In today’s trying marketplace, rewarding valuable employees is just as important as rewarding loyal customers. This spring TD Waterhouse decided to express its appreciation to employees during the hectic RSP season.

‘The strategy was to come up with three different items that could be delivered at strategic points in the RSP cycle,’ says Remo Niceforo, president of Woodbridge, Ont.-based premiums-and-incentives company Add Impact, which designed the program.

The initiative began in January with a sleek metallic trinket which folds open like a pocket mirror to reveal a multi-part puzzle. The gift, embossed with the TD Waterhouse corporate logo, went out to 800 staffers to symbolize the complexity of the upcoming RSP season.

In February, the same employees were given the RSP Survival Kit, billed as ‘something to help you through this RSP Season.’ The kit included some water, two granola bars, a rain poncho, a packet of Nescafé coffee and a clip stopwatch. Both the pouch and the stopwatch were embossed with the TD logo.

Immediately after the RSP season, employees received a pill bottle filled with M&Ms and the following instructions: ‘YOUR PRESCRIPTION FOR A GOOD RSP SEASON! Instruction: For temporary relief of RSP Season related stress! Take 1 or 2 M&Ms every four hours as needed. Do not exceed six M&Ms in 24 hours.’

The first employee rewards initiative since the merger with Canada Trust in 2000 was a resounding success.

‘Employees sent us numerous e-mails thanking us for the medication,’ says Gus Osorio who implemented the program for TD Waterhouse’s Investment Advice division and designed the prescription notice.

Employees were not expecting the attention and morale remained high during the season. ‘We even had a few employees return the empty bottles asking us for a refill on the prescription.’