Our News
- Human Capital Leader to Chair Enterprise Engagement Alliance
- Motivation Strategies Becomes Engagement Strategies
- Enterprise Engagement Expo Extols Holistic Approach
- Hebert Named Social Media Editor at Selling Communications
- Enterprise Engagement Alliance Takes Over Expo and Conference
Human Capital Leader to Chair Enterprise Engagement Alliance
Allan Schweyer has joined the newly formed Enterprise Engagement Alliance as Chairman. The Enterprise Engagement Alliance was founded in 2008 to support research, education, and outreach related to the emerging field of Enterprise Engagement, which focuses on improving financial results through a strategic emphasis on customer, distribution partner, and employee engagement. Allan Schweyer was most recently Executive Director and Vice President of Research of the Human Capital Institute and is a Principal in the Washington DC based firm, Center for Human Capital Innovation.
The Enterprise Engagement Alliance is comprised of corporations, associations, engagement suppliers, and media companies that have an interest in the various aspects of engagement, which include leadership, communications (in print, online, face-to-face and promotional products), training, incentives, compensation, rewards and recognition, loyalty, and technology. “The EEA is not an association or institution—it’s an alliance of organizations whose common goals include developing the field of Enterprise Engagement,” said Schweyer. “Enterprise engagement involves numerous issues, it’s impossible for any one organization to be a primary resource for everything. It’s our intent to work with organizations representing all of the disciplines of Enterprise Engagement to help make corporate America aware of the critical role played by engagement and the tools necessary to profit from it.”
Trained as a labor market economist, Schweyer has contributed to the field of human capital management for almost two decades. He is the author of two books, "Talent Management Systems" (Wiley, 2004) and “Talent Management Technologies”, HCI Press, 2009). He is an internationally respected analyst and speaker on the topic of transformational human capital management for individuals, organizations, regions and nations. In 2009 he was recognized as among the “100 Most Influential People in HR and Talent Management”.
Allan’s contributions include the development of award-winning workforce management and information systems for government, international organizations and the private sector. In 2000 and 2001, he worked as a management consultant to Reed Business Information in Boston while attending graduate school at Harvard University. Directly prior to joining HCI, Allan was a senior researcher, analyst and consultant with HR.com servicing large private and public sector clients worldwide. Allan's articles and white papers appear in dozens of popular media and industry specific publications worldwide. “We’re excited to have Allan on board,” said Don Peppers, a founding member of the Executive Council.. “He brings with him a deep appreciation for the role of human capital, and tremendous experience building successful organizations.”
The EEA was founded by Peppers and Rogers, its 1to1® Media Group, Human Capital Institute, and Selling Communications Inc. and is advised by an Executive Council headed by Allan Schweyer that includes: Larry Emond, Director of Business Development for Gallup; Mike Foster, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Human Capital Institute; Mike Hadlow, President of Engagement Technology LLC; Don Peppers, Founding Partner of the Peppers & Rogers Group, and Rodger Stotz, Principal of Delta Qi Consulting. Paul Hebert is the group’s Social Media Editor; Bruce Bolger is general manager.
Founding sponsors are: Business Marketing Association, Carlson Marketing Group, Catalyst Performance Group, Dittman Incentive Marketing, EGR International, Incentive Research Foundation, Gallup, Maritz, and the Incentive Federation.
Founding media sponsors include Incentive and Selling Power magazines.
The organization’s portal, EnterpriseEngagement.org, will go live later this month. In the meantime, for more information, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_Engagement, or follow us on Linkedin at www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1926267 or on Twitter at @EEA_Org
Motivation Strategies Becomes Engagement Strategies
Engagement Strategies Magazine (ESM) is the new name for Motivation Strategies magazine and online information center at EngagementStrategiesOnline.com. The quarterly magazine, which is the official print magazine of the new Enterprise Engagement Alliance, will expand its coverage to include all of the key areas of Enterprise Engagement, including leadership, management, training, communications (in print, in person, online and through promotional products), incentive programs, rewards and recognition, compensation and technology. The magazine and online information service are designed for corporate executives and managers, as well as engagement suppliers, seeking the latest news, research, case studies and leadership profiles related to this emerging field.
“The incentive field, where Motivation Strategies had its roots, has now become significantly broader as organizations increasingly understand the importance of engaging key customers, distribution partners and employees,” says Bruce Bolger, Publisher. “We believe there’s a need for a publication that serves as a gateway to the entire field of engagement, helping corporate executives and suppliers find all of the resources that can help them succeed, including dozens of related publications covering different aspects of engagement to whom ESM will point our readers, as we will to any source of information that can help them profit from engagement.” ESM Editorial Director Richard Kern adds that “…the issue of engagement should concern every executive and manager. We are designing ESM to help managers and executives profit from this exciting approach to improving business results.”
