MODERATOR: Hello and welcome to today's webinar. We're so glad that you could all join us. We will send out a link to the on demand recording of this webinar later today, so watch for that in your inboxes.
And if you have a question for our panelists today, please drop it in the chat and we'll make sure to make time for those questions at the end of today's presentation.
We are delighted to welcome these two speakers to the O.C. Tanner webinar stage today. Joining us today, we have Jennifer Holley. Jen is the senior manager of culture and inclusion at Breakthru Beverage Group, the third largest beverage-alcohol distributor in the US. She leads culture programs and initiatives such as the Cheers, Recognition, and Live Well programs, milestone anniversaries, summer of service, Associate Research Groups, Culture Ambassadors, and Live Well champions.
With more than thirty years of experience in food and beverage operations, team building, business development, leadership, and brand management, Jen has built a career defined by excellence and impact.
At Breakthru, Jen has been recognised for her leadership in cultivating a workplace culture of recognition, advancing corporate social responsibility initiatives, and ensuring the company's nine thousand five hundred associates feel connected, supported, and empowered to achieve their full potential.
Her contributions have strengthened collaboration, elevated employee engagement, and amplified community focused efforts, all while bringing the Breakthru experience to life.
Joining Jen today is Adam Cranford, a managing director here at O.C. Tanner who oversees client relationships in the New York metro area.
Adam has been with O.C. Tanner for almost three and a half years and in the recognition industry for over eight years.
With that, I will turn the time over to you, Jen and Adam.
ADAM CRANFORD: Perfect. Thank you, Raven, and thank you for being here, Jen. Really, really excited to collaborate with you. Wanted to see if you could just kick us off by giving us some background on Breakthru Beverage Group.
JENNIFER HOLLEY: Absolutely. And thank you, Raven, for bringing us all together today and Adam for the invitation.
I would gladly talk about Breakthru all day, but I brought a quick video to give everyone a snapshot of who we are and what we're about. So Raven, if you wouldn't mind rolling that footage for us.
Thank you. I always love the music in that. Always gets me, my energy levels going. So thank you for letting me share.
ADAM: Yeah, so great. Thank you for sharing that great video and background.
So going back to how this all started, Jen, tell us a little bit about the vision in guiding this rollout process. And then two part question, what were some of the main goals when it came to orchestrating this big project and investment for Breakthru Beverage Group?
JEN: Absolutely.
We already started to lay the groundwork. We had the foundation as an organisation with our associate value proposition and really communicating to our associates the value of working for our company and what that meant to be part of the Breakthru experience.
And then we had our people vision. We wanted to be the place where everyone wants to work.
And so when we talked about recognition specifically, we actually built it into our pillars for that people vision. So, you have attract and retain the best talent, empower associates, grow our talent, cultivate a purpose, and then we put in reward performance and unleash technology.
And so that was started as part of our core values and our approach to how we were gonna go about this thing called the Breakthru experience.
But we knew recognition was happening. We knew it was happening in pockets. We had Yammer, we had Teams, we have emails, team text messages, but we knew that there was some extra work to bubble up those wins to leaders. You had to create more decks. You had to have more meetings upon meetings to talk through these things.
Then we came to learn that not all leaders were proficient in giving recognition, right? And they shouldn't have to be.
They are hired for their purpose to lead their teams, right? So why wouldn't we expand their toolkit? Why wouldn't we support them in their leadership abilities and in their day to day responsibilities to really arm them with what they need to show up in the moment for their teams?
And so we also wanted to give our associates the opportunity to spotlight their own teammates and colleagues in that moment.
So it wasn't just leaders, it wasn't one way recognition.
And so we are a sales organisation, right? So the sales team primarily would get a lot of the accolades or some of the recognition moments, but we also, we wanted to talk through what that meant for our cross functional teams and our support teams.
We already knew our Canadian team had a solution, but not everyone outside of Canada saw that recognition.
So it really, really started during an associate engagement survey that we do once a year.
And we learned that not all of our associates said that when they do great work that it's celebrated or it's recognised. And so we knew we had to do something.
So our executive leadership team made it part of our annual operating plan. But it had a hitch. It had a timeline and it had a budget, but it was tied to a very specific time period. And that's where I entered my role as senior manager of culture and inclusion right around that same time.
And I was essentially told, you have ninety days to get this done. And there's a couple of reasons why. One, it's the budget, but also we moved another project that another division had slated for this time in the year that if this fails, we lose two budgets.
