Get to Know ME with Sheri Racine
It’s time to get to know one of our newer colleagues! Sheri Racine started in June of 2024, getting several months of training from our long-time Merchandise Buyer, before retiring. We’re happy to have Sheri take on the role and bring a new perspective to the team. Please read on, and watch her short video, to learn about her passion outside of work and what she loves doing with her family. Thanks Sheri for participating in our Get to Know ME segment this month!
What’s your current title and how long have you been in the incentive industry?
I am the Merchandise Buyer and I started four months ago, in June 2024. I am new to the incentive industry and excited to be here!
What do you like about your job?
The people I work with, both internally as well as our suppliers. Everyone is so willing to step in and assist.
What’s something you want to share about the people you work with at Motivation Excellence?
They are all amazing. Truly like a family.
What’s a defining moment in your life?
I created a successful product for a previous employer, and ten years later I was on a plane with my family, and it was in the Skymall catalog! It was fun to be able to show it to my children.
What’s an unknown or odd talent you have?
Home Renovations. I love seeing something in a room that can transform it into something completely different and wonderful.
What motivates you to accomplish things in your life (work or personal)?
My children do. I always strive to be someone they look up to. Showing them that you can have a family and work is important.
One thing that always makes you laugh is?
Quick witted people.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
I love attending concerts with my family. We love exposing our children to a wide array of genres.
What’s a bucket list item you can’t wait to cross off?
A trip to Italy – hoping to go soon.
This month, our theme for social media is “Workplace Harassment Awareness/Prevention.” Is this important to you? Why or why not?
Yes, I think it’s very important. Everyone should feel comfortable in the workplace.
Know Your Learning Style for Best Results in Life
We really never stop learning. There’s always a trendy gadget to understand or a change in work policy to incorporate or new slang in use…so truly, whether you consider yourself a lifelong learner or not, we are all forced to learn big and little things throughout life. Knowing how you learn best is critical to digesting new information and putting it to good use. Knowing how your colleagues, employees and clients prefer to learn will give you a nice roadmap to follow when you’re the one teaching the lesson.
Know How You Prefer to Learn
There are four widely recognized styles of learning:
- Auditory
- Visual
- Verbal
- Kinesthetic
Each one lends itself to preferred methods of taking in new information.
| Learning Style | Preferred Method of Intake |
| Auditory | Traditional lecture type presentation |
| Visual | Needs to see it in graphs, diagrams, photos, etc. |
| Verbal (reading/writing) | Likes taking notes and reading on own |
| Kinesthetic | Wants to be hands-on, immersed in subject |
It’s important to know where on this spectrum you thrive. You can have a combination of preferred learning styles too. It’s OK to mix and match to find the right fit. For instance, when learning a language, you might prefer to hear others speak while reading along. For car maintenance, you might need to literally get your hands dirty while watching a DIY YouTube video.
To see where you fall, take a VARK (Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing, Kinesthetic) assessment.
Know How Others Prefer to Learn
It’s just as important to know how others like to learn, if you’re the teacher. Insperity offers a way to figure out someone else’s learning style from listening to their questions.
| Learning Style | Questions Others Will Ask |
| Auditory | Can you tell me…? |
| Visual | Can you demonstrate that for me? |
| Verbal (reading/writing) | Is there a manual on this? |
| Kinesthetic | Can I try it myself? |
Once you’ve pinpointed your teammates’ learning styles, providing an environment where each can succeed as they absorb new information is important. Cornerstone on Demand defines workplace learning styles slightly differently than VARK and suggests the environment best suited to each type.
| Learning Style | Best Environment |
| Student (visual and verbal) | Learns best seeing presentations and writing notes |
| The Independent | Prefers learning alone than in a group setting |
| The Conversationalist | Likes background noise and talking through things |
| Hands-on Learner | Wants a calm environment and be allowed trial and error time |
Cornerstone adds that when looking at diversity in the workplace, learning style is absolutely part of the equation.
Using a Variety of Methods
At the end of the day, we all prefer to learn in ways unique to our personality and level of self-awareness. Be conscious of that when you’re presenting to a client or selling to a customer. Interactions on your company website will benefit from accommodating a variety of information intake methods: page text, videos, webinars, blogs, summary graphics, full-blown case studies and podcasts.
