MotivateNow by the IRF

The IRF’s Industry Outlook for 2019: Merchandise, Gift Card, and Event Gifting reports high levels of economic net optimism during the Fall of 2018 and a positive outlook for 2019. Megg Withinton discusses the study’s insights and benchmarks on non-cash reward types, average spend, budgets, and reporting for incentive programs. She also highlights some key areas revealed by the study where program owners can improve how programs are being administered.

Find out how program owners and end-users learn about and engage with our industry. During our next webinar, IRF President Melissa Van Dyke and IRF Chief Research Advisor Megg Withinton will discuss the IRF’s latest release Voice of the Market, Part 2: Engaging Program Owners in the Incentives Marketplace, a qualitative study of how incentive program managers, program owners and end-users seek out information, resources, and contacts in the incentive, reward and recognition industry.

Mel and Megg will discuss the study’s findings including why owners and managers of non-cash reward and recognition programs reported that a lack of awareness of industry resources is the primary barrier to accessing valuable information and expertise. Program owners and managers will learn impactful ways to engage with the industry. Suppliers and providers will learn strategies to reach program managers earlier in their careers in order to engage with them and form more significant partnerships.

In its newest release, Establishing the Intangible, Non-Financial Value of Awards Programs, the Incentive Research Foundation explores the important role of intangible benefits – such as culture, collaboration, and teamwork – and how they are a critical component of the most impactful incentive, rewards, and recognition programs. During our next webinar, join IRF President Melissa Van Dyke and IRF Chief Academic Advisor Allan Schweyer as they discuss the report, including the IRF’s new research on valuing intangibles. Find out why intangibles are so important to an IRR program and how to measure their success.

Melissa Van Dyke and Allan Schwyer discuss the recent IRF study. This study (the first in a two-part series)discusses the role of recognition in incentive, reward and recognition initiatives and the broad benefits of rewards. We discuss 6 key recent field studies from neuromarketing, behavioral economics, incentives and others to see why non cash awards under the right conditions can have a higher performance boost than cash awards for the same cost.

As the most prevalent award type across all incentive and recognition program audiences—employees, sales, customers, and channel partners—gift cards deserve special attention. Truly a booming business, U.S. businesses spent $24 billion annually on B2B gift cards.

To understand their prevalence deeper, the Incentive Research Foundation researched how gift cards are sourced for incentive and recognition programs, how much money is budgeted toward them, what types are being purchased, and where opportunities lie

The IRF 2018 Trends Study highlights ten key trends that will affect organizations, their products and services, and the workforce in 2018. From market optimism to concerns about risk and safety, the study identifies key areas of change and their implications for workforce engagement, incentive travel and recognition. In this webinar, IRF President, Melissa Van Dyke, dives deeper into the latest industry trends.