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Bob Nelson  

Leading Authority on Employee Recognition, Motivation & Engagement

Dr. Bob Nelson is considered the world’s leading authority on employee recognition and engagement. He is president of Nelson Motivation Inc., a management training and consulting company specializing in helping organizations improve their management practices, programs, and systems. He’s worked with 80% of Fortune 500 companies as a strategist for HR issues; has been a long-time collaborator and confidant for Dr. Ken Blanchard, co-author of “The One Minute Manager;” and is currently a personal coach for Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, the world’s #1-ranked executive coach.

Dr. Nelson has sold over 5 million books on management, employee motivation and engagement, including "1,501 Ways to Reward Employees," "The 1,001 Rewards & Recognition Fieldbook," "1,001 Ways to Energize Employees," "The Management Bible," "1,001 Ways to Engage Employees," and his latest: "Work Made Fun Gets Done!" His books have been translated into over 37 languages.

Dr. Nelson's recognition and distinctions include being named the #1 Management Guru in the World for 2024 by Global Gurus and a Top Ten Keynote Speaker for 2024 by ManageHR. He's a Distinguished Fellow at EBSCOlearning and a Senior Fellow in Human Capital for The Conference Board; was voted a Top Thought Leader by the Best Practice Institute, a Leading Global Employee Engagement Influencer by EE Awards, and one of the Most Influential People to Follow by peopleHum. He was also named a leading Authority and a “Consultant’s Consultant” by HR Tech Outlook.

He has presented on six continents; appears extensively in the national and international media including CBS’ 60 Minutes, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, NPR, as well as in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and Fortune, Harvard Business Review, and Inc. magazines to discuss how to best motivate today’s employees. He’s a columnist for The Conference Board, CEO World, Inc, Incentive, Bank Marketing, and Corporate Meetings and Incentives magazines.

Dr. Nelson received an MBA in organizational behavior from UC Berkeley and a PhD in management education with Dr. Peter Drucker, “The Father of Modern Management,” at the Drucker Graduate Management School in suburban Los Angeles. He teaches for the MBA program at the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego, and volunteers for The Honor Foundation, helping elite military personnel (Seals, Rangers, Green Berets, etc.) transition to civilian life.

Speech Topics

Five Trends Shaping the Future of Work

An Overview of the Leading Labor Trends that will Affect all Organizations in the Upcoming Years (60-90 minutes)

Several employment trends are coming to dominate the competitive success of every organization. In this session, leading authority and international best-selling author, Dr. Bob Nelson will share his research and insights on these emerging workforce trends as described in his recent book 1501 Ways to Reward Employees.

The trends that will be presented are:

  • The Increasing Shortage of Skilled Workers
  • The Rise of the Millennial Generation
  • The Expansion of Contingent Workers
  • The Evolving Role of Virtual Employees
  • The Globalization of the Labor Market

Dr. Nelson will present current research and data about the above trends and discuss what needs to be done to capitalize on these issues and to prevent the trends from becoming problems for an organization and its ability to compete. Attendees will leave with a broader perspective on the leading labor trends impacting their organization resources and practical strategies for addressing those trends in their workplace.

Strategies for Better Engaging Your Employees

Give Your Organization a Competitive Edge by Getting Each Employee’s Best (60-90 minutes)

“Help people do better what they do best.” This advice from Dr. Bob Nelson reminds managers that when workers are engaged, there’s a big advantage: For the organization, the manager AND the employee. The Gallup Organization reports that the percentage of engaged employees nationwide is just 32 percent. The rest? They’re uninvolved, unenthused and uncommitted to their jobs, their managers or the organizations they work for. In this session, Dr. Bob will explore the top drivers of employee engagement based on research from his latest book, 1001 Ways to ENGAGE Employees and how to impact those elements. Find out what successful managers at top organizations are doing to get the best from their employees—and what you can do as well!

This presentation will cover:

  • What matters most to workers: A look at the research
  • How to effectively build trusting relationships where expectations are clear
  • Ways to recognize employees to better drive performance
  • Having an ongoing focus on career growth and development
  • The role of the manager: Communicating expectations & accountability
  • Best practices, lessons and ideas from the leading organizations today

Strategies for Recognizing & Engaging Your Workforce

Research-based Strategies for Increasing Employee Recognition & Engagement in Your Organization (60-90 minutes)

The Harvard Business Review has cited “recognition given for high performance” as the most impactful driver of employee engagement and The Aberdeen Group has found the number one way Best-in-Class organizations improve employee engagement is through employee-recognition programs. Meanwhile, most employees today feel overworked and underappreciated and are less valued and more stressed for their efforts than ever before. Based on his most recent book, Recognizing & Engaging Employees For Dummies and content from 1501 Ways to Reward Employees (1.7 million copies sold), Bob Nelson, Ph.D., will help you understand the link between employee recognition and engagement and how to make that connection in your organization -- even with limited time, resources or budget. This session will focus on core researched-based elements found in strong cultures of recognition and engagement that inspire employees to new levels of performance and help to create an exciting, positive work environment with a strong competitive people advantage for the organization. Based on recent engagement research, six dimensions will be presented with examples that any manager/organization can implement to create a more motivating work environment for their employees today:

