Company name: HRBoost®, LLC

Ceo name :Nicole Martin

Web:https://www.hrboost.com/

A dynamic and empowering consultative leader, and a futurist skilled at helping organizations to meet their strategic objectives, Nicole Martin is an internationally renowned speaker and an author. Nicole is Chief Empowerment Officer and Founder of HRBoost®, LLC a Shared Services Consulting firm based in the north suburbs of Chicago.

As a highly regarded and sought-after expert, her knowledge and advice have been featured in newspapers and magazines throughout the country. Recent publications in which she has been seen include Forbes.com, the Daily Herald Business Ledger, and Fast Company. She is the author of the books The Talent Emergency, The Human Side of Profitability, No Fear Negotiation for Women (August 2019), and The Power of Joy and Purpose. She is also the author of the chapter “Emotionally Speaking” in the book titled Leading from the Heart. In addition, Nicole is the host of the internet show, HR in the Fast Lane.

In recognition of her complete commitment to professional excellence as well as her community, Nicole has been honored by multiple organizations, most recently as a 2016 Enterprising Women of the Year Champion by Enterprising Women Magazine, a 2017 Excellence in Business Award winner, and a Mirror Review enlistee of 20 Impeccable Women in Business recognition in 2017.

The Journey of Becoming a Renowned Leader

Golden Future

Dedicated to building wealth for all his investors and to growing his team, Divya is on the fast track in his mission to develop an innovative investment company with ESG values.  Eager to discuss global expansion he adds, “Over the course of the next 24 months, we have committed to set up offices in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam, and then to expand further to establish representative offices in the UK and Europe.”  Aurous Capital clearly has ambitious plans to continue to mine golden opportunities all over the world.

Nicole was also lucky to have a great mentor early in life: her mom. “My mother is highly spiritual, and she raised me with the philosophy of being happy,” said Nicole. “She always believed that you are a special person—she ingrained that in me—and you are capable of anything.” At the age of 18, Nicole was ready to start proving her mom right. She left Montana and moved in with her godmother in Libertyville, Illinois. Right out of high school, Nicole got a job as a receptionist at a pre-Y2K firm where she found her passion quite by accident. “They were hiring all these computer experts from overseas, but when they arrived, the company just put them in the reception area because they didn’t know what to do with them,” recalled Nicole. “It was just inhumane.”

In 2010, Nicole left her corporate career to establish HRBoost®, LLC. Her initial vision was to find leaders who wanted to be the next Best & Brightest® employer while providing support to growing businesses facing a myriad of workforce challenges. By 2012, she realized she needed a team. With 50% growth year over year, it became clear that HR outsourcing was not HR as she knew it and HRBoost® had found a niche. She asserts, “By 2013, my company had a solid team and when I looked across a table to see all those that worked for me, I became the Chief Empowerment Officer.”  

The Challenges before Success

According to Nicole, it is very common to face a lot of challenges, criticism, hurdles, and failure in any business. However, every business organization should be very careful to listen to its clients, their experience, and ways they can better serve them. As a CEO, one needs human and financial capital to scale and grow the business. She describes that HRBoost®’s biggest challenge has been access to capital, both financial and human. She says, “You must trust the people you hire and the process to work together to create a strong bench of talent. The flexibility and custom approach to how we work with clients has fueled our growth and success. “

In the early years, Nicole was reacting to her business, and balancing work and family life may have been difficult as a mother and wife. When she set down a process, hired qualified personnel, and then withdrew to let them work, the method proved to be successful; and now the team can repeat the process again, and again, and again. She opines, “When it is time to take a calculated risk, you invest and do what you can to increase the odds.”

HRBoost®

HRBoost® specialises in delivering value to small and midsized businesses, who, unlike their larger counterparts, typically lack the time and resources to develop infrastructure and procedures that go beyond essential business goals. In today’s environment, every firm must have a competitive advantage. Small and big businesses alike must attract, develop, and keep the finest employees while adhering to the ever-changing maze of state and federal laws. Compensation, benefits, training, employee retention, talent recruitment, and generational adaptability are all challenges that must be addressed by all businesses.

