Whitepapers

Determining the right mix of compensation, benefits, training, and rewards & recognition

Published by: Performance Improvement Council

No doubt some people might dismiss Integrated Marketing as a passing fad, and who would view the burgeoning discipline of People Performance Management and Measurement (PPMM) as a buzz phrase or "flavor-of-the-month" marketing strategy.

Published by: Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement

This study, conducted by Prof. Frank Mulhern and Patricia Whalen of Northwestern University, identified a significant gap between the view of human resources and employees on the role of employees on delivering customer satisfaction, but found that companies with a close link between human resources and marketing outperform companies that don't.

Published by: Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement

A summary of research by the ISPI (International Society of Performance Improvement) on the impact of incentive programs and the essential implementation steps necessary for success. Shows how helpful incentive and motivation programs can be in terms of engaging employees and improving performance.

Published by: Incentive Research Foundation

‘Repeat business or behavior can be bribed. Loyalty has to be earned’ - Janet Robinson While Ms. Robinson may have been referring to brand loyalty or product loyalty as opposed to customer loyalty programs in the above quote, her words illustrate a very important concept. Incentive programs don’t start with built-in loyalty and customer buy-in. Without question, incentive programs need to generate loyalty – not only from senior management, but also from the customers they’re trying to entice. An effective program will excel for both management and customers when it is built with a foundation that provides a clear vision for success. In fact, many established programs have been assembled using five critical building blocks that inspire brand loyalty among customers.

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This study analyzed attempts by a dozen diverse companies to integrate their external and internal marketing practices.

Published by: Northwestern University

Manufacturers are sometimes cautious about the use of their brands in special markets. Obviously they want to maintain their brand integrity and avoid any impact consumer sales channels. This white paper from the Incentive Marketing Association (IMA), however, suggests that with basic safeguards in place, special markets like the incentive industry are “a win for the supplier, a win for the company, and a win for the employee.”

Published by: Incentive Marketing Association

Results from the study Awards Selection: Insights from Managers, conducted by the Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement, sheds light on the efficacy of 12 distinct motivational tactics used by HR and marketing managers across many industries to achieve 10 specific organizational objectives.

Published by: Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement

There’s a reason for the old adage: “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” Anyone who has ever tried to run a business knows that’s true. But it is also true that you can’t manage what you measure only once each year. When it comes to employee and customer engagement, most of us collect information through annual surveys, analyze the results, share them in a high-level report and perhaps devote part of an executive meeting to discuss the implications. Like performance reviews, this is usually done once a year – if at all.

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A study on employee motivation and performance in the hospitality industry that looks at strategies for reducing employee turnover.

Published by: Incentive Research Foundation

This white paper discusses the range of "zero-based performance improvement strategies" that can be developed with the help of full-service incentive and performance improvement companies. It also includes contact information on members of the Incentive Marketing Association's Performance Improvement Council, made up of a dozen organizations dedicated to offering companies solutions-based incentive and performance improvement programs.

Published by: Performance Improvement Council of the Incentive Marketing Association

Gift cards have become an important corporate tool for reward and recognition. This paper looks at the growing use of gift cards and how to add to the "trophy value" of gift cards via communication, customization, and presentation.

Published by: Incentive Gift Card Council of the Incentive Marketing Association

Presents an overview of the essential elements involved with performance improvement strategies. Breaking new ground, "people performance management" takes familiar disciplines and integrates them across functional lines to maximize results.

Published by: Incentive Performance Center

In the world of talent management, social networks have been used successfully in knowledge sharing, the identification of skills and construction of teams, in recruiting, onboarding and certainly learning. “Social Recognition,” which uses software to enable people to recognize one another, is a relatively new entrant in the pantheon of talent management technology. Yet it draws on practices from some of the world’s most popular internet applications. In connecting peers to peers, and in this case, employees to employees and employees to customers, partners, suppliers and others (the extended enterprise) it opens another dimension in recognition that has the potential to generate powerful cultural evolution within remarkably short timeframes. In others words, social recognition software can be transformative. It can fill a recognition gap quickly and it can extend recognition beyond the organization to help engage customers and other constituents.

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The federal income tax considerations for incentive programs are often overlooked. While it is difficult to give technical tax advice that would apply equally to all incentive programs, following certain general income tax principles can make an incentive program more successful and avoid unpleasant surprises.

Published by: National Association for Employee Recognition

Section 274(j) of the Internal Revenue Code contains specific rules on the tax treatment of “employee achievement awards.” As a general rule, the employer cannot deduct employee achievement awards, unless they meet certain criteria.

Published by: National Association for Employee Recognition

While it is widely believed that employee attitudes and engagement directly influence customer experiences and customer spending behavior, there is little empirical evidence that has explicitly demonstrated this. This study, subtitled "An Empirical Analysis of the Relationship between Employee Attitudes, Customer Attitudes, and Customer Spending," combines results from an extensive survey of employees and customers at a hotel chain with the actual spending patterns of customers. Results show a direct, measurable relationship between the employee and customer perceptions of the hotel brand and customer spending behavior.

Published by: Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement

This paper discusses four psychological processes that can be categorized as items that directly affect the perceived value of an incentive or recognition award. In particular it looks at factors that increase the perceived value of earning the award because the awards are earned rather than purchased.

Published by: Incentive Research Foundation

This paper introduces the discipline of "People Performance Management" as developed by the Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement, a unit of the Integrated Marketing Communications Department of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. People Performance Management refers to an integrated process designed to help firms maximize long-term financial performance through a strategic focus on their most valuable asset -- human capital.

Published by: Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement

Compelling research links financial results and customer satisfaction to engaged employees and channel partners.

Published by: Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement

In today's economic environment, employers are struggling to find every advantage possible to thrive, grow or simply to stay in business. For most US based organizations payroll represents the largest expense. Advantages therefore, come first and foremost through better talent management.

Published by: Human Capital Institute

Improving economic conditions, an impending skilled labor shortage, and the proven link between low turnover and profitability are forcing organizations to take a new look at employee retention. This paper suggests that sound retention strategies can not only head off a future problem, they can save money and improve sales today.

Published by: - Performance Improvement Council of the Incentive Marketing Association -

This study, a follow up by Prof. James Oakley, identified key internal levers that affect employee satisfaction and, more importantly, the level of engagement.

Published by: The Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement

This study, conducted by Frank Mulhern on behalf of the Promotion Marketing Association with the support of the Forum, identified key challenges facing organizations attempting to fully integrate external and internal marketing.

Published by: The PMA/Northwestern University

This white paper highlights four key areas that impact organizational adoption of integrated marketing and motivate employees to think about and cooperate with integrated marketing efforts beyond their functional silos.

Published by: Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement