Daniel Guerard - RPI's Spotlight Award Winner

Kevin Cronin, RPI President & Daniel Guerard, Rideau IT Director

I’ve worked with Daniel Guerard for over 12 years. Daniel is Director of Information Securities and Technologies here at Rideau.

I first met Daniel when he was working for a third party software provider. They were working on a website project for our IT department. Daniel was putting in incredibly long hours and working late into the night.

I happened to log onto the development site early one morning and immediately noticed a banner on the top of the site. It said “Lache Pas La Patate Daniel!" The expression makes no sense in English… literally translated it means “don’t give up the potato.” I was not amused, until I found out it was a French expression that meant "don't give up" and that Daniel’s colleagues put it up as a mark of respect to recognize all his hard work and efforts to perfect all elements of my website.

The company Daniel worked for went out of business several years later and we made a concerted effort to recruit him. I’m glad to say our efforts paid off! He is the number three man in Rideau’s IT department and manages a staff of about 10 professionals.

Daniel has also served with distinction on Recognition Professionals International’s Marketing and Communications committee for the past two years. His work merited one of three of RPl’s Spotlight Award. His citation read:

“Daniel has been a very active member of the Marketing Communications committee member and goes way above and beyond in his contribution to this committee. Daniel was recruited to come and help with some of our analytics/reporting from a search engine optimization perspective. One the key elements that Daniel helped deliver is report on understanding our website traffic patterns. His contribution went beyond his technical expertise into many value add ideas that helped us become better marketers of RPI.”

Many of Daniel’s colleagues knew he was getting this award and it was one of the best kept secrets in Rideau for the last month. As a surprise, we decided to have Daniel, his wife Evelyne and two young sons come out to the RPI conference in Las Vegas to accept the award in person.

I’m so proud of Daniel and to see him recognized by others is not surprising. Over the years he has become a key member of Rideau’s management team.

BTW… Dan’s wife Evelyne is an accomplished artist in her own right and you can see her work at http://evelynebouchard.com/

Rideau = Educational Excellence

In 2009, Recognition Professionals International (RPI) developed a new recognition program to honor achievements and excellence in education. At each annual conference, an individual or corporation is recognized for their outstanding achievement in education.

I’m pleased to announce that Rideau received the Excellence in Education Award this year!

The citation read out at the conference stated, “Rideau received the award in recognition for the overwhelming ongoing commitment to education in the field of recognition and for their outstanding support of Recognition Professionals International.”

I’m so proud of Rideau’s educational efforts in the field of recognition. Almost 40 of my teammates are RPI Certified Recognition Professionals (CRP)! This is more than any other company in the world. It represents almost 16% of Rideau’s entire staff and almost 25% of all CRP graduates!

Rideau’s latest graduate is Jayanth Narayanan CRP who hails from Bangalore, India. Jayanth literally travelled half way around the world to become certified!

Two of my colleagues, Roy Saunderson CRP and Max Brown CRP from the Recognition Management Institute just finished taking an intensive two day course titled “Proving the Value of Recognition - Measuring the Application, Impact and Return on Investment for Recognition Programs/Projects.” This course was given by Dr. Jack Phillips of the ROI Institute.

We were also very fortunate to have Arne Carlson present when I received the award on behalf of my Rideau colleagues. Arne Carlson joined Rideau’s board in 2004 and serves as Vice Chairman. Arne was a two term Governor of Minnesota. I once asked Arne what his proudest accomplishment was as Minnesota’s Governor. He told me it was in the field of education where he created the nation's first K-12 school choice program and received awards for educational reform. Arne has supported all of Rideau’s educational efforts and it was a pleasure to have him and his lovely wife Susan on the podium with all my other colleagues when we received the award.

I truly believe Rideau’s educational efforts set us apart from other providers and it shows in the quality of our solutions, products and services we provide to our clients and the millions of recipients we honor.

Regaining the Passion to Value Others

Relationships are the basis of employee engagement. On next week's episode of Real Recognition Radio "Regaining the Passion to Value Others", my colleagues Roy Saunderson and S. Max Brown will be interviewing Monica Diaz, author of the book, "Otheresteem: Regaining the Passion to Value Others", also speaker, trainer and executive coach.

Their discussion will shed new light on how real relationships and real leadership can engage both you and your employees creating a more efficient, productive and dynamic work environment.

Tune in every Tuesday, 1 PM ET on Real Recognition Radio.

Recognition from the Hart: Spring Is In The Air

Employers Web have just published my new article, "Spring Is In The Air."

The sun is back and shining, and all any of us want to do is put on our sunglasses and head for the great outdoors. Unfortunately, that does not bode well for employee productivity. Read my new article on employers web for some practicle tips on what you can do to keep your employees positive and engaged during the sunny season.

Thank You Thoughts

"The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated." - William James

Recognize Earth Day!

The environment is an issue that affects us all and today is particularly important as we celebrate “Earth Day 2010”. Here at Rideau, we are playing the extraordinary movie “Home” for all our employees.

“Home” was released on World Environment Day 2009. It is a beautiful picture with an amazing soundtrack. It takes us everywhere on the planet and traces the history of life, human-kind and our impact on the planet.

I’m proud of Rideau’s environmental initiatives. We are very fortunate to have Jay Whitehead on our Board of Directors. Jay has co-authored a book called the “Post Carbon Economy” and is at the epicenter of corporate social responsibility. His magazine CR is doing amazing work and Rideau is proud to sponsor the “100 Best Corporate Citizens Awards” in America. Today, Jay was the opening speaker at the Yale University – New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Earth Day 40th Anniversary CEO Summit! Jay was introduced by the CEO of the NYSE!

We are also lucky to have Valerie Duchesneau on our team. She is our resident “in-house” environmentalist. Thanks to her leadership Rideau has made significant strides in reducing our carbon footprint and more importantly, she has helped us design recognition programs that reduce environmental impact and actually give back to the planet.

Valerie Duchesneau on Earth Day

Helping the environment is the right thing to do and it also makes good business sense!

According to the Sirota Survey Intelligence organization, corporate social responsibility contributes positively to a company’s bottom line, as well as increases employees’ pride as well as their engagement.

The numbers are amazing. Sirota’s research found that of employees who are satisfied with their employer’s CSR commitment:

• 86% have higher levels of engagement
• 82% feel their organization is highly competitive in the marketplace
• 75% feel their employer is interested in their well-being
• 71% rate senior management as having high integrity
• 67% feel that senior management has a strong sense of direction

I urge you to watch “Home”! Hopefully, you too will be inspired by this phenomenal documentary!

Building a Positive Workplace Environment

Shake up your organization today! This week, my colleagues S. Max Brown and Roy Saunderson interview guests Matthew J. Grawitch, Ph.D. Director of the Organizational Health Initiative at Saint Louis University as well as David W. Ballard, PsyD, MBA, Assistant Executive, Director for Marketing and Business Development at the American Psychological Association and the APA Practice Organization.

Drs. Grawitch and Ballard will tell you how to make your organization a high performing workplace and a positive work environment. Discover how recognition, incentives and wellness programs can be leveraged to transform your organization into an engaged, productive and healthy one. Join Max and Roy for a great conversation!

Tune in here next Tuesday, April 27th, at 1 PM ET.

Past show episodes available on itunes!