Maritz launches global rewards catalogue
Maritz Incentives' "Exclusively Yours" programme is now global and be adjusted regionally to provide relevant benefits to employees in a way that they can understand easily.
Maritz Incentives, which designs and manages employee incentive and recognition programmes in more than 80 countries, has launched an "Exclusively Yours" global rewards catalogue. In August, Maritz Incentives rolled out the global rewards catalogue programme for its first client, an major high tech company.
The programme helps multinational companies boost employee and sales force performance worldwide by tailoring employee reward selection by region and country, taking into account the native language and culture.
Requests doubled According to Maritz Incentives' international product manager, Kurt Hosna, "The number of our multinational clients who request truly global incentive programmes has been on the rise for the last several years, but we've seen those requests more than double in just the last year."
Maritz has partnered with a network of rewards solution associates throughout the world to provide the on-the-ground expertise necessary to identify the right rewards and tailor programmes for different cultures. Each employee incentive or recognition programme participant is given a personalised password.
Tailored features When users log in, the catalogue automatically tailors features for them based on where they are located:
- Culturally Appropriate Rewards The catalogue automatically displays employee reward offerings based on the local customs, styles and trends of the participant. For instance, in India, mopeds are featured and in Hong Kong, dried mushrooms are included in the rewards collection.
- Language Initially, the catalogue will launch with 14 languages and provides the ability to add additional languages. Language will be displayed based on the location of each participant.
- Delivery logistics With associates positioned around the world, the catalogue's merchandise is shipped by in-country or regional facilities. This means rewards shipments don't have to go through lengthy customs processes and, in most cases, money is saved by avoiding customs and duty fees.
- In-region operational support Coordination across time zones and language barriers can be difficult. To solve this, Maritz offers representatives throughout the world to assist programme participants in their native language with reward redemption questions. Customer service is provided in-country or in-region by Maritz solution associates.
Holistic solution The programme also offers ways to tailor the catalogue for regional or cultural differences through programme design:
- Cost of living Employees earn points that they apply toward winning rewards. The programme provides a holistic solution that allows adjustments of participant payouts based on cost of living differences in order to offer equitable incentive rewards to all employees. For example, an expensive watch in emerging countries may be equivalent to six months' salary. For other countries, it could be less than a month's salary.
- Relevant rules structure Programmes can be tailored to have different rules, structure and performance goals for each region. This enables companies to adjust for local culture and market conditions, while still ensuring regional performance goals feed into the company's overall global objectives. For example, if the global goal is to boost top-line sales growth, the programme can include regional targets and objectives to achieve the appropriate regional increases. There would probably be completely different growth expectation and programme structures in an emerging market versus a mature market.
- Programme communications Materials and information on incentive and recognition programmes that are distributed to employees can also be communicated "in culture" using local communication styles and colloquialisms. For example, US sports metaphors, such as "hit a home run", are often used in employee incentive programmes. However, that phrase doesn't translate well in other cultures where baseball is uncommon.
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