And this is something that our associates have very strongly said is important to them. It's something our executive leadership team said it's important to them because it's important to our people.
And so that's really where we had to challenge your team and say, okay, this is not one size fits all. We know you've been doing it for ninety eight years, but we're going to push the envelope. Have you ever done this in ninety days?
And your team's answer was, Not exactly, but it doesn't mean we can't. So let's roll up our sleeves and figure out how to do just that.
ADAM: Love it. Yeah. And kinda shifting into, you know, the overall rollout and plan, we ended up going with more of a phased approach. Can you tell us just a little bit more about what that looked like?
JEN: Absolutely.
My pro tip to everyone listening, whether you're a current client or not, is timelines and actions can be flexible. That's the one thing we learned through this whole process.
We had to take a really hard, honest look with the team, both internally and externally.
What was critical for launch?
What could be moved to later? Where did we really need to make that impact? Again, without without minimizing the associate experience, without them feeling that.
So we knew a couple of things, right? And Raven, feel free to go to the next slide because this one's fun. You get to watch it go through. This is our platform in action.
So we know we have sixteen markets in US and in Canada. We knew that Canada had a previous contract.
We moved that launch to October, right? So we didn't go full population.
When we first started this journey, our operations team was not in scope of this project because we had on the go deskless associates and had to solve for that. And our anniversaries and awards solution was not originally in scope. We moved that to May of '25.
And we had one market that we acquired through merger and acquisition in California that was not lined up with our HRIS system yet. So we actually moved that launch to March of this year.
So knowing that we weren't going to go full population alleviated a lot of that concern of, are we doing this the right way? We're going to make the impact immediately where we can and expand it out and really build the momentum on it through the year.
We also know that we had a diverse associate population with different ways to connect with them. We had deskless on the go associates. We had sales with iPads, had corporate associates with laptops. We had operations associates with company issued phones that we could use QR codes or digital screens as well.
But as you can see here, we wanted the look and feel to be consistent across the Breakthru experience, all communications, whether that's emails or intranet, our social media strategy, and then this platform that you see here.
And what was really great about this was we wanted to be connected to our industry. We wanted it to be fun and we wanted it to feel as if it was just another piece. It wasn't an asterisk in the associate experience.
And so as you can see here, there are some gifs in there, but you can see a lot of Breakthru specific branded custom e cards that we've created in here that our associates have really leaned into.
And this is live feed. This is not anything that we created just for today. This is actual e cards that have been given through our organisation recently. And so that's the really cool part is if you were to see this version versus other clients that O.C. Tanner has, you're going to see a very different look and feel to this experience.
And it's one that we're very proud of at Breakthru and something that we didn't see coming, Adam, right?
In our rollout experience when we did all this, our ecard program just took off in a completely different direction that we weren't expecting. And so when you realise that and you really take into account what is the associate, what is the end user experience going to be?
Have this kind of vision in your mind of something that you want it to look and feel like everything they do in their day to day. And it's not this extra thing that everybody has to be a part of. It's part of who we are and how we do our business.
ADAM: Love it.
Yeah. And I know, yeah, your rollout is just such a good example to me of just meaningful partnerships between a client and a vendor. Can you talk to us a little bit about what that partnership looks and felt like across different points in the process?
JEN: Absolutely. I do want to share one moment. Before we go to that next slide, we ended in the perfect spot and I wanted to call this out to everybody. So again, not staged, not anything that we did for this webinar specifically.
This specific ecard that you're seeing in our organisation, any associate can give another associate an ecard.
So there's no point value to it. It's a specific, it's a shout out that you can select the media or whatever visual that is that goes along with it.
And this one specifically I wanted to call out because if you ever have that moment or that moment that you've arrived and you've successfully done something within your organisation, this was that moment for me and it only happened a couple of weeks ago, believe it or not.
There have been markers, yes, but this was the ultimate. So this specific ecard was given from our co chairman to our president and CEO in a moment of leadership where this particular leader has all the resources to walk up to this individual in the middle of a meeting or text him or call him. And he chose our platform to celebrate that moment and shine it for our entire organisation to see.
And so I will preface by saying this individual is not tech savvy, would not directly go to a particular program or a platform in which to celebrate someone else.
And he chose that moment to do it. The power in this moment of taking that time to thank someone. You see it happen in those smaller levels, rarely do you see it in the C suite where our co chairman called out our CEO and president in that moment and he chose to broadcast it for the entire organisation to see.
