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Cascades Tissue Group of Candiac, Canada won a Stevie® Award for Best New Product or Service of the Year in the new product awards categories of The 2011 International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards program. (The 2012 IBAs are now open for entries. All organizations and individuals worldwide are eligible to submit entries. The final entry deadline is 27 June - get your entry kit here.) Here Cascades Tissue shares their best new product story.

Intelligent Inspiration
In 2004, after the outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) had nearly became a worldwide pandemic, the marketing department at Cascades Tissue Group developed an idea for a paper tissue product that would provide additional protection from contamination by hand contact.

Intelligent Facts
While it is well known that good hand hygiene is the best way to reduce the spread of bacteria, research shows that 50% of people still do not wash their hands after visiting the bathroom. Of those who do, most don’t wash their hands for the recommended 20 to 30 seconds and don’t dry them thoroughly for an extra 10-20 seconds.

Since 80% of infections are transmitted by hand contact, the Cascades project aimed to introduce an antimicrobial agent to dry-paper hand towels that would only be released when it came into contact with wet hands.  And so Intelligent Paper® was created.

Intelligent Launch
It took five years of R&D and several third-party tests by experts at universities in Ontario and Quebec, and at external labs in the United States, before the emerging technology, Cascades Intelligent® antibacterial hand towel, could be launched on May 18th, 2010, a world first.

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John Hovnanian, Senior Vice President of Human Resources & Chief Talent Officer at Williams Lea Americas, is chairing the final judging committee for the HR awards categories of The 2012 American Business Awards, the premier business awards program in the U.S.A. (Final judging concludes this weekend. 2012 winners will be announced at our two awards banquets: June 18 at the Marriott Marquis in New York City and September 17 at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco. Get your tickets.) We asked John for his top three tips for best practices in human resources.

What are your top 3 tips on best practices in HR?

1. HR is a business of people and should hold a significant place within an organization. At Williams Lea, we are not in the business of making widgets, we are a people business, and so HR plays a strategic role in the company.
   
   
2. One of the most important functions of an HR department is to ensure that the company is a great place to work.   It should provide opportunities for employees—and therefore the organization—to grow.
   

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Mondial Assistance USA, of Richmond, Virginia USA won a Stevie® Award for Business Innovation of the Year in The 2011 American Business Awards, the premiere business awards program in the U.S.A. Here we look at how the company used emerging technology to streamline their onboarding process and dramatically grow revenue.

In 2010, Mondial Assistance USA, a global leader in specialized insurance and assistance services, decided to revamp their outdated onboarding system by launching a new online system.  The company had one objective: to design and implement a dynamic white glove experience that was well-designed, efficient, and exceeded the expectations of new clients. The new system had to combine technical innovation with user friendliness.

Project Goals
The firm had three goals in mind for their new Agency Onboarding system:

• Decrease Time to Sell
  By streamlining the onboarding process, Mondial Assistance employees would be able to begin selling products almost immediately.
• Increase Customer Satisfaction
  By improving the onboarding process, Mondial Assistance would be able to create and strengthen relationships with customers.
• Decrease Internal Management Costs
  By streamlining the process, Mondial would be able to eliminate the paper trail and leverage technology innovation resulting in better use of employees’ time.

Implementation
Mondial Assistance implemented their new Agency Onboarding system in two phases.

In phase one, the company:

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Entries for the 9th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business will open on May 30. These are the world's top awards for women executives, entrepreneurs, and the organizations they run. Join the mailing list to ensure that you receive the entry kit by email as soon as it's available.

America Means Business, the new event about entrepreneurship that the Stevie Awards will stage in New York this June 13-15, has announced its initial schedule of events. Want to stage your own event at AMB? Learn how here.

Apply to be a preliminary-round judge in The International Business Awards and/or the Stevie Awards for Women in Business. IBA judging will begin the week of May 21, and Stevies for Women judging in September. You'll learn how many of the world's top organizations are achieving success, and you'll receive a certificate of appreciation suitable for framing...

May 30: Entries open for 2012 Stevie Awards for Women in Business

June 13-15: America Means Business. Celebration of entrepreneurship, featuring educational, networking, and social events throughout New York City, presented by the Stevie® Awards.

June 18: 10th American Business Awards Banquet, Marriott Marquis, New York

June 27: Final entry deadline for 2012 International Business Awards

September 17: American Business Awards new tech awards banquet, Julia Morgan Ballroom, San Francisco