  • VISION: Create a Clear and Compelling Direction
  • RECOGNITION: Recognize and Reward High Performance
  • COMMUNICATION: Direct, Open and Honest Communication
  • INITIATIVE: Involve Employees and Encourage Initiative
  • AUTONOMY: Increase Employee Autonomy, Flexibility and Support
  • DEVELOPMENT: Continued Focus on Career Growth and Development

Dr. Nelson will show how these elements can be brought to bear through specific techniques and applications, drawing upon his own research and doctoral work as well as experience in working with hundreds of organizations on the topic. He will show how the best companies take a focused and long-term strategic view of their employee resource that systematically integrates the engagement practices into the daily work practices of its managers, identifying and acting on opportunities in timely and specific ways. This session will be filled with specific real-life examples and techniques that can be immediately applied back on the job by attendees to systematically leverage, build and sustain a culture of recognition and engagement in their workplace.

Beyond the Paycheck: The Rewards of Recognition

Better Drive Desired Results & Help Employees Feel Valued for Their Performance (60-90 minutes)

Recognition for performance represents the single most validated principle for driving desired behavior and performance in today’s challenging, fast-paced times. The primary reason why managers don’t use recognition is because they report “they aren’t sure how to do it well,” according to doctoral research by Bob Nelson, the leading authority on this topic and an international best-selling author of the multi-million copy 1501 Ways to Reward Employees (now in its 64th printing) and related books. Far from being a “fuzzy feel-good notion,” Dr. Nelson will show you practical ways as to how you can get your managers to treat employees in a way that maximizes their willingness to use their best efforts on a daily basis to create an exciting, positive work environment that produces more focused, competitive employees that better serve the strategies of the firm and create a competitive advantage for the organization.

Attendees will learn:

  • Recent research about what most motivates today’s workers in challenging time
  • The principles of effective recognition and how to put those into practice
  • How to utilize employee recognition and engagement tools to drive desired outcomes
  • Managerial techniques you can apply immediately & the motivation to want to do so
  • How to build and sustain progress, keeping your recognition efforts fresh and relevant

Creating a Culture of Recognition

Build Recognition into the Strategies and Behaviors of the Organization, Transform Your Workplace into an Employer of Choice (60-90 minutes)

Employee recognition and engagement is the most important human resource issue in industry today. Employees of different backgrounds spanning four generations have a direct influence on the customers they serve daily. As such, it is important for employers to maximize the full potential of their workforce with proper forms of recognition and engagement. Dr. Nelson will show you how to create a culture of recognition, regardless of the size or type of business you are in. Based on his book The 1001 Rewards & Recognition Fieldbook, this presentation will expand your thinking of what recognition really means and what you can do to build it into your culture. Compared to the average company, employees in a recognition-focused company are 5 times more likely to feel valued, 6 times more likely to recommend the organization, 7 times more likely to stay, and 11 times more likely to feel completely committed to their jobs and mission of the organization. In this presentation, motivation expert and best-selling author Dr. Bob Nelson discusses the current state of employee engagement and recognition including the most recent employee engagement research regarding effectiveness and related case studies. He will share how a customized employee recognition program is needed to improve and maintain a culture of recognition and engagement in any organization, moving from a culture of entitlement to a culture of performance and increased competitive advantage along the way.

Topics covered in this informative presentation will include:

  • The business case for recognition and its impact on the organization’s bottomline
  • How to leverage the effectiveness of recognition – even with little time or resources
  • How to get managers on board in both supporting and doing more recognition
  • How to harness best practices from other organizations, as well as your own
  • Methods to build and sustain a culture of recognition and engagement over time

Motivating the Millennials & Gen Z

Understanding, Attracting, Motivating and Keeping the Younger Generations that Now Make up the Bulk of the Workplace (60-90 minutes)

The Millennials & Gen Z, the generations of workers born since 1980 now make up the largest percentage (47%) of all employees in the workforce. As featured in a CBS 60-Minutes interview with Morley Safer—best-selling author Dr. Bob Nelson, shares his insights on this latest generation and how members of that generation are reshaping work environments across the country. These 75+ million individuals are unique from any previous generation, especially in their technical abilities, attitudes, outlook and expectations of work and, as such, companies need to adjust to meet the expressed needs of this generation. Failure to do so will significantly limit a company's ability to hire these younger workers at a time when organizations will already be experiencing a shortfall of qualified candidates needed to replace the 70 million retiring Baby Boomers (10,000 per day) in the decade ahead. Success in adapting to this new breed of worker will allow organizations to access and leverage the potential of the younger generation in a way that will create a significant competitive advantage for the company in achieving its mission.