And it was that moment where it was like, yes, we did it.
We got the buy in and leadership sees it and they understand the value and they know how important this is to all of us. So I wanted to be able to share that with you all to say these moments are possible.
ADAM: Yeah, thanks for pointing that out. And I would say it's just such a great success story and proud moment as your partner to see recognition happening at the very top and organically, too.
So yeah, kudos to you all for just instilling a culture of recognition across the entire organisation. So thanks for sharing that, Jen.
JEN: Thanks, Adam. And to your question about partnership, yeah, I couldn't agree with you more. It really came down to partnership. It's how you show up matters on both sides.
So there's a couple of ways that that looked, to both sides of us. You need to be engaged, you need to be available and open with your goals, your timelines, and your priorities. How many levels of approvals are really needed?
Take into account travel schedules, meetings, executive timeline on responses. Really be realistic and honest about what that looks like. And then be transparent and be willing to be vulnerable. It needs to fit your organisation.
We go back and forth. You saw the e cards in that moment as we scrolled through the timeline, but we were designing a couple of other design elements with the creative team, which O.C. Tanner has a creative team to help you build all this. You don't need to have anyone do this for you. They do it for you.
And we wanted it to be relevant to the industry. We distribute total beverages, which is alcohol, beer, spirits, wine.
And the creative team came up with this great presentation and they were so excited to show it to us. We're all in the middle of it. One of our leaders was incredibly vulnerable in the moment because everyone's excited. This is great.
And they said, I don't know if red wine's the way to go. This could really not land well with the associates and be confused for something else. And it was in that moment that everyone's like, oh, yeah, you're right.
So don't be afraid to say the things because we want this to translate to the associates in a way that's meaningful and powerful and gets them excited. And the more you're excited about it, the more excited they're going to be about it. And so really be intentional too, in role clarity through this process and ownership for follow-up.
Do you really have the bandwidth to accomplish this? We learned there were certain things we absolutely could do on our side within those ninety days. And then there were things that I had to ask for on the O.C. Tanner team side, and they showed up to help.
And the thing to remember too is they're the subject matter experts.
Yes, we had a solution in our Canadian market for three years, but they knew how to bring this all together in a way that served all 9,500 of our associates.
And that's the piece: you know your people, but they know the other pieces to it. And I think if you bring all of that together, it really does create some magical moments where you can be honest and vulnerable and productive together.
So an example of that was we asked the team for an executive summary to really sell this to our executive leadership team and making sure that we're covering the things. So these are our leadership principles that I wanted to bring into Adam's next question. I'll let you go ahead and ask that.
ADAM: Yeah. No, you were bringing up just kind of throughout the whole process, just clear communication, especially as you're engaging your stakeholders. And obviously, we have our project team as well working with your different stakeholders.
I would say that's probably one of the biggest parts of how effective and efficient this rollout was, especially with being able to launch in under ninety days. How did you manage those communications across all these different teams and stakeholders?
JEN: And it's a great question. I appreciate it. I will start off by saying, I know I come from a unique position. I had executive leadership team approval.
This was approved by the board. I fully understand that I came in with the support of the people that helped make things happen.
So I want to put that out there and say, this is maybe a unique scenario for some, or maybe that's where you start to make sure that you can get the part of the way as quickly as we did.
But leaning into our leadership principles, a lot of our communication came down to people first, and I'll go left to right.
You have to keep your eye on the main goal. The user experience, the end user really is the North Star and the way that you go about every decision that you go about in this and how you allow this to unfold.
The culture team, I call them the secret ninjas behind the scenes because we had some really big conversations. We talked about things that you're going to have to consider if you don't already have a program or maybe you're looking through what works and doesn't work with your program.
But do you gross up the rewards? Do you take on the tax implication of the rewards that are going out to the associates or do you assign it to them?
What does your point setup look like? Is it very simple?
Do you need a decoder ring to understand what your points equal as far as dollars in there?
Do you have some translation of different monetary functions? We have a Canadian team. We have Canadian dollars versus US Dollars. What does that experience look like? It's not always a straight like for like where a dollar equals a dollar Canadian.
So you have to take in conversion models into that too and into really how they feel about it because if it gets too complicated, they're not going to lean into it and it's not going to be enjoyable for them. And then it becomes one more thing that you're trying to get them to do that is a square peg in a round hole.
The other piece was listening to understand. We actually built a committee of stakeholders, of leaders, whether it's a director or above level, from all the functions of our business.
