get to the end of the stage, to a real bed at Trent University and to the famous “Chicken” (AKA beer) that is so desperately craved.  It’s this part of the ride that I think was probably the most fun.  My group of 4 riders turned onto a straight stretch of road that seemed to go forever, a slight negative incline and a tail wind had us cruising in excess of 45 kmph for the better part of an hour.  We were howling with excitement by the time we got to the 175 km mark just outside Peterborough.  We felt amazing and knew that we would be finished soon. 

The night at Trent was hosted by Camp Quality; they put on a great show, told stories about their favorite times at camp.  Their stories left us teary but so happy that we had been able to help.

 Day 4, The Final stretch, we awoke to a beautiful sunny day, the dedication today was from all three camps, we heard from a family whose son had just graduated from grade 8 and who was riding the full stage with us.  He was a remarkable kid with a love for the bike.  We also heard from a mother who sent two children to camp Oochigeas she brought everyone to tears as she told us of her son who she had lost to cancer.  She was riding in memory of him (she had also never ridden a bike prior to this event).  I was simply amazed to see her at the finish line in Mississauga. 

As we set out the road was challenging but it was our final day and we wanted to get home.  The day flew by; we all enjoyed our time together working over the hills that make up the trip between Peterborough and the finish line.

As we came back into the city the groups rode together, chatting, smiling and feeling an amazing sense of accomplishment.  You grow close to people over 852 on a bike together.  People who I just met 4 days prior but who I feel as though I know much better now.  As we came to the finish area at the Mississauga Civic Center a huge crowd welcomed us in, a band was playing and a “players only” area was set up for us to grab a bite to eat, and socialize with our new found friends.  It felt great to be off the bike and to have accomplished my personal Top 1.    

The Tour for Kids was an amazing event, the best organized event I’ve ever taken part in.  Their volunteers thought of everything, their smiles and desire to help was simply remarkable and it made for a very memorable experience.  By taking part in this event I accomplished my Personal top 1, set my goal for the next three years (I plan on Riding the Coast To Coast Ride Against Cancer in 2010) and made room in my heart for a very remarkable cause. I’m honored to have taken part in this event and thank my supporters for their donations and encouragement along the way, the volunteers for everything they did and the camps for offering a place where kids living with and beyond cancer can go and just be KIDS!!

Chris Ferron

Last week at our monthly Rewards & Recognition lunch, the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) squared off in a winner take all (recognition, bragging rights, etc.) competition. The SLT divided up into 2 teams in an Iron Chef format and prepared lunch for everyone. We (Razor & I) won the competition and there were a few valuable lessons that are applicable to your business that I’d like to cook up and serve you.

1. Focus on your whole offering, not just your products/services. We knew we were outmatched when it came to menu and preparation. We didn’t know what Tim & Farhan were cooking, but we knew they would (and did) have us. They flew in fresh lobster as their main course! Our edge was to consider the entire dining experience, not just the food. From the moment the “customers” entered, they were looked after. Signage guided them to the rooftop patio where we greeted them, seated them at decorated tables and served them drinks and their lunch. By focusing on the entire experience, we gave them more than they were expecting and beat our competition that focused only on the food.

2. When you provide an experience and subsequently drop the ball, customers will be very forgiving. On a few occasions, we forgot to get someone their drink or something else they asked for. Instead of complaints, we got reminders or people looked after themselves and even so, scored us higher. If you are consistently providing your customers with a positive experience, they will be more understanding when you make a mistake.

3. Put effort into recognizing your team. In fact, cook them lunch! We all put in a lot of effort and I believe it was appreciated, much more so than taking someone out for lunch.

4. Lastly, always be on the lookout for lessons in the most obscure places!

Razor recently had a conversation with Mark Dowds - blogger and co-founder of Brainpark, about how employers can build a democratic workplace that promotes employee engagement and cultivates a culture of recognition. Read on!

The Future of Work

I have been spending some time digging through old notes and thoughts on leadership and work culture as I prepare for the first Brainpark staff offsite. Our gatherings up until this moment have been all focused on product design and development. This retreat we are focused on who we are as a company and what we hope to become when we grow up.

