Save valuable time implementing your gift policy: here’s how Hillewaere Group did it.
Implementing a gift policy using different suppliers comes with logistical and administrative challenges. Every supplier has their own way of doing things, which means you have to keep track of all the different information. Plus, you end up dealing with a different person each time and getting separate confirmation emails. And even then, you’ll still feel the need to make your own overview – just to be sure you’re following up on each gift with the right supplier.
A lot of companies recognise the need to standardise and streamline this process. Hillewaere Group, a Belgian organisation specialising in residential property and insurance with almost 300 employees spread across 26 offices, successfully tackled this challenge by implementing the Kadonation Select platform. To share their story with you, we spoke to Lenka Dekort, HR officer at Hillewaere Group.
About Hillewaere Group
Hillewaere Group comprises three service companies: Hillewaere Property, Insurance and Mortgages.
Challenge
The hassle of ordering gifts through different suppliers.
Lenka is part of the four-person HR team that takes care of almost 300 employees. Besides the ‘hard’ HR, she also oversees the gift policy. Or their ‘gift plan’ or ‘gratitude policy’, as Lenka describes it so nicely. The company was founded in 2002 and has several offices under it, with a branch in property and insurance. This means that Hillewaere Group employees are geographically very spread out, making a shared connection absolutely essential.
It’s difficult for companies to focus on a shared connection when internal processes, like a gift policy, are not streamlined, which only causes confusion. That’s why Hillewaere Group took the bull by the horns and integrated these different ways of working into one easy policy using a single platform. What is the added value here? Imagine you want to order from five different shops: one supplier accepts grouped payments on invoice, but another asks you to pay for your orders upfront and one by one. With one shop you have to place your order by email and then regularly ask for an update; with another you can get lost clicking around online. These actions might only take you a few seconds, but those seconds add up to minutes or even hours of wasted time that you’d rather be spending on other things.
Solution
Implementation of a gift policy using a single platform where HR maintains control.
‘After a smooth onboarding, we started using Kadonation Select straightaway,’ says Lenka. ‘All the chasing up I used to do has now given way to efficiency, so we were completely convinced right from the start. I currently use the platform bi-weekly and sometimes even more often than that.’
‘The personalisation option is such an added value at no extra cost!’
Lenka Dekort
Hillewaere Group consciously keeps their gift policy within HR, as they are the closest to the people, but marketing helps them with the creative part. These two teams decide on the occasions to focus on each year and then they throw together some fun ideas. Because there’s no shortage of gift occasions at Hillewaere Group!
Inspiration is key: which occasions do Hillewaere Group mark?
‘At Hillewaere Group we’ve always done a lot for our employees, and that’s also something we want to continue to do. Employees are the most important part of any organisation: without them we are nothing.’
‘A lot of companies focus on a five-year work anniversary, but we consciously choose to celebrate this after just three years of employment,’ says Lenka. ‘We notice that the beautiful card and bouquet of flowers are very much appreciated.’
For a wedding, the employee receives a Kadonation Gift Card with a nice amount, and for newborns the team also uses Kadonation Select to choose a physical gift that is specially put together and personalised for them. ‘The personalisation option is such an added value at no extra cost!’ Lenka says enthusiastically.
On an employee’s birthday, we decorate their desk with streamers and present them with a Kadonation Gift Card. ‘We used to give Rituals or Bol.com vouchers, but they weren’t inclusive enough. Now people sometimes save up the gift cards to buy something bigger,’ says Lenka.
But Hillewaere Group also celebrates a few special occasions. ‘We always give employees a present at Easter, on compliment day, Sinterklaas or Christmas, but we also like to do something extra ad hoc, whether or not it involves a gift.’ For example, this year everyone came to the office dressed in red on 14 February, and everyone got a new mouse pad when the new intranet was launched.
But customer gifts, or business partner gifts, are also really important. For example, they developed their own Hillewaere fragrance, which you can now find in their candles, diffusers and fragrance sticks. And their customers absolutely love it!
‘Employees are the most important part of any organisation: without them we are nothing.’
Lenka Dekort
Result
A top-speed company saving even more time thanks to Kadonation Select.
Lenka uses the gift boxes for newborns to illustrate how much time she saves using Kadonation Select. Previously, she would order all the items for the gift box separately, so this already saves her ‘5 to 10 minutes per order.’ ‘Add to that physically putting the box together, and it’s now a lot more efficient thanks to Kadonation Select.’
Hillewaere Group is also a fan of the spending report. ‘You can quickly see what the proposed budget is being spent on, which can sometimes be quite a revelation!’ says Lenka. ‘We would also like to look into the automated gifts, because this will save us even more time without having to compromise on impact.’
In short: Hillewaere Group is totally on board. ‘We would recommend Kadonation Select to any company, because it’s super easy to manage everything on one platform. And if we still have questions, the fantastic support team help us out the same day.’ We’re more than happy to pass on this positive feedback!
Want to save time with a streamlined gift policy, just like Lenka and Hillewaere Group? We’re happy to help!
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