And if you are someone who prides themselves on tackling new topics, languages, sports or hobbies, know how best to set yourself up for success right from the beginning. Just because you’re out of school, doesn’t mean you don’t have a lot more to learn!
Get to Know ME with Iris Huisman
If you want to have a talk with a calming personality, look no further than Iris Huisman (pronounced Ear-ess House-man). No wonder she excels in the sometimes hectic incentive, meetings and events industry; she’s cool under pressure and makes you feel like “everything is going to be alright.” Thank you Iris for participating in our Get to Know ME segment. Read on, and watch her video, to get to know her better.
What’s your current title and how long have you been in the incentive industry?
I am a Program Manager as part of the Travel Department at Motivation Excellence. I started my career in the M&IT industry as a graduate trainee in England way back in 1997. I have had many roles in the industry since then, both on the client side as well as for a DMC and of course many years on the agency side. Wearing many different hats has given me a unique perspective when helping clients find the best solutions for their meetings and incentive programs.
What do you like about your job?
I love the variety this work provides and seeing the end result when lots of planning and creative thinking comes to fruition. Of course, the opportunity to travel is nice too; I am fortunate to have experienced many great destinations all over the world.
What’s something you want to share about the people you work with at Motivation Excellence?
The people I work with on my team at Motivation Excellence care a lot about doing what is right for our clients and providing the best service. But more than that, the team really cares about each other, and that is something that I think makes this a great place to work.
What’s a specific moment in your history that always stands out as a defining moment, and why?
Wow, that is a tough question. There have been quite a few pivotal moments in my life: moving to England when I was 18 with the plan to stay for only a year, and staying for almost 13, moving to the United States in 2006, dealing with the loss of my dad, stepdad and mum all in quick succession; all of these moments have had a profound impact on shaping me into the person I am today.
What’s an unknown or odd talent you have?
I wish I could say that I inherited my dad’s musical talent. He was a musician all his life, but no amount of piano and flute lessons could ever get me to come even close.
What motivates you to accomplish things in your life (work or personal)?
Maybe cheesy, but my kids are my biggest motivator – showing up for them and everything they want to achieve in life has been driving me forward toward bigger and better things. I want them to know that their mum has done, is doing, and will do her best to support them.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
I love hiking and taking in the beauty that is all around us here in North Georgia (when it is not 100 degrees 😊). I love to run and play tennis. And if I had my way, I would live somewhere where I could go skiing regularly. I also like to read – Ken Follett has been a favorite of mine recently.
One thing that always makes you laugh is?
Good comedy! I love Bill Burr and Ricky Gervais; their sense of humor speaks to me.
What’s a bucket list item you can’t wait to cross off?
I am really hoping to have the opportunity to take my kids on safari in Africa. I was fortunate to plan and operate a few programs on the African continent and it has left a lasting impression on me; I want them to have that experience too.
This month, our theme for social media is “Learning Styles.” Do you prefer to learn in a certain way? How do you make sure you’re digesting work information in the best way for you?
I think my learning style is a mixture of things; I am more of a kinesthetic than an auditory learner, but for some things, logical/analytical learning works better. To digest certain information, I am still a little old school and like to print certain documents out, so I can take notes while learning the material.
Using the Power of Spurt Programs to Motivate Sales
Effective engagement with sales teams or customers is a long-term enterprise. Yet there are plenty of short-term goals to reach along the way. Consider sales cycles. Engaging with and motivating a sales team during a cycle can mean good things for sales reps and great things for your bottom line. Enter the spurt program.
By their nature, spurt or spiff programs are short term events designed to accelerate brand awareness or product sales. A spurt program can run for an entire quarter. It could run for just 2-4 weeks.
Program Purpose and Structure
Turning to spurt programs for sales team/customer engagement is based on the principle of injecting a quick burst of urgency and excitement into a sales cycle. They are great at motivating sales members to reach short term goals by offering a meaningful reward. A spurt program can:
- Increase sales team efforts
- Drive focus to one product area
- Motivate competition
- Inject some fresh incentives into an ongoing rewards program
A good spurt program has a deadline that incentivizes sales team members to go all out until the program ends. In addition, spurt programs should have clear and measurable objectives.
