Measurable Results
Coporate Planners Must Bring More To The Table
The business world has changed. In fact, it’s changing as you read this article. And, if corporate meeting planners want to continue to be a vital and viable part of their companies’ cultures, now is the time to get with the program—or better yet—help develop the program. This message of planners taking a more active role within their corporations comes from industry experts, including Meeting Professionals International (MPI), the world’s largest association for the meetings profession with more than 20,000 members and 66 chapters.
A recent focus for MPI has been helping corporate meeting planners understand this changing business climate and how to better justify planners’ existence—how to step beyond the role of logistics manager into that of collaborative strategic planner. One of the objectives of MPI’s own strategic plan, Pathways to Excellence, revolves around increasing senior executives’ awareness of the value of meetings and thus the value of meeting planners. A recent MPI position paper, "Defining a Strategic Meetings Management Program: How Meetings Drive Business in Partnership-Focused Companies," stated that "meeting professionals can achieve strategic success—and seats at the executive table—by speaking the language of business…"
The paper’s authors expound on this line of thinking: "Savvy planners are no longer focusing only on meeting logistics and other tactical concerns. Instead, they are striving to better understand each business unit’s objectives and strategic functions. Planners can position themselves strategically simply by the questions they ask—all in the language of business. For instance, ‘What are your business objectives, and how can I help you achieve them?’ Planners can tie everything they do back to an organization’s missions and vision."
C.J. Neer, meeting planner for Genie Industries, a subsidiary of TEREX Corporation, an international company focused on construction, mining, road building and like industries, said earning a say in the development and execution of company strategy is vital. "I think that is probably the biggest challenge for meeting planners today. When we experienced the downturn in our industry, it nearly killed meeting planning. It’s so important to me and other meeting planners to show the value of the investment in and the importance of our positions."
Return On InvestmentIn the changed economy of our country and today’s accountability-focused business climate, a climate where many corporate meeting planners not only work with, but also answer to, their companies’ procurement departments, MPI has gone on the record as saying that return on investment (ROI) is the single most important tool within the meetings profession—a tool vital to strategic planning. Yet, while the term ROI is familiar, it is not a concept that is easily understood.
Monica Myhill, CMP, is president of Littleton, Colo.-based Meeting Returns, a company specializing in creating ROI impact and evaluation studies for the meetings industry through the use of the ROI Methodology that was developed by Dr. Jack J. Phillips. The methodology is currently used by more than 2,000 organizations of varying disciplines worldwide and is the methodology endorsed by MPI. "We’ve heard the term ROI thrown around in the meetings industry for many years, and there’s some misconception in the minds of planners even about what it means."
According to Myhill, simply put, ROI is a percentage that indicates earnings or net income divided by the investment of your meeting. The ROI percentage is a formula—meeting benefits minus meeting costs divided by the meeting costs multiplied by 100. ROI measures the business impact of meetings, including standard meetings costs as well as the value of attendees’ time, satisfaction and knowledge gained and implemented.
Once meeting professionals, who have traditionally measured meetings success in more intangible terms such as attendee satisfaction, skills learned and knowledge gained, hear that a fiscally oriented formula will determine the value of their next meeting, many begin to turn their back on the textbook definition of ROI—they feel it does not cater to their industry’s particular needs. But, Myhill said she disagrees. "Planners are a little threatened by it; they don’t really know how one gets to that percentage, so it’s a little challenging for them. What if their meeting ends up getting a negative ROI? Is that going to reflect poorly on them? What does that mean? ROI should really be viewed not only as the financial impact but also as the process that you use to get to that financial impact." Myhill’s point is that that the ROI process includes many of the same evaluation procedures that are already used throughout the meetings industry. They are just translated into more business-friendly terms.
According to Myhill, the Phillips ROI Methodology is built upon multiple levels of evaluation and the data collected should show a chain of impact through all levels:
- Level 1: Reaction & Planned Action—Measures attendee and stakeholder satisfaction with the meeting and captures planned action. Myhill said almost all organizations evaluate at Level 1, usually with a generic, end-of-meeting questionnaire, but a favorable reaction may not mean attendees have acquired new knowledge, skills or attitudes.
- Level 2: Learning—Measures attendee changes in knowledge, skills and attitudes through tests, skillpractices, role-plays, simulations, group evaluations, and other assessment tools. This assessment ensures attendees have absorbed the meetings’ material, but a positive measure may not mean attendees will apply what they have learned.
- Level 3: Job Applications—A follow-up measure that judges attendee changes in on-the-job behavior as a result of the meeting. Level 3 measures the success of the meeting but doesn’t guarantee a positive business impact.
- Level 4: Business Results—Measures changes in business-impact variables. Myhill said, "How did the meeting impact business measures? Business measures could be time savings, increased revenue, greater productivity, increased customer satisfaction, etc."
- Level 5: Return on Investment—Compares meeting benefits to the meeting costs. "If you can convert those benefits to a monetary value and you have the fully loaded cost of the meeting, then you can get to the ROI percentage."
