Business Motivation: In The News

While advance registration for the 2008 Motivation Show in Chicago was up by more than 12%, actual verified attendance did not meet the show organizers’ expectations. And many attendees reported that while attendees were of a higher quality than previous years, they were fewer in number. Attendance at the Show’s Executive Leadership Conference educational component, on the other hand, was up by 16% over last year.

“There is no doubt that the current economic news and travel restrictions hurt our attendance numbers this year,” says Pete Erickson, managing director of the Show. “As an industry, we need to make the case that during times of economic uncertainty, employee engagement is more important than ever in connecting customer satisfaction with improved financial results. And you can’t effectively engage employees without rewards and recognition.” Erickson adds, “We intend to make this our Show theme for 2009.”

For additional information on the Motivation Show – both on the recent Show and to register for the 2009 Show – go to www.motivationshow.com.

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It’s time to move the “cost of labor” from the expense column of corporate balance sheets to the revenue column – that’s the basic message of a new Workforce Measurement Model created jointly by the Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement (Forum) and Northwestern University’s Medill School Department of Integrated Marketing. As reported in the Forum white paper, “The Workforce Model Every Organization Should Use,” the Workforce Measurement Model is a way to express the contribution of a company’s people component to its bottom line. And it uses existing data that are compatible with other financial reporting tools, so no additional metrics are necessary to produce a “Return on Talent” figure.

“Traditionally, companies have viewed their people costs as an expense because there was no other way to quantify their value to the bottom line,” says Michelle Smith, president of the Forum. “The Workforce Measurement Model is the result of a detailed analysis of a number of highly successful companies that had incorporated components of it in their current business practices. It is a way to blend existing measurable attributes into a form that can be expressed alongside financial data to produce a “Return on Talent” that can then be compared across companies within an industry and even across industries.”

For a copy of the Forum white paper, click here. For more information about the Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement, go to the Forum Web site at www.performanceforum.org.

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The creation of the Industry Leadership Council (ILC) to provide recommendations to the Incentive Federation related to its legislative and research activities was announced last month at a press conference during the Motivation Show. The ILC will be chaired by Rodger Stotz, vice president, managing consultant, Maritz Inc., and will consist of representatives from leading incentive companies, fulfillment companies, and both branded and non-branded manufacturers that are active in the incentive field. Its purpose will be to assist with the development of messaging and significant new outreach activities being planned by the Incentive Federation and the Incentive Performance Center (IPC).

The ILC will assist in the support of outreach and research specifically related to the role of rewards, recognition, and promotional products in business engagement, and in the establishment of joint ventures with other business organizations interested in the nation’s new emphasis on engagement in business. More immediately, the ILC will be asked to provide advice and counsel related to a congressional meeting that the Incentive Federation expects to hold in Washington, DC, after the inauguration of the next U.S. president in 2009. The goal of the meeting will be to increase awareness of the incentive field on Capitol Hill, within the Executive branch, and in the general media.

The Industry Leadership Council is part of the Incentive Federation. For more information on the Incentive Federation and its activities go to www.incentivefederation.org.

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Business gifting is still the most popular application for promotional products and is often considered one of the most effective uses of promotional merchandise for obtaining and retaining customers with a no-strings-attached pitch. However, recently a debate has arisen about the true definition of business gifting and how effective it really is. To weigh in on the debate, the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) sponsored a study by Louisiana State University and Glenrich Business Studies.

PPAI asked the researchers to investigate the business gift market and uncover answers to five very pertinent questions: What are business gifts? What are the costs of business gifts? Who gives business gifts? Why are business gifts given? And how effective are business gifts?

And the results? Some 96% of survey participants agreed on a definition of business gifts as “merchandise bestowed for the purpose of achieving customer and employee goodwill and relationship retention, given with the sponsor’s identification appearing either on the item or accompanying it, and presented for the personal use of the recipient or a limited class of people.” In addition, two-thirds of the survey participants said that price is a criterion in the way they picture business gifts, with the IRS threshold of $25 figuring greatly in the estimation of most.

The market for business gifts is usually influenced by organization size, and the reasons for gift-giving can range from wanting to thank customers or to build goodwill to generating referrals or influencing purchase decisions. But there is no doubt that the use of business gifts is effective. Overall, the results of the survey demonstrate that buyers find business gifts to be very effective.

For more information or details on PPAI’s gift-giving study, contact Anne Lardner at AnneL@ppai.org. For information on the Promotional Products Association International, visit the PPAI Web site at www.ppai.org.

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Current economic conditions have made executives in every industry think carefully and look closely at their businesses and their prospects, and the incentive industry is no exception. In fact, the Performance Improvement Council (PIC) of the Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) has collected a number of thought-provoking perspectives from its members. But what kind of strategies are there besides belt-tightening? You’d be surprised.

Here are some comments from the PIC’s executive members:

• Mike Ryan, senior vice president, marketing and client strategy, MADISON Performance Group: “Smart businesses approach forecasted soft patches as an opportunity to get aggressive. The objective: Swoop in and seize market share, strengthen customer equity, and ignite employee innovation.”
  
  
• Jim Dittman, president, Dittman Incentive Marketing: “We are in a recession, and we will all be the better for it. We’re supposed to be in the business of finding solutions… It’s up to us to look around and find ways to deal with the tougher times, reasons to celebrate our business spirit … and to arm ourselves and our people to deal with the days ahead.”

For the complete text of Mr. Dittman’s and Mr. Ryan’s remarks, and the perspectives of others connected with the PIC, click here. For more information on the Performance Improvement Council, visit the PIC Web site at www.peopleperformance.com.

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The economic downturn is forcing everyone to take a close look at costs, and to reduce them if possible. A recent Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) study – “Effects of a Down Economy on the Incentive Industry” – looks at ways incentive program administrators are adapting their travel and merchandise incentive programs in response to current economic conditions. This IRF survey of incentive travel providers, corporate incentive travel buyers and suppliers was conducted over a four-week period that concluded in August. The results of the survey were released at last month’s Motivation Show in Chicago.

Results of the survey show that the down economy has had more of an impact on travel incentive programs than on merchandise non-cash programs. Some 81% of survey respondents say that the down economy is having a negative impact on their ability to plan travel incentives, and 48% of respondents say that it’s been harder to plan and implement merchandise non-cash programs.

Here are some ways in which plan administrators are trying to adapt to the economic pressure:

• There has been a shift from international to domestic travel destinations.
• Use of gift cards is increasing.
• The number of travel incentive days/nights and number of rooms are being reduced.
• Individual travel awards are being used more often.
• Use of on-site extras for incentive travel participants is being reduced.
• Experience-related options are being added to merchandise programs.

For a summary report on “Effects of a Down Economy on the Incentive Industry,” click here. For additional information and research from the Incentive Research Foundation, visit the IRF Web site at www.theIRF.org.

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