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In today’s business environment the role of the contingent employee has changed as companies leverage freelancers and contractors at an accelerated rate. This creates new opportunities and challenges for HR departments to change their strategy when planning and creating recognition, incentive and reward programs. Focusing on engagement of only direct employees excludes an increasing percentage of the company workforce. Here are five realities from a recent blog posting by Marketing Innovators President Rich Blabolil that you should be aware of as you approach this emerging trend: 1. Workforce engagement must be redefined 2. Contingent workforce hires are on the rise 3. Customization is key 4. Global workforce engagement is the new norm 5. Communication is Critical For detailed descriptions of these “new realities” and to read the original post, go to www.marketinginnovators.com/employee-engagement/5-upcoming-realities-you-should-know-about-workforce-engagement/ ... [ read more ]

Authored and edited by dozens of experts in general management, marketing, sales, data management, business and academia, Enterprise Engagement: The Textbook’s methodology has been endorsed by Ernst & Young and other top companies as a means of achieving both strategic and tactical organizational goals related to sales, marketing, human resources, vendor management and community relations. The newly-released textbook is available from the EEA Store at www.enterpriseengagementbook.com for $36, or you can purchase it online through Amazon.com. The first edition is 268 pages. Enterprise Engagement: The Textbook also provides formal preparation for the Enterprise Engagement Certification program. Preparation and general learning is also available at Engagement University Online. The textbook is updated regularly based on input generated through the online university. ... [ read more ]

The 2014 Engagement University and Rewards & Recognition Expo was held at the Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville April 6-8. The meeting brought together many of the leading thinkers and practitioners in the field. Curt Coffman, co-author of the seminal HBR article “Manage Your Human Sigma” and “First Break All the Rules” gave a keynote and hosted a panel session to discuss his perspectives; Gina Valenti of Hilton Worldwide described the implementation of the successful “Hamptonality” program; and others talked about their experiences with organizations such as McAfee, AstraZeneca and Ernst & Young. The Rewards & Recognition Expo attracted more than 80 exhibitors from 50 exhibiting companies, including American Express LoyaltyEdge, TUMI, Applebees, Naples/Marco Island CVB, Victorinox Swiss Army, Target, Canon and dozens of others. “The event exceeded my expectations,” said exhibitor Pete Mitchell, Director, B-to-B Sales at Samsonite. “The majority of my meetings were with current clients...and we were able to get to the business at hand. I’m happy I came.” Attendees were also impressed with the ‘conversation center format’ of the Exhibit Hall, which lent itself to relationship-building and face-to-face conversations rather than the typical ‘drive-by’ literature grab that characterizes most trade shows. “A well-planned and organized event,” noted Jill Trupo, Program Manager at Incentra, Inc. “The speakers were great, the mix of show floor and in class speakers was nice, and the exhibit format was excellent for getting new information from our suppliers and new partners.”... [ read more ]

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Aon Hewitt has released its annual list of Best Employers in Canada, revealing that Millennials – the generation entering the workplace after 2000, who have often been characterized as self-interested, difficult employees – are becoming more engaged the longer they’re in the workforce. The survey measures how well organizations perform in six key areas: Leadership Excellence, Manager Effectiveness, Enabling Productivity (how well organizations equip employees to do their jobs), Growth & Development, Valuing & Appreciating Employees and Overall Employee Experience. This year, average employee engagement was 78% at Best Employers, roughly on par with last year’s 79%. The average for other participants was 58%. The study also suggests that the long-held assumption that part-time Millennials are less engaged than their full-time counterparts is simply not true. Read the full report at http://aon.mediaroom.com/The-Kids-Are-All-Right-Millennials-More-Engaged-at-Work-says-Aon-Hewitt-s-15th-Annual-50-Best-Employers-in-Canada-Study... [ read more ]

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The Incentive Research Foundation announced that its 21st annual Incentive Invitational will be held May 28-June 1, 2014 at Secrets Puerto Los Cabos Golf & Spa Resort in San Jose del Cabo. The Incentive Invitational is the IRF’s most important annual fundraising activity for research surrounding motivation and incentives. This year’s Education Day, dubbed Innovating Incentives: Cutting-Edge Technology and Bold Ideas, will feature a number of fast-paced, engaging and interactive sessions with speakers ranging from top academics to key consultants. These sessions will also offer attendees a first look at three new IRF studies. ... [ read more ]