The Right Rewards Make a Difference
One of the keys to successful spurt programs is choosing the right rewards. Within a sales cycle, you are looking to reward participants with things that actually interest them. The rewards themselves should be motivators above and beyond reaching sales goals. If you can personalize rewards, all the better.
Individual travel experiences tend to be motivational for sales team members. The opportunity to get away on a personalized adventure with a loved one adds excitement and purpose. Another option is a points program. At Motivation Excellence, top performers can take advantage of using their points nearly any way they want through our Concierge Shopping Service.
Check Out MaxRewardsYourWay
We believe so much in spurt programs that we’ve designed our MaxRewardsYourWay platform to enhance them. We invite you to learn more about it by checking out the dedicated page we’ve put together on our website.
MaxRewardsYourWay allows companies to create customized reward packages based on goals, budget and item preferences. Rewards can include everything from travel to lifestyle upgrades (think Napa getaways, new fitness accessories or game room tech). Marketing these reward packages is easy. And, it’s a perfect reward option for companies who want low overhead and excellent return on investment.
Lastly, we offer the flexibility to change elements in the package. If one of your participants earns the Kitchen Gadget Upgrade Package but already has the coffee maker included in it, that person can contact our Concierge Shopping Service to swap it for something else.
Different Ways to Run Spurt Programs
Spurt programs are highly flexible and don’t need a lot of prep time to get them launched. There are multiple ways to set up and run a program. Depending on your goals, a short-term incentive program can reward for total volume of sales, quantity of product shipped or the best increase over the last sales cycle. You can reward only a few people or spread out the opportunities so more people are motivated to participate. Rewards can increase as sales levels do. Sell 10 x-ray machines and earn package A. Sell 15 and earn package B, and so on. They can also be a sweepstakes format. It all depends on what you’re trying to achieve.
Regardless of how spurt programs are structured, they represent a fun and exciting way to inject motivation into a sales team and boost your bottom line!
Effective Delegation Brings Liberation to Your Workday
Are you ready to cross some items off your to-do list? Jot this at the top: “Learn how to delegate.” Then keep reading, and by the end you’ll be ready to draw a line straight through it!
The Many Benefits of Delegation
Delegation does not mean pushing your work onto someone else. It doesn’t mean you’re lazy or uninvested in a project. It does mean you’re ready to empower your team, build trust with them and be better at your own time management. There are likely tasks you must do; but just as likely, there are many jobs you can entrust to others in your organization.
Delegation offers benefits to both parties.
For you:
- Eases stress
- Frees time for other needs
- Shows trust
- Boosts engagement
- Increases productivity
For them:
- Provides skill development
- Raises confidence
- Increases teamwork
- Builds leadership
- Gives a sense of achievement
In addition, delegation can boost overall morale, improve efficiency and enable innovation. Everyone can benefit from proper allocation of tasks.
How to Delegate
Figuring out when to assign projects, big or small, is the first step to delegation success. The University of Sussex outlines nine things to think about, including:
- Defining the parameters of the job
- Clearly stating the desired results
- Agreeing on timeline and metrics of progress
- Providing feedback and open communication
What to Delegate
According to the Leadership Team article on LinkedIn, the Eisenhower Matrix is an excellent way to determine which jobs to move from your plate to another’s. Very simply, it’s suggested you group and delegate tasks that are either urgent but not important, or important but not urgent.
Urgent tasks require immediate attention. Surely you can tackle it, but if there’s someone else on your team with the skill set and flexibility, it could make more sense to ask them to take it on. Too many urgent tasks can lead to elevated stress and burn-out, so spreading them around keeps everyone fresh.
Important tasks help achieve long-term goals. These projects might require thoughtful planning and end up taking a good deal of time over a long period. As a leader, you may feel this belongs squarely in your jurisdiction, or you may know a team member who excels at this type of project management. With regularly scheduled updates, you can keep up on the progress without getting mired in the details.
