MAPP and Huggg

“People really matter to us. One of our key values is to always show appreciation. Rewarding our people is entrenched in our culture.” - Corinne Marchand, Head of People Operations MAPP

‍

Using team gifts to boost employee recognition

Commercial property management maestros MAPP have been delighting their teams with Huggg gifts since 2019. Being old friends, we thought it was about time we asked them what it is about Huggg that keeps them coming back for more. We spoke with Corrine and Ruth from MAPP’s People Team about the different ways they keep their people feeling happy and appreciated with Huggg.

‍

Hi Corinne and Ruth 👋 - Let’s kick off with a little bit on how you are using gifting in your employee engagement strategy.

We use it for everything - from welcoming new starters and celebrating birthdays and anniversaries to inter-team presents, congratulating people on passing their probation, and compassionate reasons when someone is going through a difficult time.

No matter where you work or what your role is, everyone will have the occasional mundane task to complete. I can say from personal experience receiving an unexpected Greggs Sausage Roll in the middle of it just really puts a smile on your face and reminds you your hard work isn’t going unrecognised. It’s the little things that count.

‍

It’s great you send gifts to the whole team and also to individuals. Do team members send gifts to each other?

Yes. Our internal messaging platform allows people to nominate colleagues they think deserve a gift - whether that be for doing a great job, being helpful or any other reason they can think of. It’s such an effective way of letting that person know how much they are appreciated. The impact a gift creates is worth so much more than the cost.

‍

We couldn’t agree more. Could you tell us why you decided to start sending gifts to your teams?

Because people really matter to us. One of our key values is to always show appreciation, so rewarding our people is entrenched in our culture. Also, it's just really fun! People genuinely love receiving the gifts. Even when we send something small like a coffee, the feedback we get is always “Wow, this is great!”.

Good news travels fast and sending gifts is a way to bring a little joy into the day.

‍

Can you think of any specific examples where you have used gifts to show appreciation or say thanks?

For the last few years, we have held our Hero Awards - we ask people to nominate a colleague who has gone above and beyond and a colleague who is an unsung hero.  Reading through the reasons why people had been nominated was really quite emotional and selecting the winners wasn’t easy, but each winner was sent a premium Huggg gift. The things people had done for each other were just amazing, so it was great to be able to reach out to them with a gift and say ‘You did this great thing, it matters to us and we appreciate you”.

‍

That’s really great to hear. What was it that made you choose Huggg as your gifting platform?

With Huggg we are able to easily send gifts that are sensitive to different tastes and beliefs - it’s good that there are options for non-drinkers and people with dietary requirements for example.

‍

The platform also allows recipients to choose when they claim their gifts. So this massively reduces the chance of gifts being delivered on a day when the recipient is out. It’d be brilliant if that was the case in real life too - imagine being offered a slice of cake in the staff kitchen and being able to say “Thanks, but I’ve just eaten. Could I have it in a couple of weeks please?”. Haha.

‍

We’ll be sure to pass on your kind words 🙂. Moving onto the gifts themselves, what factors influence the types of gifts you send?

It’s totally dependent on the situation and who is receiving the gift. Our workforce is spread across the country so it’s important we can send gifts that can be claimed no matter where the recipients are - whether that be central London, the middle of nowhere or somewhere in between. Huggg’s options of collected and delivered gifts have been really helpful with this.

‍

‍“An unexpected Greggs Sausage Roll really does put a smile on your face. It’s the little things that count.” - Ruth Chamley, Recruitment and People Administrator, MAPP

‍

Which gifts have you been sending to your teams?

We’ve sent all sorts. Meal kits, drinks for parties, Joe & Seph’s gourmet popcorn packs, Treat Yourself gift cards and don’t forget the Greggs Sausage Rolls. We love looking at the platform to see what’s been added.

‍

Which Huggg gifts do you see yourself using that you haven’t already sent?

People love choice, and so to make sure we are maximising the positive effect receiving a gift has on the recipient, we want to use the Let them choose category more. It’s such a great way of sending something thoughtful whilst ensuring the recipient receives something they want. We don’t presume to know the likes, dislikes and personal considerations of all our employees, so letting them choose their own gift is a neat way of avoiding accidentally offending anyone or sending them something they can’t use. 

The Experience gift cards that have recently been added look really fun too. I can see us using these for team away days.

‍

Finally, are there any kinds of gifts you hope to see on Huggg in the future?

MAPP recently achieved B-Corp certification so it would be great to see even more gifts from suppliers that are also B-Corp certified. Being able to say ‘We are B-Corp and we gift B-Corp’ would be fantastic.

We hear you guys. Watch this space for some new B-Corp supply partners soon.