Workhuman Says Revenues Near $900 Million, Announces New Consulting Practice
Revenues at Workhuman, the employee recognition services company founded by Eric Mosley and Barry Maloney from Ireland, increased 28% last year to $876 million in accounts just filed, according to a recent report in the Times of London.
Editor's note: Because a large percentage of the revenue generated by recognition firms is in the form of gift cards, merchandise, and travel rewards, the net sales of many of these companies is often less than 30% of the top-line stated revenues, although ESM is not privvy to the company's financial statements. However, by any measure, these figures rank Workhuman at the top tier of the Incentive, Rewards, and Recognition (IRR) field.
For a second successive year, the Times article says, the company paid a dividend of just over $94 million to its shareholders. Long-time backer Maloney, who is now the chairman, owns 41% of the company. Mosley, who founded the business and moved his family in 2005 to Massachusetts to run it, owns 11%, according to the report.
In late 2013, Workhuman filed to go public with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, but withdrew its filing after failing to achieve the desired IPO price range, according to a report in Boston Business Journal. Since then, the company has hired Scott Dussault, a chief financial officer with direct IPO experience, signaling to some the company's intention to try again. Workhuman's redemption platform is run by Sara Whitman, a former Wayfair e-commerce executive, who was hired in 2017.
In the meantime, according to an article in HCMTechnology, Workhuman has announced the creation of a consulting practice that includes:
Strategic Advisors: Former HR practitioners and experts to manage customer programs.
Subject Matter Experts: Specialists across human resources domains and experts in recognition and performance provide program strategies, design, and best practices.
Workhuman iQ: Data insights demonstrating the why behind program results and how to interpret them to help business outcomes.
Communication Experts: Strategic communicators provide campaign strategies, roadmaps, and internal communications templates to drive program success.
Change Management: Change experts and program managers help navigate the implementation of new or different approaches that directly impact employees.
Note: RRN market reports have indicated an opportunity for incentive and recognition firms to create advisory services, but that this requires demonstrating a clear return-on-investment.
In other news, Workhuman announced the appointment of Zoe Peterson-Ward, formerly of Salesforce, as its new chief customer officer. The company also recently announced integration of its recognition nominations, award notifications, and award social feeds with Microsoft Teams.
