Business for a Better World: Motivation Excellence
Motivation Excellence, Inc.
20 N. Martingale, Suite 240, Schaumburg
(847) 839-5500
Website: www.motivationexcellence.com
Industry: Incentive travel and points programs, meetings and events
Annual revenue: $55 million
Number of employees: 50+, in addition to a team of hundreds of independent travel directors
An interview with David Jobes, President & CEO of Motivation Excellence
Q: Describe your company.
At its core, Motivation Excellence, is a performance improvement company. We use a variety of rule structures, reward options, performance tracking and engagement campaigns to inspire extraordinary performance for our clients' participants.
Incentive programs are a proven way to build stronger relationships with the people who help your company thrive, whether those people are employees, channel partners, a sales team or customers. Once we know who the audience is, and what the goal of our client's business is, we can design an incentive program that delivers not only results to the bottom line, but also emotional bonds that carry a company and its most important people far into the future.
It's an evolution to match current market expectations with the appropriate recognition to help companies and individuals exceed their own expectations.
Incentive rewards can include:
• luxury group travel anywhere in the world
• exclusive vendor/customer trade show, meeting or special event
• unique direct and indirect sales team travel experiences
• lifestyle upgrade packages
• individual travel and special event tickets
• award points redeemable for nearly anything
Seriously, we bought a cow at auction for a participant who wanted one for his granddaughter's 4H project. Our Concierge Shoppers have helped people use their earned points for things like home improvement, school tuition, family vacations and engagement rings. It's the really rewarding part of the journey for us!
Q: Do you plan to hire any additional staff or make any significant capital investments in your company in the next year?
We are always evaluating our needs in terms of both people and infrastructure. In 2020, we moved to our new headquarters at 20 N. Martingale in Schaumburg, and designed a workspace, with the required technology, where no one is tethered to a cubicle or desk. In 2021, we acquired another incentive company out of Traverse City, Michigan, which nearly doubled our staff size. In the last 18 months, we've added a dozen new hires in our accounting, sales, travel, marketing and IT departments. In 2024, we will continue to look at adding department personnel to make sure we're supporting our clients and exceeding their expectations.
Q: What will your company's main challenges be in the next year?
Being agile for our clients' changing business environments will certainly continue to be a focus. Global supply chain issues are still in play for some of our clients' industries, so our teams will remain creative when designing incentives based on elements besides delivery of goods.
Meeting our growth goal and adding new logos to our client list are important each year. Our growth will continue to come from a healthy balance of acquisitions and organic growth.
Making sure we recruit and retain top talent is a priority. And truly, finding ways to outperform ourselves each year in the eyes of our clients is always top of the list. We are continually challenged with delivering an even better travel experience than last year, or another bar raising event that creates lasting memories.
Q: What's the hottest trend in your industry?
The best use of AI is a hot topic right now. How can we use it to be more effective? How can we incorporate it into events so that it's engaging and interactive? Technology, in general, is always evolving in our industry. We have proprietary technology that streamlines and personalizes travel itineraries for incentive group travel. (It's called Inspire.) Being able to offer performance tracking platforms built from scratch for each client also lends itself to being at the forefront of a trend, rather than following behind.
Q: Does climate change affect how your company does business?
Indirectly, yes. Our headquarters was developed with the goal of utilizing environmentally conscious considerations (such as carpet with no petroleum products). Having a good deal of our team working remotely also helps with limiting the amount of resources required to get back and forth to the office.
Q: What does your company do to reduce the effects of climate change?
Environmental causes are very close to my heart. When we built our new headquarters, I made sure we looked at our carbon footprint. We worked closely with Judy Biberian of JRI Interior Design. Here are some of the things we incorporated:
• Purchased vegan furniture
• Installed LED motion activated lights
• Used Carbon Neutral FloorsTM from Interface
• Mounted 100% recyclable ceiling baffles, made from 60% post-consumer materials
• Included a living wall made of mosses that produces oxygen and reduces humidity
• Invested in Wi-Fi capabilities throughout the office
• Even our table coasters are made from recycled barn roofing material
We recycle all our electronic equipment as items get replaced. I also made it an office goal to be as paper-free as possible once I purchased the company from our founder in January of 2018.
Q: What does your company do regarding DE&I (diversity, equity & inclusion)?
We value DE&I and what it brings to a collaborative organization. Seventy-four percent of our employees are women, with many being in leadership roles. We are fortunate to have a variety of cultures represented, too. At Motivation Excellence, DE&I runs throughout the business, from talent recruitment and onboarding to development and retention. We aim to understand a clear view of the employee experience by using employee engagement surveys throughout the year that help us focus on what's important, what we are good at, and what needs to be changed.
Q: Does your company donate time or money to any philanthropic causes? If so, what causes?
This is one of our core culture elements. More than 10 years ago, our team members started "Snack for Charity." Each month the company purchases snacks and employees pay $1 to eat them, with that money being donated to that month's charity. Over time, we've supported more than 75 charities, with most of them having a special tie to one of our team members. Some are local - Almost Home Foundation pet rescue and the District 211 Summer Meals program - while others are national - Pizzas for Patriots and JDRF.
We also frequently host companywide charity projects. Past recipients of these events in the Chicago area include Project Linus, Journeys: The Road Home, Phil's Friends and Palatine Township Thanksgiving Baskets & Christmas Adopt-a-Family programs. Our Traverse City location also regularly participates in Adopt-a-Highway, Habitat for Humanity, Father Fred Foundation Food Pantry and Child and Protective Services Adopt-a-Family at Christmas.
Pre-pandemic, I helped start Ingage Unlimited, an international volunteer training organization. Motivation Excellence continues to support this charity. We send groups of volunteers to impoverished locations throughout the world to provide training in the areas of education, health care, business and leadership development.
We also regularly work with the fundraising arm of the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) and The Above and Beyond Foundation which was set up initially to aid hospitality workers in need due to COVID reductions of staffing, and more recently, the Maui fires. We also support a variety of our clients' charities, and regularly participate in fundraisers put on by organizations close to our employees' families.
Overall, in the past 10 years, Motivation Excellence has donated more than $100,000 to charity. Our employees are given the opportunity to use two paid charity days a year to donate time to the organization of their choice, as well.
Q: What do you do to make your business a good place to work for your employees?
Over and above providing the proper resources and training for each individual to be successful in their role, we also offer:
• Individual authority and ability to make decisions, "think like an owner" philosophy
• Flexible work schedules
• Remote/Hybrid work arrangements
• Paid vacation, sick leave, holidays, work anniversary and charity days
• Employee referral rewards
• Internal recognition program
• Casual work environment
• Biannual companywide events
• Monthly activities organized by our Events Committee
We prioritize a positive company culture, collaboration and inclusion. There's a reason our tenure is great!
Q: Do you have a business mantra?
We spent a lot of time developing our core values of RITE2 which stands for Respect, Integrity, Trust and Exceeding Expectations. Equally important is our mission statement of Inspire Extraordinary Performance. As a team, we keep both sentiments at the forefront of our work for our clients and our collaboration with each other.
Q: What is one interesting fact about your company that most people may not know?
We have outstanding tenure with our team members - 46% have been with the company at least 10 years. Of that group, more than 75% have amassed at least 18 years with us. I have the most longevity at 31 years. Motivation Excellence was founded in 1985 by Greg Lewis. I purchased the company from him in 2018. I love that we have a core group of long-timers and enjoy welcoming different perspectives each time we have a new hire.