The aforementioned Eisenhower Matrix link is filled with tips and strategies to keep your to-do list short and sweet.
To Whom to Delegate
This can be the very crux of eventual success. Once you’ve determined that you can move a to-do off your list, figuring out who can take it on is important. Vital Learning encourages leaders to look at a few factors when deciding to whom to give a job.
- Capabilities
- Enthusiasm
- Level of attention to details
Workload should always be a consideration too. When in doubt, given a standard level of skills, you can always ask for a volunteer. Overall, it’s important to make sure no one is being underutilized or overburdened in order to get all the benefits of delegation to fall into place.
So, now… are you ready to cross “Learn to delegate” off your list? We hope so, and good luck!
Recognizing Stellar Teamwork at Work; Our Internal Program at Motivation Excellence
At Motivation Excellence our core values are Respect, Integrity, Trust and Exceeding Expectations, or RITE2. As a leader in the incentive industry, we like to live what we recommend to others. Showing the people who matter most to your business that they matter to you is critical to increased engagement, loyalty and longevity, whether you’re talking about employees or partners outside your business. When people are more engaged with your company, they work harder to help you reach your goals.
We have an internal recognition program based on RITE2 that allows colleagues to recognize each other for exemplifying one of our core values. Everyone gets an award point balance they can use each month to reward one or more teammates. For really special recognition, they can ask a manager for a bigger award point reward. Enter Debbie and Josee.
Debbie, a 27-year veteran of our office, had a serious medical condition that required her to take several months off. Debbie is one of our jill-of-all-trades team members. Among many other things, she has a hand in quoting our creative services, purchasing supplies, working with print vendors and organizing mailings out of our on-site warehouse. She’s one of those people who you don’t realize all she does until she’s not there.
When Debbie left, Josee, our travel mailing coordinator, didn’t ask what she could do to help fill the void. She just did it. Knowing the ins and outs of the warehouse and how mailings work already, Josee stepped up to make sure all mailings, including those outside the travel department, stayed on schedule, had the proper packaging and personally assembled and shipped every one to an exacting standard. She coordinated with both internal teams and external vendors to keep the flow of work right on schedule. And then, Debbie says, she did even more.
“When time was available Josee again took it upon herself to give the warehouse a good cleaning. All the materials in stock have been organized and labeled for easy access in the future. She donated items we no longer were using so we could help others in the community,” wrote Debbie in her Exceeding Expectations award nomination.
In response, company leadership recently lifted up Josee as an example to celebrate our Exceeding Expectations core value. For Josee, she was surprised, but honored.
“She’s my friend. I’m just glad she’s healthy again. I didn’t want her to worry about anything at work. She absolutely would’ve done that for me. We all do that here. We show up to get the work done,” said Josee.
Josee plans to use her reward to make an upcoming mother-son adventure to Italy even more special. Sharing the appreciation with family makes it that much more meaningful and memorable!
How to Personalize Group Travel Programs with Motivation Excellence
Personalization and group travel may seem like they don’t mesh. We are happy to say they can! There are numerous ways to personalize group travel programs, whether you are putting together an incentive travel program for employees or channel partners.
Group travel is something we specialize in at Motivation Excellence. Our planners incorporate plenty of personalized options to make our travel programs feel one-of-a-kind the people earning them. Here are a few ways we do just that:
1. Offer a Variety of Activities
Group travel doesn’t have to mean the exact same activities for every participant. Group travel program itineraries can be quite flexible, including a variety of choices. By offering many activities and the ability to choose, you give participants an opportunity to help craft an adventure they will genuinely appreciate.
We recommend putting together a list of activities with broad appeal. The idea is to have something for everyone. You might offer fitness activities along with golf, an adventure experience, spa sessions, and local tours. And don’t underestimate “at leisure” time. It’s consistently a winner with our participants.
2. Make Dining More Intimate
It has been our experience that group travel participants appreciate a more intimate dining experience, so they have an opportunity to spend quality time with executives or preferred suppliers.
Vendor-sponsored dinners allow participants to have access to product managers, and vice versa. If you’re hosting a channel partner incentive travel experience, connecting your distributors with favorite suppliers creates great relationships, with you right in the middle. If you’re running an internal sales incentive, giving top performers time to meet with the C-suite is very motivating.
