Dermalogica and Huggg

"I honestly would recommend Huggg to anyone, it really improved the way we recognise our staff and the result is a happier workforce." Sarah Beardsworth, Head of HR UK & IRE for Dermalogica

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Using gifting to maximise employee experience  

Since its conception as a family business in the late 80s, Dermalogica has since grown into the recognised authority on custom skin-care solutions on both sides of the Atlantic.

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The company have been using Huggg to reward teams for just over a year so we thought it was time to see how things were going.  We recently sat down with Sarah Beardsworth - Dermalogica’s head of HR UK & IRE, to talk about how Huggg has helped:

• Keep morale high by rewarding good work in the moment
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• Maintain high staff retention levels by creating a positive culture
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• Ensure remote teams feel connected
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• Strengthen team bonds
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Hi Sarah. Good of you to chat with us today. Let’s jump right in. Why did you decide to start sending team gifts?

We’d received feedback from our annual engagement survey that told us managers wanted a tool that allowed them to reward and recognise good work as they saw it happening. We want our people to know their commitment and hard work is noticed.

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On top of this, in 2015 we were acquired by Unilever and part of my role has been to ensure Dermalogica retains its close-knit family culture. It’s important to us that all our staff feel part of the same team no matter where they are, and I could see by introducing gifting, we could address both needs.

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What was it about gifting that appealed to you?

I was sent a box of Barefoot brownies from Huggg and I quickly realised if an unexpected gift received in such a unique way made me feel this good, then it would make the rest of our team feel great too.

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Is making your people feel good one of the reasons you send gifts?

Absolutely. We know our people work hard and there can be times of stress and tiredness. But by being able to surprise and delight with a small gift we know our people feel appreciated and valued. It really does make an impact.

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And why did you choose to work with Huggg?

It was essential that gifting didn’t become a hindrance to our managers, so I needed to find a way to make the whole process as easy as possible. I booked a demo call with a member of the Huggg team and within minutes of seeing how simple and quick the platform made choosing and sending a gift, I knew it was the one for us. I just fell in love with it straight away, it was exactly what we needed.

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Can you tell us more about the Huggg features that help you save time?

The whole thing is just so quick and easy but I really love the group send feature. It blew my mind that you can send gifts to entire workforces as quickly as you can to individuals. There’s just no way of doing that when sending gifts on your own.

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"I just fell in love with the Huggg platform straight away, it was exactly what I needed." Sarah Beardsworth, Head of HR UK & IRE for Dermalogica

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‍And for what reasons do you send gifts?

All sorts of reasons really. If a manager spots a team member providing exceptional customer service we want to reward them in the moment. It really helps build manager and team member relationships.  We also have village hall meetings where we send rewards to people who have done something which deserves wider recognition. It’s a great way of showing our team that we really do notice when they go above and beyond.

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We’ve also started placing Huggg gift links at the end of important emails as a way of tracking engagement. As the Huggg platform shows redemption rates, we can see how many people have read right to the end of the email by the number of coffees that have been claimed.

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That’s a great idea! How have people been responding to the gifts?

Really positively. I sent something to a colleague as a thank you for covering for a member of staff who was on annual leave. I chose a gift I knew she would like and she messaged me to say thanks and that the gift was just what she needed at that moment. Being able to delight our people is important to us and it’s great to know it works.

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It sounds like creating a positive company culture is a priority at Dermalogica. Do you find that gifting is an important aspect to this?

Yes it’s essential really. Ensuring our staff feel valued and recognised is at the forefront of everything we do. We want them to come to work each day and have fun whilst working hard. Sending small rewards when deserved, or even just because, is a really great way of making sure that happens. It’s just a really great way to spread a little positivity and ensure our best people want to stay with us.

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What is the main benefit you see from sending team gifts with Huggg?

It's just lovely that we can reward and recognise across the board so no one feels left out. I honestly would recommend it to anyone, it really improved the way we recognise our staff and the result is a happier workforce.

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Well that is really great way to end things but before we wrap up, is there anything you’d like to change about Huggg?

I’d love to be able to use Huggg to send gifts to our staff in Ireland so I guess that would be the one thing I’d ask for.

We’d love that too Sarah. Plans are afoot and we promise you won’t be waiting for this for much longer. Look out for an announcement soon.