Engagement Strategies e-News - March 2011

• Ethics and Employee Engagement.
• Second Annual EEA Conference & Expo Scheduled for June 1-2, 2011.
• Study Shows Misalignment Between Recognition and Performance.
• Leading Firms Stake Positions as Full-Service Engagement Agencies.
• EEA Blog: Marcus Evans Branding & Engagement Conference Report. 
• Measuring Intangibles Boosts Performance.
• Authenticity, Tree-Pruning and the 'Wisdom of Crowds'.
• Gift Card Landscape Has Shifted, Bringing New Vistas, Values.
• White Paper Links Social Media and Performance.
• About Selling Communications Inc..

News Briefs

Ethics and Employee Engagement

What is the connection between employee perceptions of organizational ethics and engagement levels? To explore this question, Hay Group Insight recently partnered with the Ethics Resource Center (ERC), a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, DC devoted to the advancement of high ethical standards and practices in public and private institutions, to insert several key engagement metrics into ERC's 2009 National Business Ethics Survey (NBES), an ethics related poll conducted every two years in the U.S. Mark Royal, Senior Consultant with Hay Group Insight, recently spoke with Rebecca Masson, who led analyses of the data, regarding the findings.

● To read the interview, go to http://haygroupnews.com/ve/ZZp71j72L30V98Bnm26/VT=0/page=6

Second Annual EEA Conference & Expo Scheduled for June 1-2, 2011

If you were at last year's Enterprise Engagement Alliance Networking Conference and Expo, you know it drew rave reviews for the level of serious business discussion and learning that went on over the two-day period. So be sure to mark your calendar for this year's second annual event, scheduled for June 1-2. Who will be there? Marketing, promotion and incentive companies seeking new growth markets and innovative solutions to bring to their clients; corporate practitioners seeking new strategies and resources to improve performance and advance their professional careers; professionals who wish to become certificated as engagement practitioners and participate in the EEA's Speakers Bureau program. This is your chance to be a part of the growing field of Enterprise Engagement, a unique, two-day opportunity for suppliers and consumers of engagement products and services to learn specifically how they can profit from this new business opportunity. Conference attendees will have the opportunity to meet suppliers covering all of the critical issues of engagement, including: Leadership, Training, Communications, Rewards & Recognition, Engagement Surveys and Polls, Consumer Loyalty Programs, Measurement and Incentive Programs.

● Go to www.eeaexpo.org for more information, and sign up to receive updates and priority notification when registration opens.

Study Shows Misalignment Between Recognition and Performance

Globoforce recently announced the launch of the Globoforce Workforce Mood Tracker, a new semi-annual survey that provides insights on the current pulse of the U.S. worker. The new survey offers an invaluable benchmark on the driving factors behind employee engagement and motivation levels of the U.S. workforce. The first semi-annual report shows recognition ambivalence among today's employees in the U.S. While 68% of those surveyed feel appreciated at their jobs, an alarming 41% aren't satisfied with the level of recognition they receive for doing good work. Indicative of both the infrequency and non-personal nature of many of today's employee recognition programs, 43% of U.S. workers had not been recognized in the past three months. More importantly, a startling 55% felt they weren't rewarded according to job performance, indicating a critical disconnect between recognition and performance.

● To view the full survey results, go to www.globoforce.com/Feb2011_Mood_Tracker_Results/

Leading Firms Stake Positions as Full-Service Engagement Agencies

JWT INSIDE and EGR International recently aligned themselves with the Enterprise Engagement Alliance, pursuing the role of Full Service Engagement Agencies. EGR, a 41-year-old integrated marketing firm, hopes that many more qualified agencies will join them in embracing this new approach to marketing and management.

Since its founding in 1970, EGR has helped Fortune 500 companies maximize their marketing and organizational performance by enhancing relationships with the people most critical to their business. The idea for branding EGR as a Full-Service Engagement Agency came in part from its involvement in the formation of the Enterprise Engagement Alliance, as well as from client requests for help in identifying the best way to build winning relationships with key constituencies that may or may not include traditional marketing tools.

