Testimonials: Why winning matters to your team

44 / ONBOARD HOSPITALITY AWARDS 2023

Why I love awards…

As the industry rebuilds and teams work to creatively add value to the passenger experience, we ask established players why awards matter…

THE JUDGE

Simon Soni

Director Guest Experience Activation, WestJet Judge 2014-2022 Everyone likes to be recognised for their efforts and for a job well done. There are many awards that can help organisations to do this but the most meaningful are those where there are clear criteria and where the judging process is transparent and carried out by peers in the industry, with relevant recognised credentials.

The development of products and services for onboard involves multiple teams and disciplines across an organisation – from finance teams and procurement to project management, design, logistics and supplier management teams, as well as the front-line teams who will work with the new items onboard. An award can be a great validation of the many months and months of work across these multiple teams. Oftentimes those working on part of a launch rarely see the outcome of what they've worked on but an awards process provides an opportunity to explain the integral role everyone has played.

In itself, the process of applying can also provide a great opportunity for carrying out a project retrospective. It can be a great reminder to the business of work done and achieved.

It is a chance to look back and to again get creative, as the team thinks about how to showcase the work it has done; explain what worked well and what was learnt along the process.

While entering really does provide benefits, clearly it is winning that is the true icing on the cake. Winning an award provides a great boost for the part individuals played and shows the positive result of working together on a project win.

This boost, where the award is widely communicated, can be of benefit to the whole organisation and a reason to celebrate in what is a highly competitive, hard-working and challenging industry.

An award win is a very public pat on the back and goes a long way in boosting morale and rewarding your team

THE CATERER

Wilbert de Louw

CEO Foodcase International Winning an Onboard Hospitality Award is the best recognition we could have had from the inflight industry.

For us, success reflected the fact that we were bringing new food concepts to the industry and that the concept was appreciated as a way to help the industry develop a better onboard passenger experience.

More importantly, winning the award brings recognition for the hard work of our dedicated development team and our production partners, and gives them all a chance to look up from the day-to-day and celebrate their own work before moving on to a new project programme. Winning an award also comes with an obligation to set a new target for the following year and try and win again! Our development team is already looking ahead and more eager than ever to present a new, and hopefully award-winning idea, in 2023.

THE SUPPLIER

This year Retail inMotion was delighted to win five awards with succcess coming through various of its teams...

Anita Visvanath Category Manager F&B, said: "Winning an award is a validation, showing we are on the right path. This year that was especially true given that passengers were returning after a long time away so the awards felt even more special than usual. We discovered the brand behind the Hakuma Premium Iced Tea at a leading trade fair and after tastings

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and negotiations, we selected it for the 'Austrian Melangerie' programme on Austrian Airlines. We were beyond thrilled it won an award. Awards help team motivation and add an extra sparkle to one’s working day. They also help customers recognise what we do and brings us closer to them."

Manuel Hübschmann

Head of Retail, agreed: "Winning the award for the best service equipment was special as it provided external appreciation for the hard work of our experienced operations team who ensure every new product concept is also feasible. Every year the team is excited about the Onboard Hospitality awards as they have helped provide external recognition and appreciation for various teams and departments within the Retail inMotion value chain and given us much to celebrate."

Aleksejs Romanovs, Key Account Manager, added: "Winning an award in the competitive technology section was a blessing in itself, but it's more than just that. We ran for the award with our customer, airBaltic, as the solution had been

developed collaboratively. The success was thanks to a great partnership and winning was huge reward. We all felt very proud."

Aleksejs Romanovs, Key Account

An award can be a great validation of the many months of work across multiple teams and departments

THE TECH SPECIALIST

Job Heimerikx

CEO, AirFi.aero Nothing feels better than being recognised for your efforts by an objective (not to mention expert) panel of your industry peers. A win in this way is a very public pat on the back and it goes a long way in terms of boosting morale and rewarding the team's efforts.

Adding the winner's logos to our marketing collateral and displaying our trophy is a way to show current and prospective customers we're recognised in the market and leaders in our field.

AirFi won in 2020 for our in-seat ordering deployment with Scoot Airlines and that was very rewarding for the entire team. When I was presented with the Industry Champion Award this year, that was especially meaningful for me personally. •