HRBoost® has developed a reputation for working with company leaders to achieve corporate objectives while preserving integrity and delivering exceptional outcomes. Professional services, non-profit organisations, high-tech, manufacturing, staffing firms, hospitality, and healthcare are just a few of the industries it supports. Nicole says, “Our clients are typically high-growth businesses with 50-250 employees. Our model is to meet the clients wherever they are, thus we provide full-service embedded HR support, project to project support, culture design and management training, employee programs and assessments, virtual support, and phone support. ”

Nicole feels honored to lead a high performance team of HR leaders who partner with business clients to meet them wherever they are on their journey, to being the best place to work. The company has experienced tremendous growth and, proudly, nearly every client has been sourced through word of mouth. Nicole says, “Our appeal and success is due to our personal dedication to each and every client.”

Bringing JOY, PURPOSE and PEOPLE together

In today’s competitive world, only a few companies offer the best Human Resources Management System available, and HRBoost® LLC is one of them. At HRBoost®, the management focused on bringing JOY and PURPOSE to PEOPLE through their work. It is similar to how it serves its clients and the people that choose to join up with their visions. The management states, “We live it at HRBoost® and believe everyone deserves the same opportunity.”

Living a Balanced Life

Nicole feels it is imperative to get hands on experience doing what one seeks to learn. She says, “Make sure it brings you joy before investing time, energy, and dedicating your life to it. Enjoy the journey and be prepared to learn, unlearn, and relearn. Surround yourself with people who inspire and support you, but also don’t patronize you. Remember, even if it gets harder, or takes longer, stay diligent. Anything you love will be worth it. “

Nicole prioritized her family throughout her life. She also understands what she needs in order to feel well and perform at her best. She doesn’t work on weekends. She says, “I am never gone from the dinner table with my family for more than 2 nights a week. I live in the present moment and commit it with intention daily. It’s an intentional practice. I work out regularly and love to fish, go boating, hiking, and explore with my family. I enjoy nature and try to simply be with it whenever possible. I also believe in peer groups. I have a CEO peer group that keeps me laser focused and inspired. I have a women’s CEO group that keeps me feeling synergy and sisterhood. I also love my husband dearly and work date nights as often as we can swing it. As my mother taught me long ago, work hard, play hard. ”

Future Plans

HRBoost® recently engaged a partner to be the HR Expert on Demand and this truly takes the bench strength to small businesses across the country via phone. While they prefer in person, like everyone these days, the company has gone digital. Nicole opines, “Thus, our borders are expanding too. I hire from other states and our clients in Chicago have taken us with them to other states. “

The pandemic has been a testament to leadership skills. Leaders were forced to row through the treacherous waters of unprecedented challenges. Jon Smith undertook the role of CEO at Hydromax USA, just before the outbreak of COVID-19. He is a retired Naval Officer with over two decades of leadership experience. Throughout his journey, Jon has held several leadership roles and has been instrumental in the growth of the companies. 

Jon has completed his graduation from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Executive Leadership Program, earned a Master’s degree from Central Michigan University (Business), and is a graduate of the U.S. Naval War College in Strategic International Studies. Furthermore, he is accredited in ABET (Engineering and Technology), holds an EIT Certification from the State of Maryland, is Lean Level 3 certified, and is a Six Sigma Green Belt.  Jon is a Graduate of the Omaha Executive Leadership Program and sat on the North American Manufacturing Leadership Council of Frost & Sullivan. He has served as national President and Chair of the Board of Directors, for Veterans in Energy (VIE)—a national 501(c)3 organization guiding Veterans to the energy industry, as well as professional development and retention guidance in support of veterans, for utilities and the supporting industry.