Myhill said that ROI can identify inefficient meetings. "It can also identify meetings that are very successful; perhaps then budgets can be better assigned to the meetings that are providing positive ROI. It can give you a level of credibility and shows that you are trying to improve upon meetings and are really thinking strategically. The meetings that are elite to the strategic objectives of the company are hopefully the ones that are going to be the most successful."
She added, "I think some meeting planners just want to stay in the logistics…and that’s OK; not everybody has to embrace strategic planning, but I think it would help the meetings profession for planners to be a little more fluent in talking about these things and knowing the objectives of a meeting. It’s important to link your meeting to the strategic objectives of the company, and if that meeting is helping to fulfill those objectives, you need to point it out." Myhill added that conducting an ROI study is appropriate for only 5-10 percent of events, primarily those with signifcant costs and attendee time and are linked to the organization’s goals or objectives.
Myhill’s point about the importance of fulfilling objectives seems to be right on target. While more meeting planners are opening up to the full concept of a fiscally centered ROI, meeting objectives seems to be the real bottom line with many planners. Neer said, "In terms of our meetings department, we are just at the beginning of the journey to incorporate ROI into what we do. With a corporate meeting or convention involving an external audience, it’s much easier to show ROI. With an internal corporate function, it is difficult. We don’t have all those measurements in place yet. I can tell you down to the penny what we spend per person, but it’s not easy to show what employees are gaining or how it’s affecting the bottom line. That’s the direction we’re pointing. Are we meeting our mark in getting the message out? That’s the ROI that we’re looking at. It’s about meeting objectives."
The Balancing Act Between Focus & Fun
In the accountability- embracing, bottom-line-focused corporate meetings world of today, fun doesn’t always get the respect it deserves. But, many corporate meeting planners are working to help their companies reap the benefits of striking just the right balance between focus and fun.
Rick Eisenman, CAE, president/CEO of Glen Allen, Va.-based Eisenman and Associates Inc., a planning firm specializing in corporate and association meetings, said the "social" aspect of corporate meetings has been taking on a smaller role in recent years, but he is hopeful that companies still understand the value of mixing business with pleasure. "They’re pulling back from what it was years ago, but fun is still a part of it—no matter how you look at it. There’s still a lot of work that happens in social settings."
C.J. Neer, meeting planner for Genie Industries, a subsidiary of TEREX Corporation, an international company specializing in construction and mining industries, said her company is among those coming to a better understanding of the importance of bringing together corporate meeting attendees in a more informal environment.
In January, Neer oversaw the company’s third annual leadership meeting at Innisbrook Golf Resort, just west of Tampa, Fla., with 409 employees in attendance. "The biggest part of the annual meeting is a kick-off event with the aim of sending valuable information back to TEREX’s approximately 20,000 employees. We take our top tier of global leaders and disseminate information to them to share with employees so the company can grow through that vision."
Neer said that transfer of knowledge and information is one of the meeting’s main goals, but not its only objective. "We’re actually going opposite from the trend of pulling back on the ‘play’ aspect of meetings and although, in the past, we’ve been more work-oriented, this is the first year we’ve incorporated play." Neer explained that in the past, the meeting allowed for evening social events, but just recently incorporated additional leisure activities for groups like golf, shopping and fishing.
As a result, Neer said both attendees and the company as a whole benefited. "I think incorporating leisure activities is good direction to go. We are a large company made up, basically, of 42 smaller companies. We’re trying to network within our own company—communicate and become that one cohesive company. That’s very important to us."
Recreation Advantages Janeen Driscoll, communications manger with Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, N.C., a golf destination that caters to corporate groups, said many corporations are beginning to understand that their meetings are not only about the dissemination of information and training but also about forming bonds and fostering communication. "For a lot of these corporations, it’s all about ‘What are we going to do outside of our own four walls that’s really going to add benefit?’
Driscoll is encountering a recent trend toward corporations implementing leisure into their meetings. "They’re striking the balance now more than they have in the last three years. More employers want to get their employees out of the office so they can encourage creative thinking. They also realize that they have been hard on their employees over the last couple of years; they use these trips as a reward for them."
Driscoll works with planners to help them incorporate both aspects into their meetings. "It is hard to strike a balance sometimes," she said. "When you’re going off site for a meeting, you’ve got very specific goals in mind."
Scheduling DowntimeAdding downtime to the meeting’s agenda is one way that some companies are attempting to strike that balance. "We’re seeing that a lot of meeting planners have been given the flexibility to give their people some free time," Driscoll said.
Veronica Walsh, owner and president of Planning The Globe, a Charleston, S.C.-based company that specializes in corporate meeting planning, agreed. "We see balance coming in as companies are putting some free time in the agenda when it comes to traditional corporate meetings. They’re not doing as many organized activities, but they are allowing the attendees to let their brains have some down time. They’re letting attendees go out for a few hours in the afternoon to get some fresh air, to enjoy the city that they’re in—hopefully so they’ll come back to the table refreshed and renewed and ready to work again."
