Despite being a multi-billion-dollar industry, the key drivers of incentive program success aren't that well known outside of a small group of industry practitioners. But that will now change, thanks to a unique MicroConference concept by the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) that will use "crowdsourcing" to poll 40 experts on what makes or breaks a successful incentive program. The crowdsourcing effort provides each incentive expert with a two-minute time slot to share his/her best tips for designing and implementing a successful incentive/recognition program. "There really is no better way to get access to such quick, real-world advice from 40 of the most influential people in incentive and recognition than with the Incentive Insights MicroConference," says Melissa Van Dyke, President of the Incentive Research Foundation who is hosting the conference. After free registration at: http://Insights.TheIRF.org, visitors may download the mp3 audio file containing all 40 audio clips and sign up for weekly transcripts from speakers.
What: The 2013 Rewards & Recognition Expo and Conference
Where: Hilton Riverside, New Orleans, LA
When: Sunday, April 28-Tuesday, April 30
Who: The Enterprise Engagement Alliance, in conjunction with:
How: Registration is now open at www.RewardsandRecognitionexpo.com
Why: The need to engage customers, channel partners, employees, vendors and communities requires an entirely new level of knowledge, services and efficiency. Benefit from this unique exhibition and education program designed to help attendees elevate their solutions:
Don't miss the rewards and recognition field's only conference and expo in 2013 specifically designed for corporate practitioners and solution providers! Registration is now open at www.RewardsandRecognitionexpo.com, or call 914-591-7600, ext. 229, for exhibit info.
The Enterprise Engagement Alliance (EEA) has launched its formal online test and certification program on Enterprise Engagement. The EEA Curriculum and Certification program focuses on the principals, framework and tactics related to engaging customers, channel partners, employees, vendors and communities to help achieve organizational goals. The exam is available free online at www.enterpriseengagement.org. Those who pass the test can obtain a five-year Certified Engagement Practitioner (CEP) designation for $500, as well as qualify for the Advanced Engagement Practitioner and Master Engagement Practitioner designations. For more information on the EEA Curriculum and Certification program, go to www.enterpriseengagement.org/training
I2I, LLC recently announced it has been acquired by Symbolist, a 20-year-old Dallas firm that provides reward and recognition programs for a variety of Fortune 1000 clients. I2I has been a consulting-only organization for the past five years, providing program evaluation, program design and overall motivation and influence advice for a variety of end-user clients and for companies that provide incentive and reward programs. The I2I brand will be absorbed and combined with Symbolist and all thought leadership and online properties and elements of the I2I social networks will be transitioned to the new company. The acquisition is effective Jan 1, 2013; however, the merging of the two company's websites and social networks will be an ongoing, staged process as the two companies combine their thought leadership on one site and communicate with their respective client lists.
For more information, click here
USMotivation has launched The U, an innovative webcasting platform featuring programming specific to the incentive, reward & recognition, meetings and events industry. The U combines television-style live video, slides, chat, Q&A, polling, surveys and social network integration into a compelling format that offers a much richer experience than traditional webcasts. Hosted by USM and featuring industry experts, monthly programming on The U will feature a variety of topics such as employee engagement, incentive travel, ROI, virtual solutions, meeting/event planning, gamification, mobile apps and more. The U will also present special features such as travel incentive destination spotlights and other timely and interesting topics. The U kicked off programming on Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 3 p.m. (EST), with a webcast featuring ROI Institute Chairman Dr. Jack Phillips, a world-renowned expert on accountability, measurement, and evaluation. For more information, visit: www.usmotivation.com
According to a recent study conducted by LIMRA, an association for the financial services and insurance industries, and Maritz, 83% of financial and insurance sales representatives attribute some portion of their efforts to rewards and recognition, which demonstrates the overall positive impact of such programs. But while legacy incentive strategies continue to engage producers, they are no longer creating the level of performance effectiveness they once provided. To create higher levels of performance, organizations need to better understand the program participant. In July 2012, the National Motivational Research Agent Study surveyed agents from 20 LIMRA member companies, resulting in key insights from more than 5,400 U.S. and Canadian respondents. The study provided insights into attitudes, interests and opinions regarding the personal values and goals of agents, which can help program designers understand what is important to the agents. More than half of agents (54%) fell into one of three "personal value" categories:
To view the executive summary, go to http://bit.ly/V1f0Mp
Here's a look at what you'll find inside:
In her nine years with CA Technologies, Director of Talent Management Meagan Gregorczyk has worked in sales, marketing, operations, corporate education functions and, as of last year, human resources. Needless to say, she has seen engagement from every angle. Read more >
How to make sure your learning initiatives (rather than advertising, market trends or operational leadership) are having a real impact on business outcomes. Read more >
The world has changed radically, not only in terms of communication channels and choices, but also in the amount of clutter organizations must overcome in order to break through. Read more >
This healthcare provider goes out of its way to make sure that employees understand how their individual efforts contribute to the achievement of organizational goals. Read more >
To make sure you get your copy of Engagement Strategies Magazine, update your subscription today!
In the world of talent management, social networks have been used successfully in knowledge sharing, the identification of skills and construction of teams, in recruiting, onboarding and certainly learning. "Social Recognition," which uses software to enable people to recognize one another, is a relatively new entrant in the pantheon of talent management technology. Yet it draws on practices from some of the world's most popular internet applications. In connecting peers to peers, and in this case, employees to employees and employees to customers, partners, suppliers and others (the extended enterprise) it opens another dimension in recognition that has the potential to generate powerful cultural evolution within remarkably short timeframes. In others words, social recognition software can be transformative. It can fill a recognition gap quickly and it can extend recognition beyond the organization to help engage customers and other constituents. Click here to read the White Paper.
In many industries and businesses, channel partners are key links between employees and customers- a weak link if they are ignored, an important source of strength if they are engaged. The stakes are high. Channel partner impact can be enormous in terms of sales volume, market share, brand reputation and "share of customer", i.e., in engaging customers. Indeed, channel partners are often the sole link to the customer. But channel partners can also impact employee engagement, especially when they fail to deliver. Conversely, channel partner engagement is directly affected by the employees who manage them and who produce the products and services. In short, most businesses succeed only to the degree that symbiotic relationships exist between employees, customers, channel partners and vendors. This is the basis upon which "Enterprise Engagement" is built. In this paper, we focus on channel partners as a key constituent of organizational success and we offer practical strategies and tactics to engage them. Click here to read the White Paper.
Selling Communications, Inc. is a fully integrated, target marketing, media and technology agency that improves results for clients by focusing on the people who matter most. We can help your business grow and save you money by targeting key prospects, getting their permission and strategically integrating your marketing and sales communications with the specific audiences most likely to affect your business performance.
Take advantage of these SCI services to improve your business development:
For more information on Selling Communications, its products and services, contact Jim Kilmetis at 914-591-7600, ext. 229 or send an e-mail to jkilmetis@sellingcommunications.com.
Tapping new customers, and keeping those you already have, costs less than you'd imagine...
ESM News Alert for the latest news. Subscribe here.