Before joining Hydromax USA, Jon was the President, Mobile Pipeline for Hexagon Lincoln, LLC, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Presently, he is the CEO and President of Hydromax USA, a leading national provider of comprehensive testing and inspection services for gas, water, and wastewater providers. Despite undertaking the role in a catastrophic business climate, he was swift in pivoting the company commercially and in cost structure to reduce risk, perform as an essential service for customers and deliver results. His extensive experience enabled him to draw out a peerless strategy. Jon leveraged innovative technology & solutions for customers, which positioned Hydromax USA to uniquely integrate advanced technologies to gather and process high-quality data into actionable insights from the data center to the field.

Recently, we had the fortune to interview Jon Smith and understand his course of action through this pandemic. In this article, he walks us through the journey of Hydromax and how he has progressively honed his leadership skills and outperformed expectations.

What was the inspiration behind establishing Hydromax USA?

Hydromax USA was founded in 2003 in Evansville, IN. The purpose was focused at that time on the wastewater infrastructure and the need for municipalities to be compliant with government standards and orders.  HUSA has grown over time to now include the water and natural gas providers with technology-enabled solutions. Today, we have over 800 associates and operate in 40 states.

Could you explain the services and software that Hydromax offers? 

Hydromax USA operates services in the natural gas, water, and wastewater infrastructure industry.  We perform condition assessments, leak detection, and prevention, as well as cross bore and hazard identification in those buried infrastructures. We also are advancing into SaaS solutions to enable the digital transformation of compliance and safety systems of record, and our technology-enabled field services, along with our Louisville Technical Center ensure the highest quality and accuracy in the industry. 

Has digitalization proven beneficial for your industry? 

Digitization has been not only beneficial but essential for the Utility and Energy industry.  With the current need for reliable information to protect infrastructure and public safety, new advancements are being looked for every day.

Whom will you describe as your influential leader who has helped you in shaping the entrepreneurial journey? 

I would say my parents were the ones who started my journey, but if you asked for one person in my career, I would have to say that I’ve had the great fortune to learn from some of the best leaders in each industry I was in.  My key was to seek out leaders who would mentor and grow my view of the world and the people in our organizations.  They taught me how to build outstanding teams and organizations with purpose.

The pandemic was a one-of-its-kind situation for all. How did your team withstand the consequences of the pandemic? 

The key for us was to communicate, communicate, and communicate.  I can’t say enough when things changed so fast in the way we performed our work, to how we went to market, communicating internally and externally was key.  Through this journey, I used a saying that I found powerful that “in every hurricane, hidden treasures are revealed” you have to be good at finding the treasure.

Considering the current business landscape, what leadership skills must a leader possess? 

I will say planning for the unplanned. There is no more “it can’t happen” in business.  Business planning and leadership have to be done understanding the unexpected and moving quickly.  Your business needs to be agile and always looking for the next curveball.

Failures are disguised lessons for an individual. What is your perspective towards failure?

If you don’t fail, you’re not taking risks.  Leaders need to encourage the innovation and mindset that goes with maintaining an entrepreneurial spirit.  But, they also cannot allow a failure to devastate a business or the person. An individual must be keen to take calculative risks. 

What is the importance of environmental stewardship?

I believe sustainability and ESG have to be a focus of today’s C-Suite leaders.  You have to be good citizens of the community and the world if you are going to make an impact today.  And remember that little things matter.  Every step taken is a step forward in these areas.

According to you, what has been the reason behind your successful and flourishing entrepreneurial journey?

I would say my main strength has been to build powerful, diverse organizations that have great leaders in them.  Once this is accomplished, and you have the best people leading businesses or functions, you trust them to get the job done.  Be there to break down barriers, but let them lead and grow, not only in their careers but those that are in their organizations.  You have to recognize that as a CEO, you have a three-legged stool for your leadership model.  People, customers, and shareholders, and all have to be in balance or the stool falls over.

Is there any specific message that you would like to share with the readers? 

