Unleashing Human PotentialA New Beginning
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People at the Core
Through four generations of family leadership, Maritz has always had deep roots
in the business of inspiring people to achieve great things – for themselves and for
their companies. It started with a bold move by James Maritz shortly after the stock
market crash of 1929. Faced with diminished demand for the retail jewelry offered
by the 35-year old company started by his father, he created Maritz Sales Builders
and transformed the business into a provider of personalized jewelry to companies
as service recognition and sales awards. From one company’s need to adapt to a
rapidly-changing marketplace, the sales incentive industry was born. And, from that
point on, the focus of Maritz has been squarely on people and their potential to
power business performance.
In the 80 years that would follow, Maritz leaders greatly expanded the portfolio
and geographic reach of core business services beyond sales incentives to include
employee recognition and engagement solutions, channel loyalty, marketing and
brand-building services, customer experience research, and full-service support for
travel experiences, meetings and events.
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“A musician must make music, an artist must paint,
a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately happy.
What a man can be, he must be. This need we call
self actualization.”
— Abraham Maslow
The Role of Human Behavior Theory
From the beginning, Maritz leaders realized the importance of understanding human
behavior and the potential for positive change. As both the incentive industry and the
field of psychology matured throughout the 1940s through the 1970s, Maritz
referenced the scientific study of both B. F. Skinner and Abraham Maslow as a
philosophical foundation for non-monetary rewards catalyzing behavior change.
Specifically, Skinner’s operant conditioning or “ABC” model (antecedents – behavior –
consequences) illuminated the benefit of providing program participants with powerful
(positive, immediate and certain) consequences as catalysts for goal attainment.
Later, in introducing a more humanistic and social view of behavior, Maslow’s Hierarchy
of Needs theory provided a new framework for understanding how both material
and social recognition can grow in importance as individual needs move beyond
basic security to social acceptance, personal esteem and self-realization. Through
his understanding of organizations as social institutions, Maslow highlighted the
importance of social context to individual behavior and brought a more enlightened
approach to people management practice.
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Knowledge. Accelerated.
Yet while the theories of Skinner, Maslow and other prominent psychologists such
as Frederick Herzberg (Needs Theory), Edwin Locke (Goal-Setting) and Victor Vroom
(Expectancy Theory) provided a foundation for understanding human behavior
for many years, it has been discoveries within the past 15 years that have greatly
expanded or revised much of what had been understood before. By using brain
imaging technology and integrating multiple scientific disciplines, neuroscientists
studying the human nervous system are revealing new insights into human brain
function, thought processes and decision-making.
This explosion of knowledge is causing leading academics, social scientists and
management experts to seriously reconsider the validity of many business practices
born of the Industrial Age. A decade ago, it was Peter Drucker, the father of
modern management theory, who signaled the need for business to change when
he wrote: “The new realities and their demands require a reversal of policies that
have worked well for the last century and, even more, a change in mindset of
organizations as well as individuals.” More recently, management academic Henry
Mintzberg added: “Companies must remake themselves into places of engagement,
where people are committed to one another and their enterprise.”
“Companies must remake themselves
into places of engagement.”
— Henry Mintzberg
Businesses that fail to adapt to these evolving needs do so at their own peril.
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Businesses that fail to adapt to these evolving needs do so at their own peril.
The Game Has Changed
As the understanding of what makes people tick has
greatly expanded, the relationship between organizations
and the people they engage has shifted in profound
ways. Economic volatility, the erosion of trust, the desire
for sustainable lifestyles and the ability to instantly
communicate across social networks have all converged
to create a “new normal” business environment.
Whether operating in the role of employee, customer or
business ally, people desire relationships that extend
beyond superficial transactions. They seek organizations,
brands and employers that align to their values and that can
add greater meaning and social connection to their lives.
Yet in the midst of so much change and complexity,
even the most progressive companies can struggle to
fully engage their employees, customers and business
allies in ways that create mutual benefit. Many leaders
intuitively understand that their business must change,
but aren’t sure which people-centric practices still apply
and which must be retooled.
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Connecting Science with 21st Century Business Practice
Back in 2009, Maritz leaders found themselves confronting many
of the same questions. “We’re a people company and take our
brand tagline – The Science and Art of People and Potential – very
seriously,” Maritz CEO Steve Maritz said. “With so much new
research coming from the human sciences, we knew we needed to
dive even deeper if we were going to keep providing our clients with
compelling thought leadership and impactful solutions.”
With the purpose of providing a bridge between human science
discovery and 21st century business practice, The Maritz Institute
was created as an ongoing capability serving Maritz portfolio of
businesses and their clients. The approach to learning and
knowledge-sharing adopted by The Maritz Institute is based on a
collaborative model that brings together three constituencies: an
external network of business, academic and scientific thought leaders;
pioneering client company leaders; and practice leaders from across
Maritz’ businesses. The network studies a myriad of business and
human science disciplines – with a strong focus on neuroscience – in
order to better understand human choice-making and social connection.
Then, by providing an open forum for collective curiosity, experimen-
tation and learning, The Maritz Institute facilitates the efforts of the
network to accelerate business practice innovation.
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An early outcome of the collaboration among
members of The Maritz Institute network has
been the identification of three, core “people
principles.” Using these brain-based principles
as a foundation, Maritz teams add their industry,
audience and solution expertise to create client
initiatives that engage their stakeholders on
more dimensions and in more meaningful ways.
People principles take into account:
u People are driven by multiple motivators or primary biological drives,
including the drives to Acquire, Bond, Create (or comprehend) and to Defend.
– a point of view based on the ground-breaking Four-Drive Theory of human
behavior developed by Paul Lawrence and Nitin Nohria at Harvard Business School.
u People are emotional and rational and virtually all decision-making requires
both thought processes. This helps explain why people will behave in seemingly
irrational ways based on perceptions of fairness and trust, or to conform to
social norms.
u People are individual and social. The concept of identity must consider
people both as individuals and as members of their social groups. Further, the
ability of individuals to shape the behavior of others through social influence
and emotional contagion is much more powerful than previously understood.
People Principles for Better Business and Better Lives
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The essential value that Maritz brings to client companies is summarized in our
company’s tagline: The Science and Art of People and Potential. It is through a
science-based understanding of people, combined with the artful design of
business practice, that Maritz solutions create mutual benefit for companies
and the stakeholders they touch. Better business and better lives.
“We’re building a community of pioneering leaders who recognize that their organizations must evolve. The power is in bringing together a win-win stakeholder philosophy with the latest from
the human sciences to create businesses that will thrive in the new normal environment.“
— Mary Beth McEuenVice President, Executive DirectorThe Maritz Institute