Stor-Age, South Africa’s leading self storage company, believe that every person involved in their organisation contributes to shaping the company’s collective persona through their thoughts and actions. That is why they launched Innov-Age, a project of innovation at Stor-Age.
They are guided and inspired by their core values. These are sustainability, relevance, integrity and excellence. With care and total commitment, these values never change but rather endure. These values are what sets Stor-Age apart and led them to launch their innovative project, Innov-Age.
What is Innov-Age?
Innov-age is a program that was recently introduced as an exercise to include all staff members in pushing the boundaries of excellence.
Stor-Age asked their employees to submit an idea on how they can improve their customer experience. They received hundreds of entries from employees across the country. After the judges made the first cut, they asked the top 10 to present their ideas in more detail. They were tasked to explain how they would implement their idea in store.
The ideas were further narrowed down to a top 5. Stor-Age travelled to each of the top 5 entrants to conduct a filmed interviewed in which each candidate had to explain their idea and why they believed it would make a difference. The videos were circulated and all staff nationwide voted for their favourite innovative idea. After counting the votes, the winners were announced.
1st Place
First prize went to Stor-Age Brooklyn’s Operations Assistant, Tumi Lebelo. He won a cash prize of R10 000. His idea, Eng-Age, suggested that when a client tags in, his/her name appears along with other general information about the client’s storage needs. This will set a platform for engaging with the client, making him/her feel important and valued by calling them on their name and brand.
2nd Place
Johannes Kwayani, Storage RSA’s Access and Site Controller, won R5 000 for his idea which came in second place. His idea was to reward long term clients with something special eg. vouchers or discounts in an effort to acknowledge their support.
Both ideas for the 1st and 2nd place have been implemented.
This project highlights Stor-Age’s innovative nature. They pride themselves on thinking outside of the box and welcoming new ideas to improve their service, adding value to your everyday life. By getting everyone on board, they own the innovation that they have created.
You can watch the video below to find out more about the other ideas.