3. Use the Motivation Excellence Inspire Platform
We’ve saved the best tip for last: use the Motivation Excellence Inspire technology for group travel. Inspire is a truly unique platform that puts personalized itineraries right in your travelers’ hands. Group dinners, individual activity selections, flights and more are easy to access via a phone or computer.
Inspire is completely customizable to match your company’s colors, logo and style. From program registration to plane seat preference to FAQs about your destination, Inspire helps engage your participants before, during and after your group travel event.
Some Things to Keep in Mind
Motivation Excellence takes incentive group travel to new levels. We use only highly-rated hotel properties and provide only the best staff to ensure flawless execution on-site.
Notice, we don’t call these “trips.” Anyone can take a trip. We provide experiences that people cannot plan on their own; experiences that are truly memorable and motivating.
Group travel doesn’t have to be static. It does not need to be a one-size-fits-all experience. Whether you are putting together a program for employees, channel partners or favorite vendors, we can help you personalize the program so that every participant feels like the experience was made just for them!
Get to Know ME with Melissa Nazareno
It’s time to get to know Melissa Nazareno, our Accounting Manager. As you can read below, she sees the fun in numbers and systems, which makes her a perfect fit for her role! Read on to learn about her passions for space exploration, delegation and solving challenges. Thanks, Melissa, for participating in our Get to Know ME segment this month!
What’s your current title and how long have you been in the incentive industry?
My current title is Accounting Manager, and I’ve been in the incentive industry for 1 year with Motivation Excellence.
What do you like about your job?
I love my job because it allows me to solve business challenges and optimize operations by transforming digital and financial infrastructures. Motivation Excellence has built a supportive culture that allows for growth. I can geek out on numbers, play with systems, and have strategic impact. My job is fun, and I’m excited for our future.
What’s something you want to share about the people you work with at Motivation Excellence?
I’m surrounded by fun-loving people who have built careers around making others happy and driving positive change. Our team strives to deliver exceptional incentive experiences and innovative technology for our clients. Coming from an audit role where clients weren’t always thrilled to see me, I greatly appreciate this industry.
What’s a specific moment in your history that always stands out as a defining moment, and why?
I’ve had a collection of moments which led to a pivotal understanding: time is precious. With whom and how I spend it is sacred. I’m big on process improvement and continually work to streamline my life with this in mind.
What’s an unknown or odd talent you have?
I’m amazing at talking to engineers and translating what they said to non-engineers. Specifically odd, but very handy in solving cross-functional challenges and troubleshooting. I’ve worked in systems implementations and my spouse is an engineer, so I’ve had a ton of practice!
What motivates you to accomplish things in your life (work or personal)?
The pursuit of truth and the quest for knowledge propels me. I love learning and trying new things to find out more about myself. Life is a sandbox, and I seek out adventure.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Being an executive assistant to three little ones means mastering the art of multitasking. While I love spending time with them, I also cherish my daily runs, accompanied by a podcast at 2x speed – it’s meditative.
One thing that always makes you laugh is?
Non-sequiturs and deadpan humor.
What’s a bucket list item you can’t wait to cross off?
I’d love to watch a rocket launch – or even better, travel to space.
This month, our theme for social media is “Effective Delegation.” What are your tips on delegation?
I’m passionate about this topic. Simply being the best at something doesn’t mean you should always do it. I believe in passing on the value you can create to others, empowering them by matching the right tasks to the right people. The goal is to help someone progress from being task-focused to taking ownership. One of the most overlooked aspects of effective delegation is recruiting and maintaining a pipeline of talented people for value creation. I love lifting others up and watching them grow.
Looking Ahead with Confidence & Optimism as We Celebrate an Anniversary
There’s nothing like an anniversary that gets you to look back and forward at the same time. We celebrate 39 years in the incentive industry in September. David Jobes was part of that history for 32 years, until he passed away in July. Our company will remain owned by the Jobes family. In a recent company-wide meeting they expressed their commitment to the company, calling the team a second family, and saying the company is stronger than ever as two members of the leadership team step up to run the business.
