Episode 16: Awards Events for B2B Growth

00:48
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Welcome to another episode of Marketing Moves. I'm your host, Lisa Perry Kovacs, and today we have an episode that explores the concept of creating an awards program to help market your company and grow affinity for your brand. Today's guest, Kelly Keefe, is an award winning business leader, trusted human resources professional, recent recipient of the 2023 Smart Business News Progressive Women Award and the first female president in ERC's 103 year history. Most impressive to me and central to our episode today, Kelly oversees NorthCoast 99, ERC's annual recognition program and event that honors 99 great Northeast Ohio workplaces for top talent. Our marketing agency, VividFront, has been a recipient of the NorthCoast 99 award for five years and counting. And I have to say it's the award we are most proud of. Even above our Inc. 5000 or field specific recognition. NorthCoast 99 is rigorous, unbiased and evaluates organizations based on their ability to attract and retain top talent. But I'll let Kelly tell you more about it. Kelly, welcome to marketing Moves.

01:45
Kelly Keefe
Thanks Lisa. I'm so happy to be here.

01:48
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Awesome. So what I want to cover today is the way that an awards program can actually become an effective marketing tool and how NorthCoast 99 awards has helped grow brand recognition and credibility for ERC. So let's start with a bit of background for our listeners. What is the mission of ERC? What is ERC all about?

02:10
Kelly Keefe
Our mission is to help leaders build great workplaces. So through thought leadership, through providing data to these leaders, that's really what we're trying to do, is just help Northeast Ohio attract and retain great employees by building great workplaces.

02:25
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Terrific. And how do you think that NorthCoast 99 helps further that core mission?

02:30
Kelly Keefe
So NorthCoast 99 is all about, it's all data driven. So it's all about looking at workplace practices and then comparing that to what top performers are looking for out of workplaces. So using that information that helps to drive our mission.

02:46
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Awesome. Can you talk a little bit about the history of NorthCoast 99 from inception today? Like what was the original purpose of the program? How has it changed over time? What are some things that remain the same? I mean, I think you're celebrating your anniversary, is that correct?

03:01
Kelly Keefe
We just had our 25th anniversary of NorthCoast 99, which was such a. I know. It's so exciting, and really, it's just exciting for our region because this is year over year, so many organizations are applying, and they just want to keep getting better. The leaders at these organizations, the employees, realize the importance of it. So truly, NorthCoast 99 conceptually has not changed. It's always been data driven. What has changed is 25 years ago, it used to be a paper and a pencil application, and people used to have to use snail mail for everyone who doesn't know what that is, they didn't email it in. So what has changed is it's all become electronic now, and we're able to send the survey out to many individuals within an organization. But at the core, it's always remained data driven.

03:43
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Okay. I can't imagine filling out that application with paper and pencil because it is long. It's a big application, very robust. Can you talk about the different sections of the application and some of the criteria that you're looking for?

03:57
Kelly Keefe
Yeah. So it really kind of comes down to the trends of what's happening in today's world. So when you think about 25 years ago, not many organizations, if any, I think, had paternity leave. I don't even think that we asked about paternity leave. Of course, now most organizations all offer paternity leave. There were no cell phone policies. There was no bring your dog to work policy. So what's beautiful about NorthCoast 99 is it evolves every year, keeping up with the trend. So, Covid, year 2020 obviously kind of pushed the envelope as to what organizations are doing around flexibility and benefits, those types of things. So NorthCoast 99, the questions have evolved as the world has evolved year over year.

04:36
Lisa Perry Kovacs
That makes sense. How do you find applicants for NorthCoast 99? Do they find you and they reach out to apply, or how do you find them?

04:44
Kelly Keefe
Yeah. So luckily, we have many organizations that have applied year over year. However, just because you apply year over year, there is no guarantee that you're going to win again. It's all data driven, and I can get into that a little bit if you want, but we find applicants. LinkedIn is a wonderful way. Organizations realize, as you just said at the beginning, it's a very sought after award because you realize that winning this award is, we're a third party that's giving you a stamp of approval, that you're doing what employees are looking for. Right? By the attraction and retention, focusing on what real employees are looking for. So really it's an organic growth. But year over year we have a good handful of organizations that have never won. Vivid Front hasn't won for 25 years.

05:29
Kelly Keefe
So you were a new first time winner a couple of years ago. And every year, like I said, we have new organizations that come in and then organizations are so excited to celebrate their win that they share it themselves. So then there is some organic growth that way as well. We do use LinkedIn a lot and we do push it out through other social media means as well.

