In our ‘Meet our Team’ series, we’ll be introducing you to another side of associates at FHI through a personal Q&A. Each person brings a uniqueness that completes our close-knit team.
When you hear Fraser & Hoyt Incentives, what immediately pops to mind? Some of you may think about our group trips, some of you may think about familiar faces, and some of you may think about MyReward, our online platform for employee recognition and rewards. But who is behind MyReward? For the past 20 years Chris Langille has been the man behind MyReward as Manager, Premiums Incentives.
Originally from River John, located on the North Shore of Nova Scotia, Chris never imagined he would have a career in the incentives industry, “honestly I didn’t know there was such an industry” he said. After attending Saint Mary’s University, Chris left Nova Scotia to live in Toronto for a few years with his now wife, Paula where he worked in finance. Chris and Paula moved home to Nova Scotia and settled in Halifax in 1998. At that time, Chris was looking for a career change and saw a job posting in the newspaper that piqued his interest. The rest is history.
As you can imagine, a lot has changed in the reward industry since Chris joined FHI in 2000. From paper catalogues to an online ecommerce site, Chris said the biggest change he has seen in the industry over the years has been the evolution to include recognition-based programs as opposed to quantitative points-based programs for loyalty or sales rewards. Chris has been at the forefront of all our MyReward program launches, working closely with each client to build a solution that will ensure their participant base remains engaged. What hasn’t changed for Chris over the years is his standing in the office Fantasy Football Pool; colleague Kelly MacDonald chuckled as she said, “he takes his position in the loser pool too literally;” perhaps 2020 will be your year on top Chris!
An unofficial requirement of employment with FHI is to have wanderlust; Chris has travelled to over 10 countries, most recently travelling to Italy with his family in 2017. While he enjoyed Venice and experiencing live Opera at the Verona Arena, his favourite experience was visiting the small town of Miranda (located in the Province of Isernia in the Italian region Molise). Before travelling to Italy, Chris’ wife Paula had always dreamed of visiting Miranda, the town where her great-Grandfather was born. While there, they were able to research the archives and view tombstones of distant Narducci relatives, and after visiting the town, they learned the house they stayed in while in Miranda was once the home of her family.
A long-term client had this to say about Chris, “It is a pleasure to work with someone like Chris who has provided our company with great services over the past 15 plus years. He is very professional and knowledgeable and his dedication to our program has made our program very easy to manage. Chris is always there to assist and get the facts for us in a timely manner. I have had the pleasure of working with Chris when we launched our program in Ontario and then again in Western Canada. As with any new program launch, there is always a concern, but it went extremely well. Chris has also launched a monthly newsletter for our Sales Force regarding updates to the program, which is a great tool for our team. Thank you, Chris, for all your hard work!”