Teambuilding GoalsDawn McGowan, president of corporate meeting planning firm Jade Event Management Inc. in St. Petersburg, Fla., said many of her clients still want to include fun and relaxation in their meetings but want more fun with a function. "We’re finding with corporate meetings that the ‘fun and play’ is changing, evolving. Teambuilding seems to be coming in off the beach, where you’d normally have, say, that Beach Olympics theme, and heading more into nature. We’ve been getting more requests for quieter, remote locations, where attendees have fewer distractions. They’re still playing, but they’re doing it in a different atmosphere, maybe through a canoe trip, hiking, something nature-centered—something everyone is involved in doing. It’s a focused atmosphere. They’re saying ‘Let’s play, but let’s not play too much.’"
Janie Lilly, executive sales manager, for the Resort at Glade Springs in Daniels, W.V., said she believes teambuilding is still a positive way to marry business with pleasure during corporate meetings. "Often, corporate associates don’t have a lot of time to network with colleagues, but teambuilding offers the opportunity to have some fun while learning more about those you work with. It offers fun with a direct objective."
She said the Resort at Glade Springs offers an outdoor teambuilding challenge course managed by a professional teambuilding group and facilities for a variety of inside teambuilding activities. "We can customize our teambuilding facilities for the objectives of each group."
Steadfast Golf Golf also remains an ideal way to integrate business and pleasure, Eisenman said. "Gathering people who work together on a golf course may sound like the only aim is fun, but it allows them to know each other outside of a work situation or a classroom. They can develop a relationship, some rapport—that’s very important to the company overall. Did they learn anything? No. Are they a more effective team? Most assuredly."
Comprehensive PackagesAccording to Gloria Sloan, president of Personal Dynamics Inc., a conference and event management firm located in Charlotte, N.C., corporate planners are still paying for the missteps of a few bad corporate apples.
"If you study the industry, a lot of this emphasis by corporations on more work and little play within a meeting setting was spurred on by the corporate and governmental scandals of the last few years," she said. "Corporate America has said, ‘We need to pull in, tighten up and look at our budgets a little bit.’" But, she added, that doesn’t mean corporate meeting planners have to let fun fall by the wayside.
One way corporate planners can include more "fun-oriented" activities while staying within budget is to take advantage of amenities packages offered by many hotels and resorts. "Take a look at package deals. When you’re putting the package deal together for the meeting, you can say to executives, here are some options, and it’s not going to cost us any more than we were going to spend there already. Then, there’s some balance."
The Impact Of Rising Room Rates
Now that demand for hotel space is increasing, many corporate meeting planners have received a firsthand lesson in "supply and demand," as room rates are also on the rise. But what does this mean for corporate meetings, especially as many planners contend with a more budget-conscious corporate environment?
Laura Reines, CMP, CTSM, event manager for NCCI Holdings Inc., a provider of workers compensation and employee injury data and statistics located in Boca Raton, Fla., handles the majority of her company’s external meetings—about 50 per year. She found out the hard way that the rebounding hotel industry could make her job a little more difficult. "Hotel occupancy rates are up, and because they’re up, hotels are able to charge more money for their rooms—it’s that simple. It’s harder to book a meeting when a hotel knows that a better piece of business could come along. Having to translate what that means in terms of budget to executives can be difficult. And, I’m trying to explain that the cost is only going to continue to go up next year. In 2007, it’s going to be more because they can ask for it and get it."
The move toward a sellers’ market may mean that clients with budget constraints have to compromise on level of service, which is never positive for attendees or planners, said Dawn McGowan, president of the corporate meeting planning firm Jade Event Management Inc. in St. Petersburg, Fla. "We are dealing with some corporate clients that are very budget conscious, and the rise in hotel room rates is making meeting their expectations really difficult. After 9/11, it was pretty easy; [the hotels] needed the business. Now, that’s turned around. The clients still need to have their meetings, but at the same time, they are, unfortunately, jeopardizing the level of service they can obtain."
Veronica Walsh, owner and president of Planning The Globe, a Charleston, S.C., firm that specializes in corporate meetings, agreed. "The return to a sellers’ market definitely affects budgets, and we’re finding that we have to be more creative [with other expenditures like food and beverage]. Rates are definitely up, and not only are rates up, but getting into a hotel with little lead time is also next to impossible. I just tried to book for January 2007, and I was scraping the bottom of the barrel. You just can’t do it on the fly anymore, or you’ll end up in C properties when you really want to be in B+ properties."
Walsh noted that given the cyclical nature of the meetings and hospitality industries, the back-and-forth between a buyers’ and sellers’ market is to be expected. "It’s the hotels’ turn now. I remember when I was a meeting planner in New York years ago, and it was the hotels’ turn then too.
"At that time, you were lucky if you got a hotel to give you one upgrade for the CEO of your company; there was just no asking for anything extra. The hotels pretty much had 20 people lined up behind you, and if you didn’t sign on the dotted line by 5:00, they had the next person in line coming in to take your place.
"Honestly, I am thrilled to see such a comeback; I couldn’t be happier that more companies are having meetings and filling the hotels; it’s great for the industry. But, while it is again the suppliers’ turn, my hope is that they will remember that we all go through lean times and that we’re partners that should ultimately be looking out for each other."
