Incentive - February 2009 - (Page 66)

On the Web INCENTIVEMAG.COM Online Survival Guide There’s Much More to Learn ON THE EDGE: Survival Skills for the Incentive Industry By Paul Hebert ven the most anticipated inauguration in history couldn’t push back the barbarians at the gate as the market fell 300+ points on January 20, 2009 – the worst ever inauguration day performance for the Dow Jones Industrials. I know many of us E ideas and strategies throughout February. And for a full package of Incentive’s print and online Survival Guide content, including the complete responses from the editorial advisory board and tons of exclusive content, go to: www.incentivemag.com/survivalguide will be hurt, but due to the spillover, all incentive companies are going to have to adjust and start thinking about how to survive this downturn. Survival Is a Skill, Not a Right or the entire month of February, Incentive is offering exclusive online features from industry leaders, authors and executives at Fortune 500 companies. Examining topics including customer loyalty during a recession, boosting employee morale, and sales compensation in tough times, the exclusive content available at www.incentivemag.com/survivalguide will be updated daily with fresh F The Influencers: Bridging the Performance Expectation Gap The reason that vision and accountability should be inseparable is fairly obvious. With each new view of how the company will function comes a whole host of new behaviors employees will be expected to enact. www.incentivemag.com/ performancegap Mad About Incentives: Do Incentive Programs Really Produce Results? There’s a lot of room for improvement in design, communication, implementation, operation management and awards selection for many incentive programs. www.incentivemag.com/results Liberating Passion: How the World’s Best Global Leaders Produce Winning Results Passionate people are hired into most leading companies. Within three months, however, the passion is often gone. Companies are “passion castrators” in many ways. But how does passion-killing happen? www.incentivemag.com/ liberatingpassion Relationship Building During Turbulent Times Now is the time to jump-start your system and put your relationship-building tactics and strategies into motion 24/7. www.incentivemag.com/ buildrelationships Examining Employee Lifetime Value New research commissioned by the Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement at Northwestern University reveals just how much workers are worth to their organizations. www.incentivemag.com/lifetimevalue were hoping to see a bounce, a hint of recovery, something that would make us wipe our brow, say “whew,” and go back to business as usual. Unfortunately, it’s not business as usual. It’s business as unusual. Some are saying we’re in survival mode. The AIG backlash related to meetings and incentives impacted the travel and meetings business in a big way. Unfortunately, the “big bad press” also cut a wide swath for all incentive activities, and even nontravel incentive expenses are starting to shrink under the weight of greater scrutiny. Incentive companies that focused on travel But what many may not realize is that survival isn’t a matter of luck. Survival is a skill—one that can be learned and applied. There are things you need to know and things you need to address if you are going to survive. Taking a page from basic survival skills, I offer the following to help you survive – and hopefully thrive – in the coming months. Skill No.1: Preparation I can hear you now: “Great. Preparation…a bit late for that!” True, but the most important survival skill is preparation. The sad fact in basic survival is that those who are mentally and physically prepared to survive are more likely to do so. It is, however, probably one skill that we don’t practice much. If you remember the 1981-82, the 1990-91 and the 2001 “recessions,” then you should be in great shape because you prepared. But I’m guessing you didn’t remember or prepare For the full list of Hebert’s Incentive Survival Skills, visit: INCENTIVEMAG.COM/HEBERTSURVIVAL 66 | Incentive | February 2009 | incentivemag.com http://www.incentivemag.com http://www.incentivemag.com/survivalguide http://www.incentivemag.com/survivalguide http://www.incentivemag.com/liberatingpassion http://www.incentivemag.com/performancegap http://www.incentivemag.com/buildrelationships http://www.incentivemag.com/results http://www.incentivemag.com/lifetimevalue http://www.INCENTIVEMAG.COM/hebertsurvival http://www.incentivemag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Incentive - February 2009

Incentive - February 2009
Contents
Editor's Note
Headlines
The Incentive Survival Guide to 2009
Strategies: Nature vs. Nurture
Strategies: Thank God for the Recession
Research: Industry Trends 2009
Travel News: Where To Go and What To Do
Travel Strategies: Make It Work
Las Vegas: Changing Fortunes
Potentials Here and Now
Merchandise Strategies: Success in Small Steps
The Economy's Down; You Don't Have to Be
Gift Cards Strategies: Flexibility Is the Word
Advertiser Index
On the Web

Incentive - February 2009