I always believe people spend too much time on the past.  Plan for your future and don’t dwell on the past.  You control the next 24 hours, and what you do with it is up to you and will differentiate you from how others use their 24.

Key Takeaway: “As the leader be there to break down barriers, but let them lead and grow, not only in their careers but those that are in their organizations.”

Company name:Merit Incentives

Ceo name:Julie Leblan

Web:https://meritincentives.com/

It is always a great feeling to be appreciated, especially with something special. Rewards and recognition are a part of every esteemed organization, as the employer appreciates the hard work and dedication of their employees by doting them with a token. This motivates the employees and helps in creating a pleasant work environment and fosters customer loyalty. Fathoming the significance of this unique way of boosting the employee’s morale and introducing creative ways of retaining customers, Merit Incentives, embarked upon a new venture. Merit Incentives is a company that provides gifts, rewards and engagement strategies using innovative technologies in the MENA region. It was founded originally as MyList, in 2012, by Julie Leblan, the expert behind the plan who has integrated technology with creativity and has incorporated a successful company today. As we capture the journey of Merit Incentives, it inspires us to follow our dreams with passion and dedication leaving trails of success stories.

The Foundation of Success

Originally launched as a B2C gifting solution, MyList – Merit Incentives parent company – was established in 2012 as the first online gift registry and universal gift card for the Middle East, creating for this region what has been a highly successful and mature business model in the USA and Europe for many years. Over the course of the past seven years, the company has developed exclusive partnerships with over 75 major retailers in the UAE alone, with a total of more than 400 in the MENA region.

In 2016, Merit Incentives was officially launched as the MENA region’s leading merchandise and gift card offering in the gift and reward fulfilment services sector. Indeed, MyList is the only home-grown company in the region offering both gift cards and merchandises from local as well as worldwide merchants and becomes the partner of choice for several global reward solutions providers.

While supplying gift and rewards fulfilment, they have realized the absence of adequate technology solutions and the IT legacy borne by local companies in the MENA market and launched “plug & play” solutions to ensure that retailers and corporate/institutions are connected digitally to ensure a seamless customer journey. This helps Corporate/institution to enhance their engagement on their employee or customer loyalty programme by providing digital experience.

The initial challenges were both external and internal. externally to educate a market that was unknown to digital rewards & incentives and shape new company’s culture by introducing new concepts such as employee engagement and changing behaviour with a positive mindset. Internally, to attract and recruit talents. As a start-up, it’s very difficult to attract motivated and professional employees who have the resilience and right attitude required to support a fast-scaling structure. However, Merit Incentives thrived through every challenge and set back and made it to success.

The Merited Services of Excellence

MERIT INCENTIVES offer new business-to-business & technology services and solutions such as:

gift fulfilment services (gift cards & merchandises) to loyalty programmes, employee recognition & sales incentives programmes,

introducing into the MENA region technology solutions for retailers:

the SaaS & White-Label technology platform for Retailers to enable their eGift Card or eCoupons either by integrating with their POS or deploying WEBPOS solution;

a white-label gift registry platform for Retailers (incl. department stores).

introducing into the MENA region the expertise and technology to allow companies to increase engagement:

customer engagement using loyalty, gift cards & incentives technologies by offering white labelled Mobile app or web-responsive Marketplace for corporate/institution to offer points redemption system for e-gift cards, merchandises, experiences and for their employees or customers

employee engagement (employee recognition, sales incentive, learning and wellness incentive needs) using a SaaS cloud-based platform.

increasing the partner network of retailers to accept Mylist universal prepaid gift card or any branded currency created for a client as payment option in the Mena region (like Apple Pay, Google Pay or any other digital wallet).

Growth Amidst Competition

Merit Incentives’ competition is very fragmented and not really organized in the Middle East. They have more global competitors, but they all require their regional expertise to assist them. No other company offer a 360 approach as Merit Incentives does in the Middle East. They are offering a turn-key solution for clients from technology implementation to rewards and incentives redemption network aggregation, with a local or global reach as per the client’s needs.