So we had someone from our commercial team, we had someone from our operations team, someone from HR. We had someone from the finance committee assisting all of us through this.
You really need to bring those cross functional and support people in as well, whether it's IT, payroll, HR services delivery that help you put these programs into action and then comms as well.
Yes, O.C. Tanner has the teams to help you facilitate those conversations with those stakeholders, but you really need those champions behind the scenes to help you bring this to life in the best way, especially if you have an accelerated timeline. Winning the hearts and minds of those stakeholders and those champions in those moments is huge.
And then leaning into boldly seek a better way.
There were some things, IT security is paramount right now, right?
There are some things that your company cannot negotiate. There are non negotiables there as far as cybersecurity. And so we sat down with IT security talking through white listing URLs and what does the email process look like when emails come through? And what does it look like through the single sign on process? And how many clicks does it take for an associate to get into the platform?
These were very honest conversations, making sure that we had the right people in the room at the right time and making sure that we were making the right decisions for our people, but also keeping our company safe. And there were moments we sat with your IT security team and leadership, and we said, I'm willing to do this. And they said, I'm willing to do this and let's meet each other in the middle.
And it may not be the way we started this, but we just had this new legislation came about. We learned, and we all learned together.
And I think that was really, in boldly seeking a better way, we listened to one another.
We came to the table with an open mind with the same goal that we were going to get through this together as one team. And at the end of the day, that's what it's about. We're working towards the same goal.
And the feedback I got from my internal team was they wished every vendor could be like the O.C. Tanner team. They showed up prepared. They had great feedback. They came back with follow-up in a timely manner. They said they were going to do the things that they were going to. And so that role clarity, that ownership, that follow-up is huge in a partnership. And I think having both sides really engaged made the difference, to be honest.
ADAM: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, and as we were starting to kind of really build out the program, would love for you to maybe just expand a little bit about the creativity, being able to think outside the box, really instilling the Breakthru Beverage brand within the program.
JEN: Oh, absolutely.
We're from a fun industry. We bring the party to places, right? We sell alcoholic beverages. The program name, the logo, the awards, everything had a connection to something. So it wasn't just this gold, silver, platinum. It's a premium and an ultra premium because those align with different spirits in your back bar. Our program is called Cheers.
One very specific example is the one you see on the screen here. So, part of the Service Milestone program, Service Milestones are anniversaries of five, ten, increments of five all the way to fifty five.
We are so fortunate to have associates be with our company, some encroaching upon fifty five years, which you spent fifty five years at a company, we want to show up big for you and we want to make that big moment.
And so originally this part of the program was not part of our plan when we first met, but O.C. Tanner had such a robust plan and program and strategy for how we reach these associates and make them feel special for being a part of our team, was something we couldn't turn down.
And so I was challenged by my CHRO to make it industry related. And so I went to your team and I said, okay, we serve beverages. I have this idea. I think your team, the minute I come to them and say, I have this idea, what do you think?
They're already buckling in for something that's going to be something they haven't talked about before. But I said, I want the vessel. I want the acrylic to be the vessel of the cocktail.
And they're like, Okay, we think we have this. And they sent me some stock photos and I said, We're kind of there, but we're not there yet.
Then I went to your conference in Salt Lake City last September and I said, I'm still, we're not there yet. And we didn't launch Service Milestones yet because we didn't feel it was ready.
So that was part of the phased launch that we left to '25. We wanted to get it right. And so I went to your team, the leaders of the very team that creates this and they have such wonderful people and creative minds building these symbolics for associates.
And I said, your team's great. They're lovely. They really are trying hard, but we're just we're not there. I feel like I have to take my own photos.
And they looked at me for a minute, and they said, yeah. We think you have to take your own photos. And so I asked for the parameters. I got the specs from the technical team there that handles these awards.
I got with a friend who's a James Beard photographer, and we set up this acrylic tank in a room and created these cocktails in real time to take these photos. And the cool part was your team was just as excited as we were to get the photos back and figure out what photos went along with service milestone and year.
So again, another moment of you all do it so well. You've done it for so many years. And we just need to change it up a little bit to make it fit Breakthru. And everyone embraced it, and we're so excited to see the final product.
And as you can see, the cool part now is our associates have something that no one else can say they have. They have a back bar of their own cocktails that no one else has but Breakthru.
And it's something unique to us. And it's another badge of pride and a moment of being included in something bigger than ourselves. And so that was something really excited that wanted to be a part of. And we're so glad we were able to bring this to life because I had no idea what your team was going to say.
