Save these dates on your calendars – Monday, October 18, 2010, and Monday, December 6, 2010. These are the dates on which the Enterprise Engagement Alliance (EEA) plans to hold a series of Curriculum and Certification Development webinars and live events. They are aimed at soliciting suggestions and input on developing an Enterprise Engagement curriculum and certification program.

Via interactive webinars, participants will be asked for their best advice on strategic engagement issues, leadership, training, engagement-oriented communications, rewards and recognition, and customer loyalty strategies, among others. The goal of the program is to create a curriculum and certification program that can be introduced at the Enterprise Engagement Alliance Conference and Expo, June 13-15, 2001, at the Doral Arrowwood in Rye Brook, NY.

Registration is complimentary, and will be launched after Labor Day 2010, but for advance information you can send your queries to the Enterprise Engagement Alliance at info@enterpriseengagement.org.

The first annual Enterprise Engagement Alliance Networking Expo & Conference, a synergistic blend of education, exhibits and events held in June, was roundly praised by attendees and participants alike as an unqualified, first-of-its-kind success.

"Our goals were to create a valuable experience for all concerned by defining the emerging field of Enterprise Engagement, provide education sessions that addressed its key components, lay the groundwork for a formal curriculum and certification, and test a new type of show concept that consists of conversation centers and networking opportunities instead of booths," notes Bruce Bolger, president of Selling Communications, Inc., one of the event's main sponsors. "We hoped to create a model for a new type of event."

What made the EEA Networking Expo so unique among conferences and trade shows was that it brought together a number of cutting-edge concepts in seminar content, exhibit design, scheduling, and environment that reflected the same holistic, "enterprise-wide" approach the EEA takes to engagement – a broad-based, comprehensive view of people, performance and profitability and how they work together to affect corporations in a positive way.

Dates for the 2011 event have just been announced. The 2nd Annual EEA Networking Expo & Conference will take place June 15-16, and is slated for the Doral Arrowwood. Program content from this year's event will be used to develop a formal Engagement Curriculum for Certification and Continuous Learning that will be released at the 2011 event. .

For information on the event as it becomes available, please go to www.eeaexpo.org or 914-591-7600, ext. 230.

The Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) surveyed industry professionals during the month of April, asking them about incentive travel programs and merchandise/non-cash programs used to engage employees, channel partners, and customers. And the IRF's most recent Pulse Survey show that respondents are more optimistic about the current economic climate than they were in either the Summer or Fall of last year.

Key issues and trends from the most recent IRF Pulse Survey include:

• Image Issues Remain: Key "influencers" on program design, implementation and product selection that peaked in the Fall of 2008 have stabilized in 2 out of 3 areas (Corporate Financial Forecasts and Competitors' Reactions to Programs). But Sensitivity to Program Extravagance remains high, having risen from 45% to 64% between Fall 2008 and Spring 2010, making it the second most important influencer (Figure 1).

• Growth in Individual Travel: Respondents were asked if they anticipate their award strategy using more individual travel and fewer group trips, either temporarily or permanently. Although two-thirds predict no change in policy, 29% see some movement from group to individual travel. A similar question found that 24% see movement from merchandise awards to individual travel, and 21% see more use of debit/gift cards.

• Increased Involvement by Procurement: While most respondents anticipate no change with regard to the involvement of Procurement/Purchasing departments in incentive travel programs, 44% agree that their involvement will increase by some degree. Similarly, 38% say Procurement/Purchasing's involvement in merchandise/non-cash programs will increase in 2010.

For more information about the Incentive Research Foundation or its ongoing Pulse Surveys, go to www.theIrf.org.

A recently announced partnership between TMGov.org ( www.tmgov.org ), a portal serving the government sector, and the Enterprise Engagement Alliance (EEA, www.enterpriseengagement.org) promises to facilitate the flow of research on the emerging field of Enterprise Engagement and increase economic efficiency and operational effectiveness among businesses and government agencies.

The partnership will provide research and education both online and in print – via TMGov.org’s digital magazine, Leadership Excellence in Government and EEA’s quarterly print publication, Engagement Strategies Magazine, as well as through other media and events. The EEA and TMGov.org will also share research, content, education and outreach efforts in order to better integrate engagement into all sectors of the economy, including government agencies, corporations and not-for-profit organizations.

“Engaging all of our key constituencies – whether in the government or private sector – is critical to our ability to improve performance and compete in the coming years,” says Allan Schweyer, Principal of the Center for Human Capital Innovation and Chairman of the Enterprise Engagement Alliance. “The government can learn from the private sector about how to become customer-focused and maximize talent within the framework of public service. We hope to further this effort by exchanging information across all sectors of the economy.”

TMGov.org and EEA portals and publications currently provide news, case studies, research, and how-to and reference information related to Enterprise Engagement. The two organizations will shortly launch a directory of Engagement vendors and forums through which private- and public-sector executives can share solutions. In addition, the EEA’s annual Networking Expo, to be held June 3-5 at the Doral Arrowwood in Rye Brook, NY, ( www.eeaexpo.org ) will include roundtable discussions on public-sector engagement.