05:47
Lisa Perry Kovacs
And when you're pushing it out, what's your messaging? Are you just inviting people to apply?

05:52
Kelly Keefe
I think what we're really kind of shifted recently with our marketing team. I'm so excited we're using the data that we learned from NorthCoast 99 to say, hey, have you thought about new benefits that you could offer your employees instead of just the traditional. Have you thought about new ways to maybe help meet your employees where they are today? Right. So if your children are home, do you offer a little flexibility or are you offering different pet benefits, which is a new benefit that we've seen kind of rise out through some of the data. So using the data from the NorthCoast application, we then turn that into fun facts and push that out.

06:30
Lisa Perry Kovacs
I think that's such a good idea because instead of through your marketing messaging trying to push the awards program and do you want to win an award, are you thinking about your employees in the right way? Are you thinking about different benefits that you can ask them? And then I think employers will organically want to do a better job for their employees.

06:49
Kelly Keefe
That's right. And we actually hear that some organizations, they actually know that they're not going to win because they are kind of at the beginning phase of the change in leadership. Or they're just saying we never really thought about creating a strong culture within our organization through the practices and the policies that we have. So some organizations use the application process. So just for the listeners to know, if you were to print out the application, it's about a 60 some page application. So it is not easy. It's very time consuming. It's almost a two month window to fill out the application because it does involve a lot of data that the organization has to collect. But then what's wonderful is you almost get like an audit of what you are doing compared to what other organizations are doing.

07:36
Kelly Keefe
How many days off do you give? How many vacation days do you have? How many holidays do you give each year those types of things so you can benchmark your organization on other winning organizations? So you can use that then for the following year when the leadership team sits down and says, what are we going to do to improve our workplace culture, practices, policies, you can use that data as a starting point.

07:57
Lisa Perry Kovacs
It's funny you mentioned that and I'm glad you shared that because that is something that I do.

08:03
Kelly Keefe
Yeah.

08:03
Lisa Perry Kovacs
When I'm filling out the application, I'm taking note of what were some areas that I felt like were more difficult to fill out or maybe didn't come as naturally. And I felt disappointed in our ability to offer that to our employees and I would take a really strong mental note of that and then add it to the itinerary to talk about with the leadership team for the subsequent years planning.

08:20
Kelly Keefe
That's great. That's wonderful. And it doesn't mean that just because, let's say if the average right now is you're giving off eleven day holidays, that doesn't mean that's what you have to do. But just so you know that's what the average is. The high range might be, I think it's 13 and the low range is nine. So where do you fall? So what is your proposition that you're saying to your employees? We don't give off all the holidays. However, you have flexibility to go see the doctor whenever you need to or whatever it is. You're kind of meeting your employees where they are. So just kind of. I think the more information we have on any decision that makes us better decision makers.

08:57
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Absolutely agree. So how does an awards program gain and remain credible even after so many years? Like you have said, just because you apply doesn't mean you have to win, right? I had said in the beginning it's unbiased. Just talk about how you can't pay to play with NorthCoast.

09:15
Kelly Keefe
No, not at all. In fact, one of the worst professional phone calls I ever had to make was calling my board chair. So I have a board at ERC. I have a board of directors that are my bosses. And the board chair, I had to call him and tell him that his organization did not win NorthCoast 99. So I had a pit in my stomach and he was so kind and classy and all those things. And he said, you know what, it just proves the validity of this program because you really can't pay to play. So there's no guaranteed winners whatsoever. And I think that's kind of a misnomer that I want to just make sure that people realize, as NorthCoast 99 is, it's really all data driven.

09:50
Kelly Keefe
And if you answer the question one way, one year, it doesn't mean that if you answer the question the same, answer all the questions the same, the next year that you're going to win. Because what you want. Lisa, what I want from year to year changes. Right. Covid proved that to us. We always wanted challenging and meaningful work. For the most part, that was the number one driver. Then all of a sudden, Covid came and guess what we wanted. We wanted job security. Well, then guess what we want now. We want flexibility. Right? So year over year, because of the way the world works, that's how we're changing what we're looking for. So how do we keep it fresh and relevant? I think you asked me that.

10:26
Kelly Keefe
It's not easy, but really it's what the employees are answering on the survey data that kind of helps drive us to how we keep it relevant.