They could have said, we've been doing this for ninety years, Jen. We know what we're doing. And they didn't. They said, okay, let's hear you out.
Let's see what we can put together.
And as you can see, one of our photos here is one of our associates receiving his acrylic just recently at our top two hundred leader meeting in Chicago. And our president and CEO is to the very left, Tom Bene, and then our Co Chairman, Danny Wirtz and Charlie Maranoff are to his right. And so we were able to incorporate this into a bigger presentation and really shine that bright light on our associates.
We're so grateful they continue to choose us, and they're just excited to be here as we are to have them. And so we're so appreciative of this program. And in addition to these acrylics, the team also gets printed yearbooks with well wishes from leaders and their colleagues as well. And that was really fun to build out and really make specific to Breakthru too.
ADAM: Love it. Love it. Yeah, I think just great examples of just some of the successes within your program and some of the things that are really moving the needle in terms of what your associates are connecting to with the program. So thanks for sharing.
And so I'm just really, really excited to see how it continues to evolve as our partnership evolves as well.
As we start to wrap up here, any final words of advice for our audience as they think about rolling out a new HR program or even just refreshing a current one?
JEN: Absolutely. Some of the things that we're most proud of is the overall program itself, the look and the feel, what you saw in that feed, the ease of use. It's something that once people get into it again, I tell everyone now if Charlie Maranoff can go in and give an ecard, everyone can give an ecard. And it's something that our associates are leaning into over the Yammer, over the text messages, over Teams.
We've included it on our SharePoint page. Karen, I saw your question in the chat. So we've actually completed integration of a live feed into our SharePoint. So when our associates go on to their devices, they're automatically kicked to an internal SharePoint page where we have specific things that we want attention drawn to in that moment, right?
So you go there for announcements about annual enrollment or what's coming up from our culture team or what's happening with our next all associates call.
Information we need to get them to get out to that broader audience. We've now included a wall, a living wall of that same scroll that you just saw. They get to see that on our internal pages as well. So that's how we've put it top of mind in front of them. We've included tiles to access for the company issued phones. Everyone has a cheers tile with that logo you see on your screen now on their company issued devices. So it's just a quick, it's almost like an app situation where they just click right in, but it's ours and it's branded as ours.
We bring it up in our meetings as ways to spotlight some of the recognition that's already given to encourage them to go into it.
So the other piece to it, besides the customer awards that I showed you too, was really meeting everyone where they want to be met. And in those moments, even your creative team was great with us. We had to translate your books to French. We had to translate emails to French, making sure it was in the proper French Canadian dialect to really connect with our associates, right?
So, those were those moments that really pushed us. And we leaned into the creative team for the visuals to help us sell it, but it was up to us to really take it the next mile. So my final words of advice in the sense of as you're rolling this out or even refreshing yours, don't be afraid to totally lean into this. Be the human billboard.
You see my shirt. This is not just for this. This is how I show up to meetings across my organisation, whether I'm meeting with the CEO, the CHRO, delivery driver managers, or VPs or EVPs of the market. This is how I show up. This is my background reminding everyone in every meeting I go into, even if it's with the top two hundred leaders or if I'm just meeting with the operations director in Maryland, this is how I show up. Do not be afraid to be the face.
The minute you personalise it, people will lean in further. I have it in my email signature with a link to get into our platform. I put up QR codes and chat, Teams chats and team meetings. I provide slides for leaders.
"Who have you thanked today?" and put it up there with the QR code. We put up whiteboards in our distribution centers with branding all around it with the Cheers branding and also give the opportunity for leaders to print out some of these moments of recognition and put them up there, almost as if we created that home fridge situation, but it's at work and everyone gets to walk by that every day in those really cool moments and show that it matters.
People see things happening across the company. We don't want to just keep it to ourselves. We want everyone to get to see it.
And then the other cool part is challenge your leadership. Get them in there. My CHRO and I, we have kind of a contest to go back and forth to see who can go in and interact with more of the e cards and in those moments I take screenshots and send them to the leaders and say, Hey, did you see this happening across your team?
I remind my team every day it's like going and visiting puppies. Who doesn't like to go visit puppies? I go into the program platform at least every couple of days to see how things are going, but this should be fun.
The first part is branding is key. I have the pins. I have step and repeats for our leader meetings. We incorporate it in everything. We just had it in our top two hundred leader meeting as well.
