130 and Counting: Inspirus Celebrates 130-year Anniversary

Through the 1900s, the Fort Worth, Texas-based Haltom’s expanded its offering to help organizations improve the employee journey through memorable gifts and moments. In 1970, the company evolved to become Diamond H. Recognition, specializing in total recognition and service award programs. During this time, there was a major US labor movement with work stoppages and strikes nationwide involving workers in all industries. In that year alone, there were 5,716 strikes involving three million workers! Leaders at the helm of Diamond H knew they needed to bridge the huge gap that was forming between employers and employees and used awards and recognition as the way to do it.

Inspirus was born in 2010 to address shifting market needs and to move beyond providing service awards. The workplace was becoming its own ecosystem and needed strategies and solutions that would support that evolution. The brand delivered on its promise of “creating best places to work,” catching the eye of global giant The Sodexo Group, who purchased the organization in 2016 to augment its Benefits and Rewards Services (BRS) offering in North America.

Today, our employee engagement solutions still focus on elevating employee engagement levels to improve team culture and drive business success, but are now digital, social, and more inclusive. We empower organizations to create purpose-built people strategies, and to deploy them using our Connects technology so they can build community and enable a thriving workplace culture. And it all started with a jeweler who wanted to create memorable moments for hard-working Americans.

A Proud Legacy

We attribute our success over the past 130 years to successfully adapting to changing market conditions and customer needs, because we remain committed to our values of integrity, humility, professionalism, life integration and partnership, and because we keep a laser-like focus on these areas:

Strong leadership has led us through both good and bad times; making tough, strategic decisions allows us to thrive in changing business environments

Resilience readies us for the obstacles and challenges that inevitably come and gives us the right mindset to weather each storm, emerging even stronger on the other side

People are at the heart of everything we do — by giving our people the freedom to innovate, they become the engine that has forged our path thus far

Passion is the fuel that drives our purpose and makes us put people first, every day; we know that employees are indeed every organization’s greatest resource

A customer-focused approach builds strong relationships with loyal customers and consistently delivers high-quality products and services; we make customer satisfaction a top priority

Financial stability means smartly managing finances, extending profitable product lines, increasing services and aligning with the Sodexo Group’s stellar reputation, all of which guide our strong financial position

Our People Give Us Purpose

Hear from a few of our employees on what this monumental year means:

“From the first time I walked through the door, I knew I wanted to work at Inspirus — it just had a great feel to it. I was one of the last and lucky people to get a wonderful building and department tour from Mr. Charlie Mays, who led the company from the mid 1970’s to the mid 1980’s. He patiently showed me how each department played an important part in making Inspirus the great company that it is. I thought a ring was just a ring, but when Mr. Mays showed me how many steps it takes to make one ring, I remember being very impressed with the attention to detail and the team effort. To this day we still pride ourselves on quality and service, those things will never change.”
Gracie Mays
Customer Care Advocate

“I am grateful for a company who was willing to take a chance on me before working remotely was a norm. Thirteen years ago, the leadership team recognized my talent, embraced my excitement to be a part of a growing team and shared my commitment to continuous improvement – all of which has given me the freedom to deliver a remarkable customer experience. I am better, my kids are better, and our customers are better served because of the organization’s unique ability to build on its past to innovate for the future.”
Theresa Harkins-Schulz
Senior Vice President, Customer Experience and Products

We’re honored to celebrate this historic milestone and look forward to innovating and trailblazing for another 130+ years.