In the process of my homework I interviewed Razor Suleman from I Love Rewards (who just closed their Series A financing yesterday from JLA). The main overview of topics we covered were as follows:

• The role of transparency in the workplace
• How rewards and recognition impact employees
• What are the benefits and challenges associated with rewarding employees
• Intersection between rewards/recognition and democracy in the workplace

The reason for being so diligent in my research is that I believe the current forms and systems of many organizations has created some form of half-life zombie employees. People who are not utterly dead but lack the life and passion of genuine humanity. Their voice is no longer heard and their contribution is prescriptive. The search for new ways to gain employee engagement is essential for building great 21st century corporations that have cultures where people want to belong.

Razor talked about creating a culture that over-communicates so that more people have more information that empowers them to make decisions. Within I Love Rewards they have structured several ways to elicit the information that is often buried in other organizations. One of these mechanisms is a simple quarterly report called “Brutal Facts” which highlights the mistakes being made in order that they may become a true learning organization that adjusts based on external feedback. By a show of hands they then vote on the top 2 issues and discuss how they will tackle it before the next quarter.

Another interesting process Razor has set in place is that each week every employee gets a blank “thank you” card which they can fill in and give to someone else in the organization who has made their lives better or more productive within the last week. This one reminds me of one I learned from Philip Rosedale (Founder and Chair, Linden Lab - Second Life) called The Love Machine. This is a simple online tool they developed where at any point in time during a day someone could give a specific thank you to anyone else in the organization. Beyond the immediate positive culture this creates they discovered many side benefits that show flash points and contribution within the company.

The final thing I will note in this post about the interview with Razor was that they instituted monthly rewards and recognition lunches where everyone in the company can clearly see who is doing well. These meetings are celebrations that are open to their clients also. I was kindly invited to show up and experience one of these the next time I am back in Toronto.

When I was in Vancouver yesterday I mentioned some of this to Kareem Mayan and he kindly sent me over his Delicious research list on the topic which will keep me reading for a while…

If anyone has any recommendations of helpful processes that can create a high performance and engaged company I would love to hear from you. This next week we will be wrestling through and dreaming about the basic and simple things we can do that make us a desirable place to work.

For those interested in leadership, democracy, and empowerment I would highly recommend coming to New York for the Worldblu Live conference. Download worldblu_live_2008_oct. 16-17 NYC.pdf

 I Love Rewards Completes $4.7 million Series A

Financing Round led by JLA Ventures

·       I Love Rewards secures an additional $1.5 million to complete its Series A financing round, resulting in a total of $4.7 million raised.

·         The additional funding will finance I Love Rewards’ expansion into the United States under the brand ReThink Rewards (www.rethinkrewards.com).

TORONTO, July 31, 2008 – I Love Rewards Inc., a North American web-based corporate rewards and recognition firm, today announced that it has completed a $4.7 million Series A financing round led by JLA Ventures with participation from Laurence Capital, senior management and other angel investors.

In November of 2007, I Love Rewards secured financing to fund the development of I Love Rewards Express, a software as a service rewards platform that allows clients to build custom web-based incentive programs in minutes.

Funds from today’s additional $1.5 million will go towards financing the next stage of I Love Rewards’ aggressive expansion strategy, the launch of its American brand ReThink Rewards.

“The marked increase in demand for corporate incentive programs in North America coupled with our web-based Express platform and proven track record in Canada will drive our push into the American market,” said I Love Rewards founder and CEO, Razor Suleman. “The launch of ReThink Rewards is the next step in achieving our vision of becoming the global leader in web-based rewards and recognition solutions.”

“I Love Rewards is well on its way to becoming the premier rewards and recognition program provider,” said John Albright, Managing Partner, JLA Ventures. “Their success in Canada is a good indication of what they are capable of and we look forward to being a part of ReThink Rewards’ exciting future.”

This announcement coincides with the addition of David Brennan, CA, as Chief Financial Officer, I Love Rewards. Brennan has held senior management positions with Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers), AT&T Capital (acquired by Newcourt Capital), Bank of Montreal, PixStream Incorporated (acquired by Cisco Systems), Sirific Wireless (acquired by Icera Inc.) and most recently as Chief Financial Officer at ALT Software Inc.