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Over two-dozen business people from the Madison, Wi., area attended a recent seminar on Enterprise Engagement, headlined by Curt Coffman, Enterprise Engagement Alliance (EEA) board member and Principal of The Coffman Organization, and Bruce Bolger of the EEA. Fore more insights, click here ... [ read more ]

The Brand Activation Association (BAA) and Booz & Company have unveiled the results of a comprehensive research study that goes well beyond shopper marketing to explore how today’s consumers have dramatically changed the way they interact with brands. Entitled Reimagining Shopper Marketing: Building Brands through Omnichannel Experiences, the study is based on in-depth research with dozens of the world’s leading brands and explains how there has been a rapid shift from a traditional linear marketing model to a new omni-channel marketing model that has resulted in a number of CMOs reevaluating how they spend their promotional dollars. Some of the key findings of the study include responses to the question about how marketers plan to change their MarCom mix over the next two years: • 100% of consumer brand manufacturers plan to increase their mobile marketing spend with 44% predicting increases of over 10% • 96% will increase social media spend with 67% increasing it over 5% • 96% will increase their shopper marketing budgets with 45% going over 5% • 68% rate investing in branded content and shopper experiences to engage shoppers before they go to the store as high priorities over the past two years • 64% rate investing in the same areas as above to drive repeat usage and loyalty after consumers buy as high priority over the last two years The whitepaper, Reimagining Shopper Marketing: Building Brands through Omnichannel Experiences, is available at www.booz.com. ... [ read more ]

As companies strive to keep workers healthier and stem the tide of higher health care costs, they will continue to embrace health and productivity programs as a solution. According to the 2013/2014 Staying@Work Survey, conducted by Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health, employers will have to address lifestyle risk issues, improve employee engagement and articulate a strategy to establish a workplace health culture, an essential factor for success. Respondents reported the same three lifestyle risks as the biggest workforce issues: stress, obesity and lack of physical activity. These risk factors result in increased employee illness, higher medical costs and lost productivity due to unplanned absence and decreased efficiency at work. To combat these issues, companies have to overcome poor employee engagement. Nearly eight in 10 (77%) employers view a lack of employee engagement as the biggest obstacle to changing behavior. Despite offering a variety of health and productivity programs, employers report that actual program participation is low. For more information, visit www.businessgrouphealth.org.... [ read more ]

To address perpetually mounting competitive pressures, organizations need workers who bring passion to their jobs to navigate challenges and accelerate performance improvement. Yet only 11% of U.S. workers recently surveyed by Deloitte possess the necessary attributes that lead to accelerated learning and performance improvement. These and other insights are highlighted in a new report from Deloitte’s Center for the Edge entitled Unlocking Passion of the Explorer. The effect of mounting competitive pressure is visible in the downward trend in Return on Assets (ROA). According to Deloitte, ROA for U.S. organizations has been declining for the past 47 years, despite gains in labor productivity, and it shows no signs of stabilizing. The data suggests that the typical corporate response of reducing costs and squeezing more productivity out of the remaining workers by making them work harder is not a long term solution to competitive pressures. Recruiting wars have typically focused on finding particular skills, but Deloitte uncovered that the typical modern work skill becomes outdated within five years. For more information on the full Unlocking Passion of the Explorer report, visit: www.dupress.com/articles/unlocking-the-passion-of-the-explorer/.... [ read more ]

Despite an understanding that talent is a source of competitive advantage, establishing effective performance management programs remains a challenge for most organizations. According to Mercer’s 2013 Global Performance Management Survey, just 3% of organizations worldwide report their overall performance management system provides exceptional value. In addition to some commonalities in performance management programs, such as setting employee goals, conducting formal year-end review discussions, and using performance ratings, Mercer’s statistical analysis identified key drivers of successful performance management. The key drivers include manager skills, executive commitment, calibration, and technology. Topping the list is the skills of managers, specifically how well they set employee goals, provide feedback, evaluate performance, and link performance to critical talent management decisions such as compensation, development, and careers. According to Mercer’s survey, roughly one in three organizations around the world say improving managers’ ability to have candid dialogue with employees has the greatest impact on overall company performance. Mercer’s analysis revealed that the two components of manager skills that matter the most are linking performance to career development and setting SMART goals (specific, measurable, ambitious but achievable, relevant, and time-bound). To find out more about the survey results, visit www.imercer.com/performance.... [ read more ]