Their strategy was to first prove the business case last year and then scale up. They have first expanded among various verticals such as gift fulfilment, technology solutions for companies and retailers. Merit Incentives is now expanding geographically by approaching the same type of clients among various territories in the MENA region and globally. They have grown significantly in the past years but 2019 is a turning point with an anticipated growth of over 300% compared to last year revenue and their operations presence in 5 countries: UAE, KSA, Egypt, Oman and Pakistan.

The CEO’s Insights

After working seven years as a finance lawyer, Julie Leblan, also realised the need of setting up her own entity and becoming an entrepreneur. As a woman, it allowed her to balance between her work and family life. A native of France, she began her career as a solicitor with some of Paris’s leading law firms, before moving to a manager position in structured finance at the Paris office of Royal Bank of Scotland, assisting clients in structuring loans for worldwide or pan-European transactions. In 2008, she joined the Paris finance department of US law firm Mayer Brown and assisted international clients with structured loans (LBO, real estate, corporate loans…), M&A, securitization and deal structuring.

Julie received her Master law degrees from Strasbourg (France) and Exeter University (UK) and she is a member of the Paris Bar. After moving to Dubai in 2010 and taking a maternity leave, she refocused her career towards entrepreneurship, launching her first company in 2012.

Now that the company has reached a more significant size, Julie’s main role as a CEO is to work on strategy, business orientations and innovation. Discussing with clients and understanding their needs to be able to offer the best suited solution while automating most of the processes and interactions is what she has at heart. Customer centricity is what drives her decisions. Balancing between being ahead of competition and offering adapted solutions for clients is what she has constantly in mind.

“It feels great to see that you contribute to clients’ business and have a significant impact in the way they work. Growing up, I have always wanted to innovate and create something unique that makes an impact in people’s lives. I presume this is what makes me a true millennial”, Julie shares.

The Motivating Factor

Merit Incentives is all about innovation and modular solutions, allowing a company to scale and upgrade the technologies and services easily. Their vision is to disrupt the world of rewards, incentives and engagement technologies by offering an easy plug & play solution and using AI and machine learning to increase segmentation offering. Merit Incentives is also a multi-awarded company recognized for its expertise in engagement, digitalization and innovation.

MyList Group was recognized as 1 of the TOP 100 startups in the Arab World by Forbes Middle East in 2017, 1 of the TOP 12 up and coming companies in the MENA region by Forbes in 2018 and won multiple awards in the last 5 years positioning the Group as an expert in its industry: nominated as Start-up of the Year 2018 and best B2C website of the year by Seamless Awards in 2018 and SMB awards by Etisalat in 2019, winner of the French creative Entrepreneur award in 2016. Merit is also now a Plug & Play company (Fintech 2019) and has been part of the Microsoft AI Accelerator in 2019. Julie has been recently awarded Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 at The Incentive Awards in London.

The growth and the difference they are making in the market keeps the Merit Incentives employees motivated. Being recognised as an innovator and market leader by the industry and clients is also a constant motivation for the team.

The Successful Future

Five years ago, the Middle East market was totally insignificant in terms of volumes and visibility for global players. It feels great to see that Middle East is now catching up and is on the way to outperform mature markets by adopting new trends faster than USA and Europe.

Merit Incentives recently won new global deals such as international airlines international redemption or distributing and selling IKEA gift cards in 24 countries for example. Merit Incentives is very well positioned to get access to clients that would like to have an international reach (they cover over 2,500 in more than 40 countries), want to access a better technology, constantly adapting to the clients’ needs and benefiting from their experience of emerging markets. Merit Incentives will succeed globally as all the clients now needs is personalised technology solutions with a global reach.

It has been an incredible journey since they first ventured, and Merit Incentives is geared up for a greater walk ahead that is full of success, innovation and creativity. They have surely left trails of success to follow and will keep adding many more tales to their journal of success.