“How many tables do you want to occupy during the award ceremony?” Bao, the HR manager, looked a bit surprised at the question in this early stage of the discussion with the representative of the “9-to-5 Workplace Paradise Awards”. “We haven’t even won yet”, he replied, surprised. “Don’t worry about that…”, the representative replied. “Shall I put you down for 3 tables then?” “The $21,000 invoice will be on its way shortly.”

The rest of the process went pretty smoothly. Bao had to send a presentation about their employee benefits, which was easy enough – he just used the one they used in their 8-hour onboarding presentation set. He also provided a list of employees the award organization could reach out to. Bao carefully selected employees for the list, holding a serious discussion with each one about how to answer questions ‘appropriately.’ They all knew what was at stake, after all.

There was a bit of a hiccup when the award organization suggested putting them in the sub- category “Outsource IT companies -Wellness ”, but they ultimately settled on “E-commerce companies with 500-1500 employees that are active in Asia and foster innovation”. Curious, he asked who the other companies were that competed for this “Digital Dynamo Award – Medium-Sized Companies – Asia” award, but of course they were not allowed to tell him. 

Bao hoped they would win this award. Imagine the LinkedIn posts he could make, the exposure, the glamor, the stories he could tell his children. He made sure all the leaders of the company were invited to attend the ceremony. The promise of unlimited food and drinks certainly helped to fill those seats. It was going to be an unforgettable evening! 

To make a medium-sized story short: they won. 

Of course they won. 

There were no second prize winners. 

A special category for each company.

15 tables: $105.000 in revenue

Cost of the evening: $20.000.

Other organizational costs: $10.000.

Pure profit for the awarding organization: $70.000. 

See you at next year’s awards! 😀

Want a shiny award for your HR office and a new logo for your email signature? Or do you actually want to build a company employees are proud of? If it’s the latter, contact No-Nonsense Management.