Michelle Thomas tel: 312 540 3000 ext 6491 fax: 312 894 6304 michellet@marcusevansch.com Website: http://www.marcusevans-conferences-northamerican.com/CHC551_EEA ... [ read more ]

Dittman Incentive Marketing announced that it has attained the status of Certified Engagement Solutions Provider, a new certification recently created by the Enterprise Engagement Alliance (EEA), a coalition of companies and associations dedicated to the concept that engagement is an enterprise-wide endeavor that “begins with people and ends with profitability.” To attain Certified Engagement Solutions Provider status, members of the Dittman team were required to successfully complete rigorous testing and demonstrate their understanding of the engagement framework, economics, implementation process and tactics, and validate their actual experience with design and implementation. Susan Adams, Special Initiatives Director and President of IMA Recognition Council for 2013, Brian Carr, Director of Individual Awards, and Steve Cummins, Director of Digital Marketing, are among the Dittman team members who have achieved the individual Certified Engagement Practitioner designation. For more information, visit www.dittmanincentives.com.... [ read more ]

The Site International Foundation has released a new White Paper, “Incentive Travel: The Smart Business Proposition,” as part of its Incentives Move Business series. The paper focuses on how well-designed incentive travel and motivational events can help companies achieve corporate business objectives and provide a measurable return on investment. “Motivational programs that fail are often the victim of poor program design in areas like rule structure, award selection, promotion and measurement,” notes Jane Schuldt, President of the Site International Foundation. “Understanding the objectives of a program, how they align with overall compensation and recognition, and defining what motivates participants are keys to a program’s success.” To download the “Incentives Move Business” White Papers, please visit siteglobal.com.... [ read more ]

In today’s knowledge economy, competitive advantage is no longer secured purely through the access to capital or information – but by having employees come up with creative and novel ways of solving clients’ problems. To achieve this, organizations are increasingly dependent on the passion, creativity, energy and engagement of the workforce, and in particular on expert employees in fields like finance, engineering, design and technology. Fraser Marlow, Head of Research at BlessingWhite, notes in the firm’s latest installment in a series of ongoing research reports that technical people in organizations have specific workplace needs and face particular pitfalls when taking on leadership roles. The report, Leading Technical People – Research Report 2013, tells you how to take inspiration from the likes of Wikipedia to learn how to engage and lead technical experts to help advance the goals of your organization. For more information, go to http://www.blessingwhite.com/Research.asp?pid=1... [ read more ]

The Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) has created an ongoing education series targeted at professionals involved with incentives, recognition, engagement and motivational meetings. The sessions, dubbed the ‘Third Thursday’ Education Series, will take place on the third Thursday of every month, running though May of 2014. The sessions will take the form of webcasts that will be posted on the IRF site at 2pm Eastern time/11am Pacific on the appointed day. Initial sessions began in June and are archived on the IRF website. The remaining schedule is: • Using Reward and Recognition to Meet Cross-Organizational Needs September 19 • How to Integrate Business Meetings and Incentive Travel October 17 • Balancing Program Owner and Participant Needs in Award Funding and Selection November 21 • 2014 Trends in Engagement, Incentives and Recognition December 19 • Designing Communication Strategies that Get Results January 16 • How to Tame Business Challenges using Digital Solutions February 20 • Optimizing Social Media in Incentives and Meetings March 20 • IncenTED presentations on Social, Mobile, Digital Innovations April 17 • Release Brilliance: Show Up, Be Accountable, Drive Results May 15 For complete session descriptions, speakers and other info, go to http://theirf.org/.Third-Thursday-Incentives-Recognition-Engagement-Education.6100481.html ... [ read more ]