Enterprise Engagement Expo Extols Holistic Approach
Nearly 1,000 engagement professionals gathered in New York City on May 12-13 for the first ever Enterprise Engagement Expo, bringing together an array of organizations, exhibitors and speakers to argue, identify, define support and illustrate the need for engagement efforts in every aspect of business. Speakers and exhibitors, in particular, demonstrated the importance of – and the tools for – engaging employees, customers, channel partners and vendors.
Specifically, the conference was designed to “help provide a framework for the emerging field of Enterprise Engagement by covering some of the key topics related to leadership, measurement, management, communications, incentive programs and other drivers of engagement in organizations,” says Bruce Bolger, CEO of Selling Communications Inc., the conference management company, and a spokesperson for the Enterprise Engagement Alliance, one of the conference sponsors. “We wanted to give people a serious reason to leave the office for a day or two to learn how to do business more effectively and to meet face-to-face with suppliers in a time-efficient manner.”
Bolger notes that the key objective of Enterprise Engagement is to understand the links between customer engagement, employee engagement, and distributor engagement, and connect the dots between engagement and financial results. “The need to engage customers, channel partners, salespeople and all employees is emerging as one of the key competitive tools of the decade and probably beyond,” he says.
Asked whether he felt attendees understood the concept of the EEExpo and the “holistic” approach that Enterprise Engagement promotes, Todd Hanson, President of Catalyst Performance Group, who was both an exhibitor and a presenter, responded that “attendance and the quality of attendees at the presentations was high, and there was a very high level of participation, of interaction, during my presentation – which I thought was good.”
Hanson also spoke for the incentive industry when he added, “The Enterprise Engagement theme is spot-on. If we in the industry are going to continue to sell our products and services, we’ve got to embrace the concept that we’ve got to help our clients drive business results, and through the Enterprise Engagement Alliance and conferences like this we’re learning that improving engagement helps accomplish that.”
Products and Services
The EEExpo, which incorporated the New York Incentive, Rewards & Recognition Show, brought together a number of key business and organizational sponsors, including Peppers & Rogers Group, the Human Capital Institute, Incentive Marketing Association, Business Marking Association, 1to1 Media, Sales Management Association and Recognition Professionals International.
Karen Renk, Executive Director of the Incentive Marketing Association, says the opportunity to connect with members and speak to potential new IMA members in the Exhibit Hall was an important component of the 2-day event, adding that “it’s valuable for the incentive marketplace to align itself with the concept of engagement, and to position incentive programs as a critical tool in an engagement strategy.”
Among the nearly 100 exhibitors at this year’s event were leading incentive companies and major brands such as Bulova, Sony, Fuji, National Geographic, Omaha Steaks, Rymax Marketing Services, Canon USA, Top Brands, Bath & Body Works, Movado Group, OSI Restaurant Partners/Outback, Panasonic, Maui Jim and TUMI.
Also taking part were a number of organizations that supply engagement tools and services to the business world – EGR International, John Wiley & Sons, Maritz, The Incentive Group, Impact 4 Good, Random House and BrainShark, among others. These firms and a dozen more occupied a special area of the Exhibit Hall dubbed the Enterprise Engagement Pavilion, which Bolger says “for the first time defined the field of engagement as much broader than originally outlined, to advance all of the tools that can enhance engagement.”
Special Events
A special luncheon presentation on Day 1, sponsored by the Enterprise Engagement Alliance, featured Kevin McConville, Senior Managing Partner for Gallup, who shared his company’s latest findings on employee and customer engagement and the ROI of such efforts.
“We do a study every night where we survey 1,000 people on their level of engagement,” McConville said, demonstrating the reach of Gallup’s research. Specifically, he talked about some of the questions that Gallup uses in its research on employee engagement – questions like: “Yes or no, do you know what is expected of you on a daily basis?” and “Are you given the opportunity to do what you do best every day?” And, he added, “We are not looking for people who occasionally get to do well, but people who get to do what they do best every day.”
The hardest question for companies to get a high score on, McConville said, was rewards and recognition: “We ask: ‘Have you received praise or recognition in the last seven days?’ We understand that incentive-based motivation programs aren’t just about pay plans, employees of the year or quarter, or incentives and trips. It’s more about learning how employees – and other constituencies – want to be recognized.”
McConville noted that a lot of Gallup’s research shows the key drivers of engagement are more about the personal relationship that people have with their managers. “We ask people whether their manager cares about them as a person,” he said. “Do their opinions count? Are they learning and growing in the company?”
What Gallup has found, as it continues to examine these issues, is that “people who are more engaged over the years have lower turnover, are safer, are more productive, are more profitable and treat your customers much better and engage them in a bigger way,” McConville concluded.
That evening, EEExpo sponsors hosted a cocktail reception for all attendees and exhibitors in the Hilton’s Mercury Ballroom, where everyone was able to relax and network a bit after a full day of education, exhibits and events.
