Incentive - February 2009 - (Page 11) HEADLINES Changes at Maritz PAGE 12 Steve Maritz turns to a more strategic role at newly formed Maritz Holdings; Hummel to run day-to-day operations Recession Survival Guide PAGE 16 How we got into this mess, and the role incentives will have in helping companies get through it intact Speaking Up For Incentives With incentives, particularly travel incentives, in the doghouse, The Incentive Federation gears up to defend the industry BY LEO JAKOBSON T he newly formed Incentive Leadership Council will undertake a variety of tasks this year, but none will be more important than advising the Incentive Federation on its 2009 goal of raising awareness in the government and the mainstream press about the effectiveness and value of non-cash incentive programs. While the Incentive Federation has long had a lobbying role, the organization has generally focused on specific details neurial,” says Rodger Stotz, who just retired as vice president and managing consultant for St. Louis– based incentive house Maritz Inc. and has taken up the newly formed position of Chief Research Officer for the IRF. “There are lots of different people with different perspectives. But there is a value here in speaking with one voice.” “The plan is to meet with Congress to start a dialogue.” —Rodger Stotz, Incentive Research Foundation of legislation that could affect the industry, rather than acting as a public voice of the incentive business. “The challenge has been, the incentive industry is entrepre“The plan for [this] year is to meet with members of Congress to start a dialogue on the role of the incentive industry,” Stotz says. “That the industry exists, what it does and how it oper- ates. It is easy to lump into a bucket with executive compensation and stock options, but it is actually not just high rollers, but everyone in the workforce.” In the past three months, it has become clear that this outreach “is needed more now than was envisioned when the ILC was created,” Stotz says. The plan to raise the industry’s profile now seems prescient. A lot of incentive travel programs have been canceled in the last three months, and not just because too few salespeople made their numbers to qualify, says Bill Boyd, president and CEO of Irving, Texas–based Sunbelt Motivation & Travel, and a past president of incentive travel industry organization Site. “A lot of decisions have been made on the AIG factor,” he says. INCENTIVEMAG.COM POLL How much of an impact has the recession had on your company’s incentive program(s)? A substantial impact VOTES: 36 PERCENT: 46% Some impact VOTES: 30 PERCENT: 38% No impact VOTES: 13 PERCENT: 16% Total Votes 79 | February 2009 | Incentive | 11 incentivemag.com http://www.incentivemag.com http://www.incentivemag.com
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