10:35
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Yeah. And I like what you said about just because you answer it one way doesn't mean you're just going to be able to maintain winning it year after year, because one of the things that I noticed was there was one year and the period after it that I felt like we answered questions similarly. But when we received the report, we fell very differently on the benchmarking data than the prior year. So I think that's really because.

10:56
Kelly Keefe
Anytime new employees come in, or as you just said, you took the data, the survey results, and you wanted to create action and you wanted to create change. So if you then changed some policy that you have and other organizations didn't, then you're going to come out higher on that answer.

11:12
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Right. And in the same vein of unbiased, I think one of the cool things about the way North Coast 99 captures data is that you have new employees like you just touched on. Fill it out. So can you talk about that? Because it's not like the leadership team can just sit down and be like, oh, we're awesome.

11:29
Kelly Keefe
Right, right.

11:29
Lisa Perry Kovacs
You have to get more data from people that aren't necessarily biased for you winning. Can you talk about that?

11:35
Kelly Keefe
Yeah, I would love to. We do kind of two employee surveys. The first one is the top performer survey. So you identify how many top performers you have within your organization, approximately. And then we send a survey out and we're looking for at least half of those employees to complete. So again, that drives what policies are important and how those are weighted. Then there's the new employee. Right. So we all maybe remember being our first job or the newbie at the organization. And how did you feel? How did you feel acclimated as soon as possible. And so that information is really relevant because that will say to you, Lisa, gosh, maybe our onboarding practice needs a little bit more, or maybe we need a buddy system or maybe we're offering this benefit that doesn't quite matter to new employees.

12:20
Kelly Keefe
So what we're trying to do is help you as business leaders be as successful as possible with every new employer you hire as quickly as possible.

12:27
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Love it. And it is very helpful to us.

12:29
Kelly Keefe
Oh, good.

12:30
Lisa Perry Kovacs
So can you talk about shifting a little bit more to marketing the event? Can you talk about some of the organic content, maybe especially on social media that you see, you touched on a little bit in the beginning, but winners, are they posting before, during and after the event? And how much of a role does ERC play in prompting or incentivizing this, or are you seeing that it's just sort of happening naturally?

12:51
Kelly Keefe
So the only prompting we really do is we love the celebration. So we say NorthCoast 99, it's really a year long endeavor. So we're already thinking about the application for next year. And really the party. We always have a party in September. It's wonderful. But it's the application process and the evaluation process and then the interviews for Cleveland magazine and other things like that are really special. So we kind of use the information that we get from the survey to help us identify themes. And then we say to organizations like VividFront and other winners, can you show us you celebrating your win within your organization and send us pictures? Well, who doesn't like to take pictures and who doesn't have a phone that takes pictures?

13:32
Kelly Keefe
So we love when the pictures come into us because then we are able to celebrate those pictures in person, but then we're also able to share those organically through social media. Or actually they're sharing their own pictures as well.

13:44
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Yeah. So they're sharing their photos, maybe tagging you and ERc and you're sharing photos and tagging them and sort of creating that broader reach. And I think that is good momentum for the program in northeast Ohio.

13:55
Kelly Keefe
Right.

13:56
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Because it's not like you're targeting top talent across the country. You're targeting a very specific region.

14:01
Kelly Keefe
That's right. Yeah. We really are focused on northeast Ohio. And so people are hashtagging top workplaces, hashtagging great workplaces, hashtagging NorthCoast 99. Every person that attends the event, we had 700 people there. They were all hashtagging and commenting and those types of things. So it really does kind of grow.

14:17
Lisa Perry Kovacs
700 people.

14:18
Kelly Keefe
We had 700 people. Yeah. And were so excited about it because we always had those numbers. And then 2020 hit and we really already had the deposit down and everything, and we had to go virtually. And then the next year went hybrid. And then, I mean, full force people were back. Just to your point, this is a really meaningful program and awards program for leaders in our region.

14:43
Lisa Perry Kovacs
So what kind of discussions go on to decide how to keep the event intriguing and fun, including for repeat winners?

14:50
Kelly Keefe
Yeah, it's not easy. We use the data and the survey results as well as anything we learn from it to kind of help us drive the theme. So we've had awakening, we've had reimagine, we've had kind of themes that help kind of depict in one word or a phrase what the feeling of the application is for that year. And then we have a lot of brainstorming sessions. We have a lot of fun in those sessions. And we say what would help keep the audience engaged? We realize that what we heard from some focus groups is that really people are interested in the data. So keeping the data fresh through either videos or through pictographs, those types of things to keep the data relevant. But then we also really want to have fun because we know people are there for a celebration.