It's not an asterisk, it's the way you do business. And the more you incorporate it into all of the things, it will be organic, it will be authentic and everyone will, they can't help but get a part of it. Who doesn't wanna be a part of the party? Invite them to the party, and don't be afraid to be the one dancing first. It's okay. That's my biggest advice to be relentless. Get in their faces.
You're doing this. You're the champion for your team and your employees. And I agree with you, Cassandra. Can't wait to see the photos from the next party. Completely agree.
But remember, this should be fun. And the more you lean into this and the more you ask questions and you're curious and you have those courageous conversations, the easier this is going to roll.
But you have to be honest with what exactly it is that you need so that you can figure out how to best get there. And so that's where it's customisable, not one size fits all. The partnership you lean into is incredibly important.
And the moments that you're able to celebrate the wins are great, but know at the end of the day, you're your own limit. You're going to be the only one that really stops you from reaching what you want to. And if we can do it in eighty four days, you can do it too. I know that you can.
ADAM: Love it. And I can attest that you also show up with your Cheers background and Cheers shirt to all of our calls. So yeah, I mean, I think just overall, you're just such a great example of someone that speaks recognition, that lives recognition, and that really kind of inspires your associates to incorporate recognition in just everyday culture.
And you're also just so inspiring to us at O.C. Tanner on just your continued enthusiasm to create such thriving culture for your associates. So thank you so much for just sharing your journey. And again, really, really excited to see how our partnership continues to evolve.
JEN: I completely agree. And thank you, Adam. I mean, look at these faces on the screen. Could you not want to create more moments where they smile more and they're a part of this?
And it's that connection point that we have the greatest people that work at Breakthru Beverage, and we celebrate them every day. And the moment you show someone that they've been seen and they're appreciated, they're going to want to do more for you. They're going to want to continue to show up. And so that's what fuels me.
I appreciate you saying those kind of things about me, but these faces on the screen are the reason why I do that because I owe it to them to fully be present in the moment and to make sure that we really are putting together the best platform and program possible for them.
And it's comprehensive. It's not just the platform. That's the other piece too.
You've really going to have the buy in. This is three sixty. This is a holistic program in the way that you bring this into your every day. Don't just set it and forget it and put the program in and that's it.
You have to be intentional and talk through these things.
Probably I meet more with my client success team, maybe more than others, but we have standing appointments every other week. One to catch the things that we want to talk about, but to talk about the innovation. Technology changes so quickly and O.C. Tanner really is on the forefront of new features and new ways to connect with people. And so especially with our deskless associates, we're constantly talking through how do we reach those individuals specifically and make them feel special in that moment.
And we're talking, these are different demographics of people, right? You've got people that are driving trucks. You've got associates that are working the line, putting bottles into boxes. You've got associates that are wearing suits out in there every day, talking to buyers in the markets.
And then you have some of the support people on the sides. We really do have something for everyone through this solution and through this program. And we'll continue to check back and see, yes, we moved fast. Yes, we rolled things out, but we're constantly asking, is this working?
Is this continuing to serve our associates well? And what can we do to make it bigger and better? And I will say I'm fortunate enough that I have leadership that questions that all the time and challenges me. What if we do it bigger?
We want this to be surprise and delight moments. So how do we make it even bigger than that?
ADAM: Love it.
MODERATOR: I do have a couple questions that came through if you don't mind taking a few minutes to answer those.
One of them is one that we actually hear at a lot of our webinars and events, but people are interested in how you got executive buy in from the beginning. You mentioned that that was something that you already had kind of baked in when you started this process, but where did that come from? How did you get that in in the first place?
JEN: It's a great question, Raven.
It started out, our leadership team started on this journey from that associate engagement survey. That's where these conversations started. But to really get everyone bought into this specific initiative that we were going to launch in ninety days, I say, you have to get an executive sponsor. You have to get someone that is in that room that has that network, that presence and that ability to read the room and influence the room.
And so my executive sponsor for this program was my CHRO, Stephanie Soto, as well as our Vice President of HR, Melanie Lundberg, and Vice President of HR Services and Andrew Moss. And they were able to sometimes be in rooms that I wasn't able to be in. And once we went through this RFP or request for proposal process, I'll tell you, we went through seven different vendors.
We researched even the vendor we had a previous partnership with, and I brought them on this journey with me. They were in all of the meetings with me hearing the same conversations. And we would regroup after.
And the question was, okay, these platforms are pretty similar. Pricing is pretty similar, we think. We won't know until we get to the end. What are your thoughts?