The Coffman Organization will now offer a full range of Enterprise Engagement learning, assessment, technology and implementation solutions in conjunction with the launch of the new book, Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch. Written by company partners Curt Coffman and Kathie Sorensen, Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch is a guidebook for management in a post-industrial era in which talent and customers now rule, largely as a result of social media. “It’s an honor to have the EEA Curriculum and Certification program, and the technology and implementation companies based on its principles, selected by The Coffman Organization as the focus of its Enterprise Engagement Strategies group,” says Bruce Bolger, President of the Enterprise Engagement Alliance. “Curt’s books, like First, Break All the Rules, his groundbreaking Harvard Business Review article on Human Sigma and his company’s services clearly demonstrate his leadership in this emerging field.” The Coffman Organization is a leading provider of Enterprise Engagement assessment, coaching and training services designed to connect engagement with performance through effective management communications and development. The Coffman Organization’s Enterprise Engagement Strategies services include: • The Enterprise Engagement Alliance Curriculum and Certification program to provide managers at all levels with the information they need about this growing field. The curriculum was created over the past three years by the Enterprise Engagement Alliance, based on input from the Coffman Organization, corporate practitioners, solution providers and academics. • The Coffman Enterprise Engagement 2.0 Quick Starter and Enterprise Culture and Coaching solutions for organizations seeking Enterprise Engagement surveys that include real-time, targeted benchmarking and feedback combined with technology-driven one-on-one or group coaching services to connect culture and engagement with the achievement of critical organizational goals. • The Solata Enterprise Engagement Portal to help focus specific audiences on the achievement of organizational goals involving customers, sales, distribution partners, vendors, or employees while fostering alignment across the organization. • The Coffman Engagement Agency, an implementation team specifically designed to bring the benefits of the Enterprise Engagement framework, implementation process and engagement technology to organizations across the country through local affiliates. For more information, go to http://coffmanorganization.com/ ... [ read more ]

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Chris Brunone, Leadership Practice Head at BlessingWhite, recently posted an article on the firm’s website noting that organizational development budgets are limited these days, so it's important that every initiative count. Training leaders who are trying to do more with less often ask which approach will produce the best results: 1) Training the more senior ranks in the organization to become better leaders or 2) Focusing on the engagement of the broader employee base? Should you cut back on leadership development efforts to refocus our energy on Employee Engagement? To help you answer this question, check out the full article at www.blessingwhite.com/content/articles/enews/June2013.asp?_cldee=ZW5nYWdlbWVudHN0cmF0ZWdpZXNAeWFob28uY29t... [ read more ]

To give you an idea of how social media is changing the corporate landscape and putting more power into the hands of employees, shareholders and customers, nearly 300,000 people have signed a petition started by Natalie Gunshannon, a former McDonald’s employee who quit her job there after being forced to accept her pay on a fee-heavy debit card. The petition on Change.org calls on Don Thompson, McDonald’s CEO, to give employees a choice in how they receive their pay. No word yet on whether McDonald’s will alter the practice, but the publicity this effort has already generated certainly hasn’t helped the company’s image. “I own stock in this company because it had started to make more socially and environmentally responsible decisions,” notes one shareholder. “I am sad to hear that it has taken a step back with this decision. Nobody’s paycheck should come with hidden fees.” While representatives for McDonald’s have indicated that decisions about payment are left to franchisee owners, the petition calls on McDonald’s national decision makers to ensure that McDonald’s is a “leader nationwide in ensuring that employees get to keep their own wages.” Stay tuned... [ read more ]

You know a field has arrived when IBM gets involved, given that this is not a company focused on tiny niches. So we were excited to see that IBM recently entered the field of Engagement with a webinar on Customer Engagement on July 17th, sharing ideas on how to understand, reach and relate to customers through a rich and personalized digital experience across multiple channels and smart devices. IBM executives, leading industry analysts and customers explored how organizations can create an exceptional customer experience as well as to: • Understand the individuals in your market. Listen to and anticipate customer preferences and captivate them with rich, personalized digital experiences. • Deliver exceptional service. Delight users on any channel or device with integrated and tailored applications and content. • Engage individuals and communities. Exchange valuable insights and feedback and build trusted relationships, loyalty and advocacy. ... [ read more ]