Arne Carlson to Keynote at RPI's Upcoming Conference

My good friend Arne Carlson is the former Governor of Minnesota and sits on Rideau’s Board of Directors. Arne will be keynoting at Recognition Professionals International’s upcoming conference at the Green Valley Ranch Resort in Henderson, Nevada. The conference runs from April 24-28, 2010. For more details click here.

You can hear why Arne thinks recognition is so relevant right now along with some of the things RPI members will learn during his keynote by listening into this recognition podcast.

Saying "Thank you" can be taught!

I recently had the pleasure of attending the first VPHR conference, an international recognition convention hosted by Christophe Laval, VPHR founder. Author Ruben Chaumont also attended and wrote this article (in French) in L'Expansion about a few interesting key points covered during the conference on the importance of recognition in the workplace.

Happy recognition reading!

Recognition in Paris

If you happen to be in Paris on November 10th, you should join me at VPHR’s conference on recognition at work!

A few of my colleagues will be speaking about the impact of recognition in the workplace.

However, I should warn you, my presentation will be in French. And this warning not only stands for my English participants – but my French ones as well! LOL!

So if you’re willing to bear with me, I invite you to some very Parisian recognition time!
Click here for more info!

Innovative Ways to Drive Employee Loyalty

On October 21st at 2 pm, I will be presenting with a group of very interesting panelists at Virtual Incentive World.

We will be talking about ways to drive employee loyalty. My fellow panelists are Will Ng, Incentive Magazine Managing Editor and Lerzan Aksoy, co-author of “Why Loyalty Matters,” a great book which I happen to be reading right now!

Hope to virtually see you there!

Register here!

RPI Naples Conference Update

Later this morning, international panelists Michelle Smith (OC Tanner), Christophe Laval (VPHR), Tom Miller (The Miller Company) and myself, Peter Hart (Rideau Recognition Solutions) will answer a series of questions including those detailed below. Stay tuned for some feedback!

1. What does recognition look like around the world? Is it the same? How does it differ?
2. Do people in different countries, such as China, France, or Switzerland for example, have the same need to feel appreciated for their contributions at work? Or is a paycheck enough?
3. When recognizing employees in a way specific to their culture, should we also be concerned with delving deeper by recognizing multi-generational differences or does this not matter in the global community?
4. What is the greatest global challenge related to employee recognition? And the solution?
5. When your organization spans three continents how do you create a feeling of inclusion for all?
6. Do varying cultures acknowledge the importance of giving recognition to others? Or do they not accept this concept?
7. What are some recognition specific global best practices and metrics?
8. Do global measurement benchmarks exist that are constant no matter the culture or location? If not, how do measurement benchmarks differ internationally?
9. Do you have to train an employee differently in Paris, France than you do in Paris, Illinois? How does training differ internationally?
10. What are some creative ways to train a global workforce?
11. What are best practices in developing global communication plans?

RPI 2009 Conference

I'm in sunny Naples Florida at the annual Recognition Professional International conference. This is my ninth conference and it promises to be a very full week.


Two of my colleagues are speaking.

Jennifer Lumba's breakout session is called "If Recognition is the Key, an Effective Communications Strategy is the Lock."

Roy Saunderson's keynote is called "Recognition Reflections: One Person's Journey into Recognition."

Later in the week, Governor Arne Carlson, Rideau's Vice Chairman and I are co-hosting Rideau's annual dinner for our RPI friends.

You can follow the conference on RPI's LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter sites.