And my answer to them was the one we get excited about, the one where we have the feeling that we want our associates to have, that's when we know we've got them.
And during the last presentations, we whittled it down from seven to three, and they were with me through that entire process. We got to the end and everyone's messaging each other during the O.C. Tanner presentation. We're sending emojis and screenshots and things that we were all excited about.
And that's how we knew this was the solution for us. But because they were a part of that process, they could speak to it themselves and they could be in that room where I couldn't be sometimes and be able to advocate for our associates and help with that. So having a champion, having an executive sponsor, I feel is absolutely key. Again, I fully recognise I have an executive leadership team in a board like not many have.
I fully get that. They are double down, invested in our people, and they are willing to find ways to get creative to make sure our people feel appreciated. So I fully recognise that. And I also recognise in keeping them informed, keep them a part of the process and reminding them that they have ownership in this process as well.
You got to manage up a little bit too and sometimes remind them that you need their support and being very clear in the direction you need. Bring factual points of how they can support you. The emotional part will come because again, I'm wearing the shirt. I'm in the moment.
You can tell I talk with my hands. I'm a very passionate human being. However, you have to speak the language that they do when you manage up in that sense and give them very detailed ways in which they can show up and support you and help you be successful. Whether it's, I need help with budget, I need help with influence.
You have to be intentional in the way that you go about asking them. If you just go to them and say, I need help, that might be where there could be a challenge there. There could be a gap because when you tell a leader that, especially an executive leader, I need your help. If you're not specific and targeted and intentional in the way you give them the direction, they're not gonna assume the best way to show up for you. So you have to be honest and clear in those conversations as well would be my best advice in obtaining that executive leadership sponsorship.
Hopefully that helped. It is a team sport. Stephanie Soto my CHRO in the chat, it is a team sport.
MODERATOR: Okay. And then we have one more question, which is, is there anything else you're thinking of adding on another phase perhaps?
JEN: That is an excellent question. So loaded question too. We just came from O.C. Tanner had their yearly conference in Salt Lake, in September. And yes, there are a lot of features.
One, we're doubling down and going back to the education. We started this out, we did not give out user guides and manuals. When you're launching something of this magnitude across this broad of an organisation, we had to give them little bits and pieces. First go in, swim, check it out. Let's show you how to get on the platform, but let you get in it and test it out and see how you do with it. And then we'll start to backfill some of the pieces. This is how you give an award. This is how often you should recognise, things like that, you build on and build that momentum and energy.
But we wanted to give everybody the chance to get into it. So we fully recognise there's an opportunity to go back there, maybe for some that are not as proficient in giving recognition or this is not the muscle that is the strongest for them. We wanna give them a little more backup.
So our plan for '26 definitely is to go back and reinforce some of that, the educational components to really make them feel good and comfortable inside of the platform, although it's super user friendly.
It kind of speaks for itself, but we still want to provide that support.
The other piece is, again, why do we want to keep this to ourselves? We want to allow our customers, our supplier partners, our external partners also join in on the fun and be able to participate in some of this. So we're looking at ways in which to do that. O.C. Tanner has a solution for it. I won't give too much away, but that is something we're looking at for next year.
And the other piece is really looking to tie this into moments that include our leadership again, making sure we're not just doing it at our top two hundred meeting. When our executive leadership team goes from market to market through the year, allowing them to be part of these recognition moments with the associates as well.
Getting to shake the hands of associates that have worked for us for twenty five, thirty, forty years, it's something that's important to them. So it's something that is important to us. And we want to make sure we continue that feeling through the year, that it's not just something that happens every now and again.
We want those everyday moments to shine, too, and we want everyone to feel good about it. And so the more that we can create those moments and keep it a part of that Breakthru experience, I think, is important.
Another opportunity that we've identified is we do great with service milestones now, even though we only launched it five months ago, is what do we do for our associates that are retiring, that are leaving our company? Again, that's something, if you think about your organisation, associates or employees that have been there twenty five, thirty years, what are you doing for them? Do you have something that is standardized, not necessarily standardized, but do you have kind of a foundation or a rule book of where to start?
And then you can personalise it either to the individual or the department or the position and really building more around that because we understand nowadays it's really tough to hold onto associates one, three, five years, let alone forty, fifty years.
That's a huge accomplishment. So, we wanna make sure we build out more of our recognition in that particular segment of our associate base and make sure that they know that they are very much valued and appreciated for all that they bring to the table.