For more information on the new partnership, contact EEA Managing Director Bruce Bolger at 914-591-7600, ext. 230, or go to www.enterpriseengagement.org/government.

A recent report from the Enterprise Engagement Alliance takes an in-depth look at the 2009 annual meeting of brokers and management personnel from a major healthcare provider and finds that companies should expect a big return on such events. The twin goals of the event and study were to implement – and measure the results – of a program of training, industry updates, relationship building, and networking opportunities designed to increase sales and profits in specific markets and engage channel partners with the healthcare provider’s brand.

The company was looking to obtain a clearer understanding of its return on investment (ROI) for the event, and to obtain hard data on participants’ attitudes, learning, behaviors, and actual outcomes following the event to help make decisions about improving future programs. The company used the ROI of Engagement Group to collect and analyze the event data.

Results show the event had a profound impact on the way brokers thought and felt about the company – named “Assante, Inc.” for the purposes of this study. The study found that the event participants had more trust in the company, more confidence that Assante would do what it says it will do, and more confidence that the company’s products will meet customers’ and brokers’ needs. Participants also reported better relationships with Assante staff and a better understanding of the company value proposition. This also translated into brokers’ presenting and quoting Assante products more often and, in turn, selling more product.

For a copy of the two-part research study, The ROI in Channel Partner Conferences: A Two-Part Case Study, click here .

Recent research by Towers Watson on the factors that increase employee engagement shows that high engagement results from an array of organizational elements, but that a significant driver is recognition from managers. The report cites data indicating that “strong manager performance in recognizing employee performance increases engagement by almost 60 percent.”

The research shows that recognition from one’s immediate manager can give a powerful lift to the two principal engagement drivers cited in the study: senior management’s sincere interest in employee well-being, and employee opportunities for personal skills development. The study adds that, even in low-engagement workplaces, recognition from immediate supervisors and managers has a dramatic effect.

The report, titled “Turbocharging Employee Engagement: The Power of Recognition from Managers,” also examines the three main drivers of recognition by managers – inclusiveness, communication, and trust. Each factor has important aspects that can power up or power down the effect of recognition on employee engagement. This "virtuous circle" represents one of management's most potent tools for focusing employees on what matters to the enterprise and reinforcing the behaviors that contribute most directly to strategic success.

To access a copy of the complete report from Towers Watson, click here.

The Enterprise Engagement Alliance (EEA), a coalition of organizations dedicated to the pursuit and promotion of enterprise engagement, is now offering two key tools – the Enterprise Engagement Indicator and the PollStream Enterprise Engagement Meter – to help companies understand and measure levels of engagement within their organizations.

The Enterprise Engagement Indicator (EEI) is an online survey tool that can be used to quickly determine whether an organization can benefit from a more formal engagement strategy. The results pinpoint where and how an engagement strategy would be most effectively applied – from consumer and channel marketing to sales, customer service, operations, and/or administration. Go to www.EnterpriseEngagement.org/indicator to view the EEI survey and a sample follow-up report.

The PollStream Enterprise Engagement Meter was created in conjunction with PollStream Inc., a leading social software and technology firm based in Toronto, Ont. Residing on the EEA Portal at www.enterpriseengagement.org, it allows any individual to quickly and privately assess their organization’s engagement opportunities. The results are instant and there is no charge.

Is there a payoff to a company’s employee engagement efforts? Can companies expect a return on their investment in efforts to engage employees in their work, with their companies, and with their company’s mission? There is and they can. A recent webinar sponsored by the Human Capital Institute and the Enterprise Engagement Alliance provided a close look at both the cost to companies of workers who are disengaged, and the return on value they can earn by engaging their work force. The event featured Rodger Stotz, chief research officer of the Incentive Research Foundation, and Jim Dittman, president of Dittman Incentive Marketing. Their topic: “Return on Value by Engaging Talent: What Leaders Can Do.”

The economics of talent engagement are widely accepted; however the investment begins with how leaders engage their teams. When leaders shift their mindset from ROI to Return on Value, they energize innovation, collaboration and discretionary effort. The investment leaders make to create highly productive teams can be low (when they know what behaviors make the most impact), but the value is high. The webcast focuses on the economic reasons to engage talent and goes beyond leaders who believe in ROI, to what leaders can do to create value from talent engagement. The speakers offer examples of leaders and organizations that excel at engagement and insight into achieving high levels of engagement in your own organization.

Specifically, Stotz and Dittman say, organizational leaders can support their company’s engagement efforts and boost their bottom lines, by: • Understanding the cost of disengagement. • Looking for a Return on Value beyond the strictly financial. • Developing employee performance measures and incentives. • Training and recognizing employees. • Making a top-down commitment to engagement. • And making that top-down commitment permanent.