automotiveMastermind is a sales and marketing analytics platform for automotive dealerships. They have more than 350 team members in offices around the world. 

To increase employee engagement and reward team members' contributions, Jenna Muldoon, the Director of Workplace Experience at automotiveMastermind, runs a variety of recognition programs and contests. Her team also organizes catering for large department meetings, which was a team bonding experience before the company went remote in 2020.  

Jenna previously used in-person catering for meetings and a curated collection of prizes for employee recognition. The company had a document that listed prizes by value. Team members could choose a prize based on the  value they were awarded, and Jenna would order it and arrange the shipping. 

This system required a lot of active management. Jenna needed to ensure the delivery of each prize, and she often ran into issues when the team member's chosen item was not available in their country. She also had to manually track the expenses for every reward sent. Then, she switched to Hoppier.

""Hoppier has been a really welcome new initiative for us. It definitely solved a lot of problems that I don't know we originally knew we had."

Bringing Ease and Simplicity to Employee Rewards

automotiveMastermind first used Hoppier to provide catering for a virtual department meeting. This was replacing an in-person event which would have happened in the office had it been pre-COVID and they wanted a way to recreate that experience.

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"The first time I got the information about hoppier, I was actually a participant in that meeting and I was like ‘What is this? This is wonderful. This is so cool!"

With Hoppier, the company could send virtual credit cards to everyone in the meeting, and team members could order their own food from local vendors all over the world. 

Soon after Hoppier was introduced, they built in a lunch time, just like before where everyone would go downstairs to pick up their lunch and have a nice casual chat. 

Beside these company-wide initiatives, they also started to provide Hoppier cards to smaller groups of employees, such as offering breakfast as part of their women’s empowerment group meetings. This provided a nice addition to the meeting and folks in Poland and India could also get their treats.

The cards allowed them to recreate their previous in-office experiences and bond with colleagues remotely. And soon after, they began brainstorming other uses for Hoppier.

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"When we saw the functionality of it, we realized Hoppier could be used in so many other ways for other things that we're doing."

With Hoppier, the company could send virtual credit cards to everyone in the meeting, and team members could order their own food from local vendors all over the world. 

Jenna started using Hoppier cards in place of the other prizes for her employee rewards and contests. Before Hoppier, the gifting process was very manual — the gifts were listed in a slide deck, but the gift choices would no longer be available when employees had to make their choice. Now, the gifting process runs 10x smoother.

Employees instantly receive their Hoppier link and choose what they’d like from vendors. There is a wide variety of categories to choose from, so employees never face disappointment due to unavailable gifts. Furthermore, Jenna no longer worries about delivery issues and delays, and can include remote employees across the globe because of the wide selection of international vendors. Team members can now use their reward to pay for a nice dinner, a spa day, a new yoga mat, or any number of products and experiences.

Because Jenna could set a budget for each Hoppier card, she no longer needed to check prize values. And when it came time to write expense reports, she didn't have to add up prizes individually. She could find her total program costs in Hoppier in just a few clicks.

Reaping the (Employee) Rewards 

Since transitioning their employee rewards program to Hoppier cards, automotiveMastermind has been able to create efficiencies that have saved both time and money.

"Creating efficiencies around 1-1 gifting has been a game-changer for us. It literally takes me one-tenth of the time with Hoppier."

Jenna estimates that it takes about one-tenth of the time to manage programs through Hoppier as it previously took. 

The fact that it’s all in one place has been another “aha” moment for Jenna. Beforehand, if she needed to do her expenses, or follow up with people, or figure out how much she had spent on an event, she would have to accomplish these tasks individually. Now everything is done in just a few clicks with Hoppier. 

While team members previously had around 40 prizes to choose from at any given price point, they're now able to choose from thousands of vendors and products using their Hoppier card. The company can also provide team lunches and rewards to international team members who previously didn't have access to some of these programs. 

Because employees can choose their own reward, automotiveMastermind doesn't end up paying for prizes that employees don't want and never use. Jenna can also set expiration dates on each Hoppier card, so if employees don't use the card, automotiveMastermind can reclaim the funds, saving them money on every program. 

With Hoppier, Jenna is able to recreate some of the typically in-office bonding moments and reward employees in a way that feels personal and caring. By getting back 90% of the time she previously spent on 1-1 gifting, she now has more time to focus on what matters most: creating a happy and productive workplace for her global team.

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