Experts predict a growing demand for meeting planners who can plan meetings and incentives that support corporate engagement goals. Sandra Daniel, president and CEO of Fire Light Group, a WI-based meeting planning and incentive consulting firm, explains why: “Corporations are driving engagement, not meeting planners. But planners are becoming a piece of engagement strategy. Many planners have a background in moving people from place to place efficiently, but that is completely different from engagement. Planners who aren’t well versed in engagement need to partner with somebody who is or get educated on it. Planners who don’t could be left behind in coming years,” says Daniel.
Companies increasingly want planners who are also knowledgeable about the business strategy of engagement — increasing employees’ emotional and intellectual attachment to an organization’s goals and mission. Engagement also applies to the level of attachment that customers, vendors and clients have to products and services.