I Love Rewards (www.iloverewards.com) develops innovative web-based reward solutions for small and medium- sized businesses and Fortune 1000 companies including Bell Sympatico, Sage Software and Rogers Communications. I Love Rewards is one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for 2007 and 2008 and ranked #12 on the PROFIT 100 list of Canada’s Fastest-Growing Companies of 2007. CEO Razor Suleman is the recipient of the 2007 Young Entrepreneur Award for Ontario by The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC).

About JLA Ventures

JLA Ventures is one of Canada’s leading venture capital firms that invests in growth companies that are focused on the Internet, digital media, e-commerce, communications security, mobile computing, and enterprise software companies.

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Recently, at I Love Rewards, we had the opportunity to enjoy some live comedy provided by one of our own employees who is also a professional comedian, Carly Jones. Carly’s performance was part of a First Round Friday hosted by the Life Committee. First Round Friday occurs at I Love Rewards every Friday at 5 and gives the opportunity for employees to get together with their coworkers and enjoy some food and drinks. The Life committee is a committee put together to enhance the personal and professional development of I Love Rewards employees. Life thought it would be a great idea to host a comedy night. The event included host Zaid Rasid, who heads the Life Committee, plus Michael Shaw an IT developer who used his manager Farhan Thawar as a prop for what was a ventriloquist act few I Love Reward employees would soon forget. In addition, David Brennan, Chief Financial Officer at I Love Rewards surprised everyone with a five minute stand up act that proved that the world of finance is more than excel spreadsheets.

Enjoy Carly’s performance below as she headlined the Funniest First Round Friday ever:

Zaid Rasid
Life Coach

One thing we do really well here at I Love Rewards is our monthly Rewards and Recognition (R&R) Luncheon.  The purpose of this event is to take a step back and recognize all the hard work that people have done over the past month.  This month, the CUTO (Culture up the Office) Committee was in charge of R&R, and we chose the theme of House Party (based on Kid n’ Play’s 1990 movie).  It was the first R&R in our new space, and it was nothing short of a success!  Like always, the food was great, the energy was high, and we shared plenty of laughs!

If you remember a while back, Naomi Simson - founder of Red Balloon Days - came in to to give us a talk.  We even blogged about it passionately.  People around here have been buzzing ever since, so we decided to give everyone a little treat at R&R… we brought her back.  Well, it wasn’t the “real” Naomi, but we had someone dress up like her, and included her in the skit :P  But to make it even more exciting, we gave the entire company a copy of her book, I Want What She’s Having. Talk about leaving your mark on a company, Naomi!

It’s that time of the month again! Our Developers have created some great functionality for our customers. There’s alot of things that are in the “backoffice” that help us service our  customers better, and we’re very excited about that. Things like better tracking, easier user management etc. But on our blog, I want to concentrate on the customer facing stuff!

Let’s get to the highlights…

• Amazon: We’re now shipping our American customers’ products using Amazon. This means a richer catalogue for them!  This is a great win for our team. Amazon has alot of products, and we’ve got the luxury of shopping for the best of them for our American customers. Why not for Canadian Customers you ask? Amazon doesn’t ship out of Canada, so we are at the mercy of the border crossing… have you shopped in Buffalo lately? :)  But don’t worry,  we’re always on the search for newer and better products for all of our customers so our catalogue continues to evolve every month.
• Claim Tool: We now have a claim tool that works for all sorts of our customers, some that sell in a dealer channel, others who record volunteer days worked, you name it, if you want to recognize & reward a behaviour, you can capture it! I am very happy how this tool was built, it allows customers to create their own form, with checks in it, and drop downs, it’s good for any type of customer. We’re continuing to evolve this one, but it’s ready for the prime time!

If you are a customer today, this functionality went live July 2nd… Contact your Client Development Manager to get started…

Today marks the end of our first week in the new office.  The response from the company has been great… everybody seems to be enjoying the open space, large windows, and 25-foot ceilings!  I thought I’d write a quick post highlighting the things the CUTO (Culture Up The Office) Committee did to make this place suitable for our CULTure.

