ROME, ITALY – January 13, 2018
Solterbeck and Optus Australia, South Melbourne, Australia were recognized by Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) with a Crystal Award for Most Impactful Effort Toward Corporate Social Responsibility as Part of an Incentive Program at the Crystal Awards Recognition Ceremony held during the SITE + MPI Global Forum in Rome, Italy.
“The Crystal Award is the most prestigious form of recognition in the global incentive travel industry,” said SITE President Annamaria Ruffini, CIS, CMP, president & CEO, Events In & Out S.R.L. “The award not only recognizes the outstanding organizations that win them, but also showcases the innovative ways companies can create extraordinary motivational experiences to maximize human potential and achieve tangible business results for their companies.”
Optus’ annual Pacesetters Employee Incentive & Reward Program awards employees who achieve exceptional sales results and KPIs and follow Optus’ core values: customer focus, challenger spirit, teamwork, integrity, and personal excellence. Each year the Reward Program sees Optus’ highest front line sales employees from across Australia participate in a program to network, celebrate, and get inspired, rewarded and empowered.
The reward program has a strong Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) focus and this year Optus partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build six homes as well as repair and paint two schools in Vietnam.
“Optus believes that in line with our core values we must leave an impact to a community in every country we visit. This was the third year of the program and we are continuously amazed at the looks on our people’s faces when they see the happiness they create for the communities we help,” said David Hamilton, Director, AU Rewards, Optus.
Once the work was completed there was a presentation with the all the villagers, including the Ben Luc Community Council members. The participants connected deeply to this activity and as the six families moved into the new homes, there were many tears of joy and pride. For Optus, the CSR activity created highly engaged people, not only while on the program, but also back in the office, by inspiring employees to reach their goals by working together as a community.
“As Australians it is a small cost, but to the lives of those we help it makes a massive difference to those communities. Every year we walk away from each program prouder of our team than the year before,” added Jo-Anne Morgan, Client Services Director for Solterbeck.
About the SITE Crystal Awards Recognition Program:
Since 1980, the annual SITE Crystal Awards Recognition Program has provided industry acclaim for world-class organizations that excel in the design of unique, memorable group travel experiences that deliver measurable benefits for their clients. Today, the awards serve as a benchmark for incentive travel programs and are regarded as the highest honor in the motivational events and incentive travel industry. Incentive programs held between 1 May 2016 and 30 June 2017 were eligible and an independent panel of judges evaluated entries.
The Crystal Awards Program is sponsored by IMEX Group, the worldwide exhibitions for incentive travel, meetings and events.
About Solterbeck:
Solterbeck is a multiple award-winning corporate events management agency. Since 1988, Solterbeck has engaged and motivated participants through incentive travel, conferences and events in hundreds of countries around the world. With its full suite of services, Solterbeck are experts in helping companies get the very best result from their incentives and events.