15:42
Kelly Keefe
And actually one of the CEOs told me, he said, man, had I known how many people would be so upset that they weren't able to come, I would have bought more tables. So we had some organizations that bought three tables, some that bought multiple tables. So I think it's going to continue.

15:57
Lisa Perry Kovacs
To grow and it is a blast, I can attest.

16:00
Kelly Keefe
Oh, good.

16:00
Lisa Perry Kovacs
This past year you hired, I think, was it a painter? Can you talk about that?

16:05
Kelly Keefe
Yeah, he was a speed painter. Anytime I ask if anyone went to an event, I said, who was the entertainment? How was it? We've had anything from dueling pianos to magicians, but this was a speed painter and he was able to. And actually I tied in Make a Wish, so I'm on the Make a Wish board. There was no funds exchanged, but it's just kind of raising awareness. And so I tied in us being able to grant a wish to a little boy that had been fighting some terrible diseases at five years of age. And were able, as a community of 700 of us, to grant, I know you were there, and say one, two, three, you're going to Disney World.

16:45
Kelly Keefe
And that was right after the speed painter had painted Mickey Mouse, three minutes on stage and then at the end of the program, he then painted Jimmy Buffett as well, which was really neat to see and was fun and engaging.

16:57
Lisa Perry Kovacs
I think if you can create experiences like that are so unique and memorable, it's going to create that organic content like we talked about naturally, because one of the first things that I did after leaving the event was call my mom and say, I helped send somebody to Disney World, because I didn't know that was going to be part of my experience. We thought we were coming here just to celebrate ourselves, which were. But in turn, through this celebration, we were able to take part in something like that. And it was such a powerful experience that I wanted to share it with other people.

17:30
Kelly Keefe
It's just brought me goosebumps. I mean, that's kind of the power of NorthCoast 99. It's a bunch of really passionate people that really just want to make our region and make the lives of people around us better.

17:41
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Amazing. Moving into data a little bit, but asking it in a different kind of way, how do you measure the success of your awards program and event each year?

17:49
Kelly Keefe
So we often do focus groups. We would not be able to put on NorthCoast 99 without sponsors. So we always meet with our sponsors after and ask them their thoughts on the program and really just kind of a vibe. We do a lot of outreach, kind of personal, one one questions, especially people that were at the event. What did you think about it? Those types of things, and then LinkedIn and social media and the thank yous that we get after the event are always kind of speak for themselves.

18:18
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Amazing. I want to go back and touch on something that you mentioned about COVID So what did you do to combat limitations for in person events during that time?

18:28
Kelly Keefe
We tried to be as flexible as possible, and we tried to listen to what we were hearing from the community, from what people wanted. Right. We know people like to be together, and we wanted to do that. So that's why the first year, we just couldn't be together because it was September of 2020. So we did it all virtually, and we brought in Dr. Lisa Demore, a psychologist, and she was able to speak to the audiences about kind of remaining calm and things to do to keep you busy. I feel like that was a perfect way for us to address what was happening. And then in 2021, we said, we'll do this, but let's kind of tread lightly. And the venue, they were very kind to us and allowed us to say, okay, we can only have a couple of hundred people.

19:14
Kelly Keefe
And I think we ended up with about 200 people. And then we also did it. So we did in person and we did a live virtual session as well. That put a little stress on us and it drove up our costs. And then 2022 we did the same thing. So in 2023 we said, you know what, we are full in person live. And so I think people were really happy to be back together.

19:38
Lisa Perry Kovacs
I certainly missed in person events during the pandemic. I don't think anything compares.

19:44
Kelly Keefe
No, right.

19:46
Lisa Perry Kovacs
So as it relates to branding and marketing, how do you think the NorthCoast 99 program has helped ERC gain prestige and authority?

19:56
Kelly Keefe
So I call NorthCoast 99 almost. ERC’s liquid gold. It's data that we can use for so many different ways. We are an organization, professional services organization that helps leaders attract and retain people. That's who ERC is. We're over 100 years old. We've been doing that for years through supervisory leadership training, other things like that. What North Coast 99 gives us is relevant data to help keep pushing the envelope as to what we need to do as an organization around consulting and training and coaching. So who else has 6000 survey results from top performers in our region? Right? And that's just from this year. So when you think about all the top performer surveys that we have, it's just such a great way for us to really have a pulse on what's happening.