• We painted the walls with our brand colors (gray and blue).
• The center of the office is marked with a rectangular blue meeting room, that we have coined ‘The Cube’.  It’s kind of like the energy box from which everything gets it’s power
• Street signs have been put up to mark each department.
• We’ve left a large open space at the back of the office to facilitate our daily company-wide meeting: TTP (To The Point).
• Inspirational quotes chosen by our employees have been placed all over the office in large blue and white text.
• We’ve taken the RedPoint lounge from our old office and re-created it in a more spacious area with comfortable seating and a library.
• In I Love Rewards fashion, we’ve installed numerous first-class whiteboards to capture the creative thoughts of our employees.
• We’ve named a lot of our smaller meeting rooms after office locations we’ve had in the past (e.g. the 99 Atlantic Room) to ensure we never forget our history.

There’s a lot more, but it’s probably just better if I show you pictures instead.  (I know there are still some loose wires and boxes around, but hey, we’ve only been here 5 days )

Business / Client Development

Lots of open space

The RedPoint Lounge

Finance from the Mezzanine

TTP area

Information Technology

The Cube from a distance

Presentation Room

Inspirational Mahatma Gandhi quote

Memories from our old company…

The Values Wall

The EatIn Center (cafeteria)

The I Love Rewards Family

One of the best things about people here at I Love Rewards is just how driven everyone is. People here are continuously motivated by different goals, whether at work or in their own lives. Recently, I have become more and more involved in competing in various runs such as the Toronto 5 k run or Auckland Quarter Marathon, motivating myself to do better in each race I compete in. So when I was asked to head up a company running club as my task for the Life vision committee, I jumped (or ran) at the chance. I have always wanted to share my experiences with other individuals and help them achieve any of their own individual running goals. And since running helps promote a healthy lifestyle, the running club went hand in hand with the goals of the Life committee.

The I Love Rewards running club helps create a healthy, friendly team atmosphere to help individuals reach their running goals. Currently, the running club meets every week on Tuesday after work where I Love Rewards employees of different speeds or running backgrounds can run together side by side. One of the main things I’ve tried to enforce in the club is that not everyone necessarily has to run together, but no one ends up running alone or is left behind. So far, everyone who was come out running with the club has had a great time.

The Toronto Marathon runs every October and the running club is helping to increase company wide participation in the event. We are hoping to get competitors in the 5k run and even the half marathon. I am beginning to track running club members progress and help push them to be prepared when October comes around. But I hope that after the marathon ends, that people still want to get together after work some days and just go for a run.

Thanks for checking in with us today- we finished the move in record time and will be out of the office until Monday! Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you again soon. Liveblog out!

As we’re cleaning up the last things left behind from our new office’s former incarnation as the Sony/BMG building, Tim was thrilled to discover a memento from his past as a beloved entertainer…

As leader of the CUTO (Culture Up The Office) committee, I was given the task of making this place breathe our CULTure. One way our committee did that was to put up inspirational quotes all over our gray an blue walls. One quote in the I.T. area is by Robin Sharma, and it says, “The person who tries to do everything, accomplishes nothing.” This couldn’t have proven truer today. We were initially supposed to take 2 days to finish off this excruciatingly painful move. 12 hours in, with unremitting teamwork, we’re almost done! Everyone has decided to gear up, and do whatever it takes to finish this thing off today so that we don’t have to work through the weekend. I can’t wait to post pictures of the final result. Bravo I Love Rewards… Bravo!

When I used to hear ‘the wall’ I used to think of Pink Floyd’s top selling album. From now on, I’ll think of our reception wall in the new InCentre.

Of all the things that had to be moved, assembled, plugged in, there is one wall that I think has got the most attention… and is taking up WAY MUCH MORE time than I’m sure we all expected! It is well worth it though, as it’s our PR wall in reception highlighting all the media and press received by I Love Rewards (then again, being in the Marketing Department I’m a little biased!)

Poor Mike, Chris, Rachel and Amanda have been working on this all day and I’m sure they’re realizing now that maybe they shouldn’t have gotten involved! So as I sit on the other side of ‘the wall’ hearing them hammer away, remove hooks, and hammer away to get it just right, I’m so happy with how it’s all turning out! Thanks!

Along with our wonderful new table (as mentioned in the previous post), and ‘the wall’ in our reception area, our first impression to all of our guests will definitely impress!

…I’m looking forward to when we get MORE PR and we need to find another wall!

Rob Catalano

Manager, Marketing