Expanding Education
A slate of 12 hour-long educational sessions kicked off on Tuesday morning with an overview by Bolger of the goals and objectives of the EEExpo, followed by Allen Schweyer of the Human Capital Institute, who discussed how engagement affects the bottom line in his presentation, ROE: Return on Engagement. Other first day speakers included Mike Ryan of Madison Performance Group, Keith Rosen of Profit Builders, Thomas Traynor of Traynor & Zehe Inc., Kevin Cronin of Perks.com, Douglas Klein of Sirota Survey Intelligence and John Keller of Verizon.
Day two of the conference was just as exciting and informative, with Don Peppers, Founder of Peppers & Rogers Group and 1to1 Media, presenting Customer Engagement: The Competitive Edge, followed by Dr. Robert Passikoff of Brand Keys, Linda Kaplan Thayer of the Kaplan Thaler Group, Todd Hanson of Catalyst Performance Group and ending with a panel discussion on Engagement Technology that included Mike Hoffman of RI Communications, Jeff Dalton of Paramax Productions and Bruce Bolger of Solata Technologies, moderated by Ira Ozer of motivation Partners.
Following the conference, Bolger talked briefly about plans for next year’s event, including the continued involvement of the Enterprise Engagement Alliance: “The Enterprise Engagement Alliance will be charting the overall direction of the event next year in terms of location, strategy and theme,” he says. “We’re very excited to have such a leading team of experts to draw from to make the 2010 event even better.”
For more information on next year’s EEExpo, as well as downloadable versions of this year’s Education Session handouts, go to www.nyirr.com
Hebert Named Social Media Editor at Selling Communications
Paul Hebert, Principal and Managing Director of I2I, incentive industry expert and early practitioner of social networking and related engagement strategies, has been named Social Media Editor for Selling Communications, the Enterprise Engagement Alliance and its Engagement Strategies print and online information service.
As Social Media Editor, Hebert will be responsible for helping to grow and engage the organizations’ targeted audience and identify, distribute and make available useful content related to all aspects of engagement. Those interested in engagement can opt-in via e-mail, RSS, Twitter, Linked-in, or at EnterpriseEngagement.org, the portal of the Enterprise Engagement Alliance (going live in August), as well as through EEA’s Engagement Strategies print and online information service. In addition, Hebert will provide social networking consulting services to SCI’s customers in both the field of engagement and other areas of business-to-business or business-to-consumer marketing.
Hebert is a pioneer in social-networking strategies, realizing early on that social networking provides an ideal way for people to connect and keep each other informed about the latest news and developments in areas of common interest. His firm, I2I (http://www.i2i-align.com), provides engagement consulting services based on proven motivational theory, behavioral economics and social psychology – enabled by technology – to companies seeking to increase performance by engaging key audiences.
Selling Communications, Inc. is a business development company that focuses on helping companies improve marketing efficiency by identifying and building relationships with the people most likely to buy. It provides strategic planning; sales material development (including content-oriented Web sites and presentations); database marketing; direct telephone sales; Webinars; public relations and social networking services. It was founded on the premise that companies get better results when they focus on helping their customers, not just selling to them.
“We believe that social networking tools provide an ideal way for organizations to keep their customers and prospects informed about the latest developments in their areas of business,” says Bruce Bolger, President of Selling Communications, Inc. “When you combine Paul’s passion for engagement and social networking, we believe he provides our readers and customers an ideal way to keep track of the latest developments in our field by pointing them to information coming from all credible sources.”
Enterprise Engagement can be followed through:
Wikipedia – Providing a definition and history of Enterprise Engagement at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_Engagement
Linked-in – The Enterprise Engagement Alliance professional group allows members to keep up to date with the latest links, news and research. Contribute, discuss and participate at: www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1926267
Twitter – Get immediate updates on interesting and valuable news and research at: @EEA_Org
Enterprise Engagement Alliance Takes Over Expo and Conference
The Enterprise Engagement Alliance, a newly formed alliance of leading corporations, associations, media companies and marketing services companies with an interest in Enterprise Engagement, will assume management of the 2010 Enterprise Engagement Expo & Conference in New York City.
The new program will be developed in conjunction with the EEA Executive Committee and Advisory Board of executives involved with all areas of engagement, including corporate management, association management and suppliers of engagement services and products. The new education program governing committee includes:
Executive Committee:
- Rodger Stotz, Principal, Delta Qi
- Don Peppers, Co-principal, Peppers & Rogers Group
- Mike Hadlow, President, Engagement Technology LLC
- Larry Emond, Director of Business Development, Gallup
Advisory Board:
- Jim Dittman, President, Dittman Incentive Marketing
- Jeffrey Grisamore, President, EGR International
- Todd Hanson, President, Catalyst Performance Group
- Jeff Broudy, President, United Incentives, and chairperson of the Incentive Research Foundation
- Patrick Farrey, Executive Director, Business Marketing Association
