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