Bob Graham and Michelle Ebner, both Vice Presidents on the leadership team, are now co-CEOs and co-Presidents. Graham has a long history in the incentive industry and at Motivation Excellence, most recently serving as VP, Client Solutions and Technology. He will focus on operations and sales, while Ebner, formally VP, Finance, will concentrate on corporate finance and human resources.
“The foundations of Motivation Excellence, which include our culture and exceeding our clients’ expectations, are solid. Michelle and I are focusing attention on running things even more efficiently so we can serve our clients at the highest standard and maximize the company’s growth potential. David had a strategic vision for the company, and we plan to keep that going,” said Graham.
The existing leadership team will remain intact and includes longtime veterans of the industry. Brad Hecht is the Sr. VP of Travel & Chief Travel Strategist, Rhonda Brewer is VP, Sales and Kelli Robb is VP, Travel Operations. All three are deeply involved with our group travel and award point program clients.
“We will honor David’s legacy by continuing our high level of service. He built an amazing culture with our clients and our internal teams, and it’s a priority to keep that alive,” remarked Ebner.
It’s heartwarming to keep Motivation Excellence within the Jobes family, and especially wonderful to have people from our work family take the reins going forward. We will continue to Inspire Extraordinary Performance through our motivating B2B and employee incentive programs and aspirational rewards solutions.
In Rewards and Recognition, Leadership Enthusiasm Is Critical
Both personalized rewards and travel incentives can improve engagement, boost morale, and contribute to greater productivity. But if an organization expects its incentivization efforts to pay off in the long run, there is a critical ingredient that cannot be ignored: leadership enthusiasm. Leadership needs to do more than endorse programs on paper. They need to be personally involved.
A March 2024 post by Forbes Council’s Member David Grossman drives home this point really well. We will borrow from Grossman’s post while adding our own thoughts. When all is said and done, we hope you walk away with a better understanding of how leadership impacts both the tangible and intangible benefits of personalized rewards and employee recognition.
Leadership Was Into It
Grossman began his post by discussing a recent experience that had made a huge impression on him. As he put it, he “had the opportunity to observe an exemplary employee recognition program in action.” The program was designed to award employees who demonstrated the company’s values in remarkable ways.
That alone says something. The employer went beyond offering personalized rewards and recognition just to increase engagement or boost productivity. They actually want their employees to live out company values as they do what they do. They want company culture to be more than words on paper. They want it to define how employees do what they do.
At any rate, Grossman observed that company leadership was really into the recognition part of the program. During the official recognition ceremony, leadership described how award winners exemplified company values. They described how the award winners went above and beyond to meet the needs of both clients and colleagues.
The Excitement Was Palpable
According to Grossman, the excitement in the room was palpable. There was an energy not seen in most employee recognition events. Most importantly, all the employees were able to see first-hand that company leadership actually believed in what they were doing. They saw that their leaders were genuinely enthusiastic about recognizing employees for their exemplary work.
It’s Not Always That Way
Unfortunately, what Grossman observed is not the standard for every company. In fact, he cited statistics from a Gallup poll showing just the opposite. According to the poll:
- 40% of American employees receive recognition a few times per year or less.
- Just 23% reported that their employers had recognition programs in place.
Things do not have to be this way. In fact, they should not. The same Gallup poll reveals that employees who are regularly recognized for doing well are four times more likely to be engaged at work. They are also 73% less likely to report burnout.
More Than Just a Human Resource
Perhaps a good way to summarize everything Grossman wrote in his post is to say that American workers want to be treated like they are more than just human resources. They want to be treated as partners with ideas to contribute, visions for the company, and the ability to serve clients without being tethered.
Personalized rewards and recognition programs cannot meet every employee engagement need in the modern workforce. But they can go a long way toward demonstrating to employees that they are human beings with value rather than just easily replaced resources.
Just remember this one thing: the success of any rewards or recognition program is intrinsically tied to leadership enthusiasm. Leadership needs to buy-in, both on paper and through actively participating in recognizing hard working employees. The more enthusiasm leadership displays, the more enthusiasm they will encourage in their employees. Ultimately, that’s what makes all this work.
