Incentive - April 2008 - (Page 8) IN THE NEWS Recognize This Destination? PAGE 10 Identify the picture correctly and you will have a chance to win a $100 Marriott travel gift card Sharper Image Response PAGE 12 Incentive gift card members address questions about the bankruptcy and suggest what planners can do HR’s Promotion White Paper: Human resource departments taking on more prominent role at many companies BY ALEX PALMER uman resource departments are gaining a central position in many companies’ overall business strategies, according to a new white paper by the Economist Intelligence Unit, and members of the incentive and recognition industry agree. “Human capital is the oil of the 21st century,” says Steve Miranda, the chief human resource, strategic planning and diversity officer for the Society for Human Resource Management. “It is a resource that is becoming harder to find, it is a resource that is having a premium placed on it, and it is a resource that people are trying to find ways to secure a future supply of.” The paper, titled “Building an Integrated Talent Management Strategy,” argues that instead of serving mainly administrative or support functions, human resource departments are now more often taking on critical duties of attracting, developing and retaining skilled employees, and serving an integral role in organizations’ larger goals of growth and profitability. Building on H its findings from several in-depth case studies of organizations in the technology, consulting, banking, retailing and government sectors, the study finds that people are increasingly seen as critical enablers of growth. “Of course,” was the general response from members of the incentive and recognition industry. Miranda sees this as a fairly recent phenomenon, with human capital as the latest area that companies have pursued for a competitive advantage, much as a focus on workflow and organizational processes were in the 1980s, followed by the maximizing of economies of scale through mergers and acquisitions throughout the 1990s. “As price points have decreased around the world, business leaders are asking, ‘What’s the next source of my competitive advantage?’ ” says Miranda. Some see this rise in strategic importance and wider integration of human resource efforts as an indication that employee rewards and recognition may continued on page 10 Notes from the 2008 Prepaid Card Expo The 2008 Prepaid Card Expo, which ran from March 3-5 in Las Vegas, attracted more than 2,200 attendees from all 50 states and from 24 countries. Major themes emerging at the show included prepaid companies directing more product attention to corporate and consumer promotion applications—the main areas being wellness and incentives on the corporate side and loyalty programs designed to influence consumer behavior on the consumer side. An unscientific poll taken on the show’s Web site asked prepaid card issuers and users what they see as the biggest issue facing their industry this year: • Legal and regulatory compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34% • Driving consumer acceptance of new card functions and technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . .22% • Balancing interchange and other fees with profitability goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18% • Recruitment and retention issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12% • Competition for alternative payment technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11% • Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3% 8| Incentive | April 2008 | incentivemag.com http://incentivemag.com
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