On June 29, our colleagues in Los Angeles accepted the Marketing Communication Award for Internal Communications at the 2017 Leonardo Awards from the Society for Marketing Professional Services – Los Angeles chapter at their annual banquet. Our #PoweredByHenderson campaign brought home the honor. Director of LA Operations Austin Allen, Marketing Coordinator Jo Anne de Guzman, and Senior Electrical Designer 4 Felix Gomez accepted the award on behalf of all of us here at Henderson.

SMPS-LA’s Marketing Communications Awards gala is a program designed to recognize the creative genius of its membership. The submissions were reviewed by an esteemed jury of representatives from LA’s top institutions, companies, and firms. The jury discussed each entry, focusing on its cohesiveness of concept and copy, visual impact, and marketing results.

“This is awesome brand recognition, plus it shows how we live and breathe our company purpose,” Allen said. “We create environments where people can reach their full potential. This award also comes at a great time with our new brand launch.”

This campaign centered around our summer company meeting held last July. A year after rolling out our new vision and purpose, we wanted to engage employees and bring our purpose to life. This comprehensive approach hinged on the collection of stories about how working at Henderson has allowed us to maximize our individual potentials.

At the time, we had roughly 650 employees across 13 offices, so importance was placed on providing a consistent experience for each employee. Marketing coordinators, team coordinators, and office leaders across the company all pitched in to execute events like power block desk drops, displaying inspiring quotes around the office, and an afternoon coffee pick-me-up on Henderson’s tab. All employees were encouraged to share their stories using the #PoweredByHenderson hashtag on both external social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter as well as our internal Yammer network.

In the end, nearly a quarter of the company shared more than 150 stories, including first impressions from new hires their first week on the job to senior leadership looking back on the last 25-plus years. We received feedback from employees who were authentically inspired by all the stories. As a result, we are now a stronger community aligned around a common purpose.

“Congratulations to our marketing team,” Allen said. “They have been absolutely outstanding in fostering excitement and employee engagement during the purpose and vision rollout, and with our new brand. I couldn’t be more proud of their work and recognition!”

Excellent teamwork, Henderson family. We truly are powered by some of the most inspiring people in the industry.