20:50
Lisa Perry Kovacs
That's interesting. When I originally sat down and thought about some of these questions, I was thinking about how the program itself helps ERC earn clients kind of naturally along the way because of all the brand touch points. But you're talking a lot about the data and I hadn't even really thought about that and how strong it can be.

21:07
Kelly Keefe
I just had a great example. Someone on LinkedIn sent me a message and he said, hey, thanks. I know this is a couple of months old, but I just wanted to let you know that were so happy to be a winner and the event was top notch. And I just said, oh, thanks. And they weren't a member. And I went out and I talked to this person about all the benefits of being an ERC member and they signed up this week. So they really do kind of go hand in hand.

21:28
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Absolutely. So what shifts are you seeing in the talent attraction and retention space? I know you mentioned some of these new benefits like pet benefits and things like that. What should companies prioritize in 2024 if they want to attract and retain top talent?

21:44
Kelly Keefe
So you have to listen to your employees, focus on not only the attraction but on the retention as well. If you haven't done an employee engagement survey. I would say that's a great place to start to understand what's driving your employees. What VividFront employees want are probably different, what ERC employees want. And so leaders really just need to reach out to me if you want to kind of learn what some new benefits are that people are offering, but just make sure gone are the days we're offering a free parking spot up front, right. For the younger generation, that's not what they're looking for. Right? They want flexibility. They want challenging and meaningful work. They want to be able to use their talents outside of the workplace as well, really through volunteerism or other things like that. Right?

22:32
Kelly Keefe
So really kind of just having a strong pulse on the wants and the needs of your employees. You don't have to match them all, but at least know what your employees are looking for and perhaps that's a goal for you to get to. Or it's just an explanation of, hey, we're never going to really get there, but we're able to do this for you instead. One of my favorite stories is not everyone can save the world. Not everyone's a nonprofit. Not everyone can make widgets that are going to save lives. And I know that some people really want passionate work. What we can all do, though, is somehow give back to the greater good, right? So the make a witch story, it didn't cost anybody anything, but were all there for it.

23:17
Kelly Keefe
They make nuts and bolts, and they said we can't do magic through nuts and bolts. However, our nuts and bolts are used for wells in third world countries, so people can get water from those wells. And so we're going to give a portion of all of our nuts and bolts back to making wells. So leaders have the opportunity to just go above and beyond. And I really do think that's what most people are looking for.

23:37
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Amazing. I have chills.

23:39
Kelly Keefe
That was wonderful.

23:41
Lisa Perry Kovacs
I love it. Okay, so to sum things up today, I hope the episode has listeners thinking a little bit differently about awards programs, a little bit differently about attracting and retaining talent, and maybe has even inspired some of you to create your own recognition program or award ceremony as part of your 2024 growth initiatives. But most importantly, thinking about how to listen to your current employees. So, Kelly, we like to close all of our episodes with rapid fire questions.

24:09
Kelly Keefe
Okay, nervous? Are you ready?

24:11
Lisa Perry Kovacs
There's only three.

24:12
Kelly Keefe
Okay.

24:13
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Mondays or Fridays?

24:15
Kelly Keefe
Fridays.

24:16
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Employee attraction or retention?

24:19
Kelly Keefe
Oh, retention.

24:20
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Awesome. And then first time winners or 20th time winners?

24:26
Kelly Keefe
I can't answer that. I just think they're all amazing. The first time winners push us. The 20 year winners, they just push themselves.

24:35
Lisa Perry Kovacs
I love that. Is that the oldest that you have as a 20 year winner?

24:40
Kelly Keefe
No, we have over 20. So this year we'll be celebrating some 25s.

24:46
Lisa Perry Kovacs
No way.

24:47
Kelly Keefe
Yes.

24:47
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Special.

24:48
Kelly Keefe
And what's so amazing, these 25 year winners, or hopefully, I don't know if they will or win or not, but anyone over 20, they keep reinventing themselves. They want to know where they can improve. And so that's awesome. The first time winners, they're kind of just in awe of the whole experience. They know the drill and they push us as much as they push themselves because they've been there, done that. But they still, year over year, want to get better, which makes us better.

25:14
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Love it. Well, Kelly, thank you so much for being here. Congratulations on 25 years. Where can listeners find you if they want to connect?

25:21
Kelly Keefe
So probably the best place is LinkedIn. Just Kelly keefe. K-E-E-F-E.

25:25
Lisa Perry Kovacs
Awesome. Thank you so much.

25:27
Kelly Keefe
Thanks, Lisa.