That was something, too. You reminded me of something. Our previous service milestone program that we had prior to this did not recognise at the one and three year level, and it was something we started at five years.
And the culture team came to us and said, we think you have an opportunity.
Given the current climate and knowing what the younger generations are leaning into right now, recognition at the one year and three year level really is key to maintaining, to retain that key talent. And so, we looked into that and that's where our associates get those yearbooks. But we're also building out something with our talent acquisition team in which an associate starts with us while they're here a couple of days. The first thing that drops into their mailbox is a, we want to welcome you to Breakthru.
And knowing that we have those touch points that we can build into the system to create more meaningful moments to our associates, to make them feel connected to the broader organisation, we think that there's some great opportunity there as well for '26. So we're definitely leaning into those for sure.
Great question.
MODERATOR: Yeah. I love that, Jen. As someone who just celebrated my third anniversary here at O.C. Tanner, it really means a lot, and it does kind of keep you going and helps you want to stay, because you feel that extra measure of value and support.
But thanks so much for for doing this today, Jen, and you too, Adam.
I wanted to make sure to invite everybody to our November webinar where we'll be digging into research from our global culture report that looks at hope and inspiration in the workplace. But any final words from either of you?
JEN: Yeah, real quick. I noticed Melanie, my vice president threw something in there, another key success factor, which was great.
Because we're replacing a previous platform in some ways, the prize and reward options are so interesting for people. Even at a twenty five dollars or twenty five point level, you have nine thousand options and SKUs that you can pick from.
So, now we're coming up on the holidays. Our associates have points in their bank, in their Cheers bank, they can go in and redeem those for gift cards. They can get a Visa gift card. They can go get a Starbucks card. They can cash those in for tangible items and gifts.
So if you have a solution right now and you have a point sitting there, remember, the holidays are coming up. That's another great opportunity to alleviate some of the stress or concerns or things that are coming up where you have this as an opportunity to leverage that as well to go and use that as an opportunity.
The other piece too is our redemption rate for points is almost at fifty percent, which I feel I'm very proud of in a very short period of time to roll this out in ninety days and have our associates go in and redeem those points. It means that the options for them to choose from are really impressive to them that they want it now.
Whereas we found with previous platforms, they were hoarding points or waiting to see if something better came along in the options. We're really starting to see a lot of these associates lean into that moment and go in and redeem their points right away. So such a great call out, Melanie. And I know that was something through our RFP process that took our leadership by surprise were the robust offerings that are there in the store.
And you can also donate it. I think I saved a tree with my first points that I got. I planted a tree somewhere, you could save a sea turtle. So So grateful for the opportunity to talk today about our platform and really appreciate the opportunity to maybe start that, ignite that spark for some of you that are looking for a solution for your own company or trying to find ways in the middle to meet your associates and make them feel like they're a part of something bigger.
If you like something you heard today about Breakthru, I invite you to scan this QR code. It'll take you to our corporate social responsibility report if you want to learn a little bit more about us. It also has a full page on our Cheers platform and our launch and why we did what we did, but always grateful for the opportunity. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn if you want to know a little bit more.
Adam and Raven know how to get ahold of me, but this has been such a tremendous experience for our team. We're so grateful for the opportunity to have a true partner in O.C. Tanner. Absolutely everyone that I have come across, even if it's a data specialist helping us make sure that data integrity is intact, data is everything nowadays, right? Or someone that's just helping with an idea that may or may not come to fruition.
Every single touch point we've had at O.C. Tanner has been unique. It's been special. And we've seen a level of care that we wish all of our vendors would come to the table with. They think like Breakthru and they execute like Breakthru.
And so for us, that fit was just, it was amazing and it was organic, it was fluid, and it's no wonder we were able to accomplish something that neither of us had been able to accomplish before and launching as fast as we did and to be as successful because we came to the table with the right things and the right people.
And I'm wishing you all luck as you try to do this because there's true magic in creating something for your company that is part of your legacy. It'll be a part of how people feel. You know that meme, how you feel on Sunday morning before you go to work on Monday?
You have an opportunity to affect that. And there's something really unique and amazing in that. And so I wish you all luck through this journey wherever you are in it. And if I can be a way or a resource to help you through that, please feel free to reach out.
MODERATOR: Awesome. Thank you so much, Jen. Like Melanie said in the chat, your enthusiasm really is contagious, and we just appreciate you being here today, we look forward to seeing everybody, at our next webinar. Have a great day, everyone.