JWT INSIDE, the employee communications and marketing arm of JWT, the largest advertising agency in the U.S., believes there is a strategic link between an organization's external and internal brand and making that connection enables a company to consistently deliver and enhance its brand promises, and, ultimately, the business outcome. The firm, which  recently announced it will become a Gold Sponsor of the EEA, supports the premise that there is a critical connection between financial results and the engagement of all of the people critical to success including customers, channel partners, employees, vendors and communities.

● For more info on JWT INSIDE, go to www.jwtinside.com/
● For more information on EGR International, go to www.egrinternational.com/

EEA Blog: Marcus Evans Branding & Engagement Conference Report

EEA Managing Director Bruce Bolger recently returned from Marcus Evans' Fifth Annual Internal Branding & Employee Engagement Conference in Miami, where presenter after presenter – representing companies ranging from McDonalds and NYSE Euronext to Isle of Capri Casinos and AstraZeneca – spoke about their respective journeys towards becoming fully-engaged organizations. "What was so striking from the various presentations," Bolger says, "was the commonality of their goals, challenges and solutions, even though – as some speakers admitted afterwards – they had to make it up as they went along since there are no formal, established processes for moving toward a culture of engagement. At least not yet." To read Bruce's blog recapping this important event, go to www.enterpriseengagement.org/blog. The EEA will also be contributing to the educational program at the following Marcus Evans events: Consumer Insights - Boston , March 29-30; Open Innovation - Philadelphia , April 11-13; Channel Management - San Francisco , May 17-18; Customer Experience - Boston, May 23-24.

● For more information, go to www.marcusevans.com

[ return to top ]

Insights from ESM e-News

Measuring Intangibles Boosts Performance

A new EEA white paper, Human Capital Diagnostics: Measuring the Intangibles, offers compelling proof that companies perform better when they make a concerted effort to measure things like employee performance, engagement, innovation and change. If human capital represents a company's largest cost and most critical asset, it follows that decisions about talent are among the most important any organization will make. It also means that accurate human capital diagnostic (HCD) and assessment tools are vital to organizations in order to prevent expensive mistakes in hiring, training, deploying and managing the performance of talent.

● To view the white paper, go to www.enterpriseengagement.org

[ return to top ]

In The Current Issue of Engagement Strategies Magazine

The March/April issue of Engagement Strategies Magazine is in the mail! Here's a look at what you'll find inside:

Authenticity, Tree-Pruning and the 'Wisdom of Crowds'

In a revealing Q&A with ESM's editors, author and motivation guru Derek Irvine talks about how building a culture of recognition offers the most direct path to engagement. To make sure you get your copy of Engagement Strategies Magazine, go to www.enterpriseengagement.org/account/login/ and update your subscription today!

Gift Card Landscape Has Shifted, Bringing New Vistas, Values

Four industry experts discuss how recent changes in the marketplace are affecting the use of gift cards as a motivational tool. Read more >>

[ return to top ]

News From Selling Communications Inc.

White Paper Links Social Media and Performance

A new White Paper, How Social Media is Changing Corporate Performance, discusses how lessons learned from Social Media are helping corporate employee-engagement experts capitalize on the momentum in self-motivated, peer-driven participation. Corporate recognition, rewards and incentive programs for employees are actually the unsung pioneers of the kind of 'social points' activity like we see in Social Media games like Farmville and others. By leveraging the power of online systems, corporations can provide a familiar social environment similar to those in which people have already chosen to engage during their own time. You can bring the power of Social Behaviors to your employees by offering intrinsic/extrinsic motivation rewards and recognition programs. Peer-to-Peer awards let people recognize each other. Team-based activities allow for relationship-building and trust. Wellness programs show that you care about employees' health challenges and that you want to help through education and online tools. Open 'suggestion programs' accelerate innovation by creating a meritocracy. To view the full report, go to www.dittmanincentives.com

[ return to top ]

About Selling Communications Inc.

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:

• Engagement Marketing Agency Solutions
• Target media
• Integrated Communications Technology

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 .

Tapping new customers, and keeping those you already have, costs less than you'd imagine...

[ return to top ]