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UPS Delivers… Engagement
In most cases the last place employees who work weekdays want to be on Saturday is at a work-related function. Unless, of course, they work for a company whose culture creates employee loyalty and engagement -- the kind of engagement that spurs people, like Marty Peters of Detroit, to dedicate their life’s work as an employee (61 years, in Marty’s case). And spurs others, like Martin Joseph of New York, to give up their Saturday to volunteer at said company-hosted event.
For the past 100 years UPS executives have work diligently to maintain that level of engagement. (Have you ever met a disgruntled or less-than-ebullient UPS delivery person? I haven’t.) And to celebrate its centennial, as well as the contributions and dedication of its staff, the global delivery and logistics firm partnered with The Spark Agency to create a world’s fair–like event to visit UPS sites around the world. The result is a 10-month, 71-city mobile tour.
I visited the USP Centennial Tour when it stopped in New York last weekend. The event is a combination of education and entertainment that celebrates both individual employee achievement and overall company accomplishments. Through a series of museum-quality exhibits and interactive displays, employees can learn about the company’s past, present, and future, as well as about current customer success stories and charitable endeavors. Not to mention check out Dale Jaret’s UPS-sponsored NASCAR race car or one of several UPS vehicles from the past and present, including a 1931 Model A. Or, test their skills at loading a dozen or so boxes into a delivery truck in proper position at top speed.
UPS isn’t just using the event to bolster employee engagement. Account executives invite select customers and local officials for lunch and a tour on Fridays in each city.
“UPS is passionate about what they do and their involvement in the communities they serve, but they’re quiet about it,” Dan Reus, The Spark’s senior creative director and executive producer, told me as we walked the event. “This event is designed for employees, customers, and local officials to help solidify relationships and show that UPS is always looking forward.”
So, are UPS employees engaged? Well, so far more than 30,000 employees, retirees, and family members (and about 300 key customers) have attended the event – some employees driving as long as two or three hours to get there. That translates to about 70 percent of employees in each local market. I’d say that’s engagement.
(For more on this event and UPS’s engagement strategy, watch for the July/August issue of 1to1 magazine.)
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