This generation of workers with the skills and aptitudes that every employer will need are not interested in "paying their dues" and conforming to fit the expectations of them by their employers, but rather will cause companies to reassess and strategically realign all aspects of the employment contract to wrap around the life experiences and expectations unique to these generations. The subsequent changes will affect all workers -- even those not a part of these generations -- as work rules about how work gets done (e.g., telecommuting/flexible working hours, increased autonomy/flexibility, group processes/collaboration, enhanced efficiencies via technology, world perspectives and social issues, etc.) will become permanently redefined. In this session, Dr. Nelson will share positive, practical strategies to accommodate the predominant shift in worker demographics, the assets and liabilities this generation brings to the workplace and show managers and executives (most of whom are Baby Boomers) how to strategically adapt to and align with the needs and expectations of these younger workers.

Topics covered will include:

  • Profile of the Millennials & Gen Z: What Makes Them Tick?
  • Key Personal & Cultural Influences
  • Events That Shaped the Millennial/Gen Z Perspective
  • Millennial Work Attributes & How to Maximize Each
  • Management Techniques for Motivating & Retaining Millennials

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Engaging & Retaining High Potential Employees

Learn How Best to Identify, Develop and Retain Your High Potential Talent—Before They Leave Your Organization (60-90 minutes)

Organizations have dedicated and invested millions of dollars in identifying and developing High Potential employees (HIPOs) within their workforce. This cream-of-the-crop top talent is often pegged for leadership roles early on in their careers and are the first to participate in innovative leadership development programs. Despite the considerable amount of time and effort companies put into guiding them, studies show that many High Potentials remain unengaged in their work and continue to actively pursue other opportunities. In the last 12 months, 30% of High Potentials have changed jobs, a number that is expected to increase as the economy further improves. Over 50% of executives feel their organizations are ineffective at managing and keeping top talent and 90% of CEOs rank a retention plan for the organization’s High Potentials as a top priority for Human Resources.

This session will cover the following topics:

  • The Need to Better Focus on High Potentials
  • How to Identify Your High Potentials
  • The Current Challenges with this Group of Top Performers
  • Six Strategies to Increase High Potential Engagement
  • A Case Study in Developing High Potentials

Discover the best practices of leading organizations as they seek to motivate and empower their High Potential population. Learn skills you can apply to your own workforce, from how best to identify High Potentials to keeping them engaged and invested in their work so that they can continue to perform at top levels. The time to get focused on these special performers is before they start leaving your organization!

Inspiring Exceptional Performance: Taking Initiative

Tap into the Initiative of Every Employee, Spark Employee Ideas and Innovation, Make Jobs More Fulfilling (60-90 minutes)

Do you want to inspire exceptional performance? In this presentation, Dr. Nelson will share his research and strategies for getting all employees to take initiative and be more innovative in the workplace today as based on two of his books: Please Don’t Just Do What I Tell You to Do—Do What Needs to Be Done! and 1001 Ways to Take Initiative at Work. He will show you how to overcome obstacles that employees are likely to encounter when pursuing new ideas and persevere with those ideas they most believe in. He will focus on the small things that can be done to start to make a BIG difference in your workplace as well as strategies employees can use for "keeping their commitment to their commitment.” Dr. Nelson shows how organizations today can create a competitive advantage through its employees by tapping into the energy, ideas and creativity of every member of the organization. Attendees will leave this session with a practical plan and techniques for immediate implementation back on the job.

In this session you’ll learn:

  • The Benefits of Increased Initiative to Employees and the Organization
  • The Ultimate Expectation: Getting Employees to Focus on What Needs to Be Done
  • The 4 Ps of Initiative: Positive Accountability, Preparation, Presentation & Persistence
  • Helping Employees Learn from Their Mistakes in Taking Initiative
  • I-Power: A Proven System for Harnessing the Power of Employee Suggestions

Ubuntu: Inspiring Teamwork & Collaboration at Work

Inspire a Greater Sense of Purpose, Connectedness and Unity Among Your Team Members (60-90 minutes)

Multi-million copy best-selling author Dr. Bob Nelson (1501 Ways to Reward Employees, The Management Bible) shares his expertise and energy to show managers and organizations how to obtain new levels of focus, excitement and results in any work environment through the principles of Ubuntu, the South African philosophy unity and connectedness that Nelson Mandela used to unify that country after the fall of apartheid. This session is based on that concept and a parable of the same name that the Dr. Bob co-authored with Dr. Stephen Lundin (co-author of the mega-million copy best-selling Fish! series). Dr. Nelson delivers a passionate, inspiring, high-energy, multi-media program that intertwines fun & creativity, learning & application, and numerous examples & best practices from business, sports, politics & music in applying this traditional African principle of unity, connectedness and teamwork to the world of work today. He draws upon his own research and doctoral work as well as experience in working with hundreds of organizations on the topic of employee motivation and high-performing teams to show how any organization or work group can incorporate the principles of Ubuntu in simple, practical ways. This session will be filled with specific real-life examples and techniques that can be immediately applied back on the job by attendees to systematically leverage, build and sustain a culture of teamwork, motivation, engagement and recognition in their workplace.

Topics covered include:

  • The Core Principles & Philosophy of Ubuntu
  • Creating a Shared Vision and Sense of Purpose
  • Inspiring Others to Greatness at Work
  • Creating Greater Rapport from Shared Experiences at Work
  • Creative Ways to Recognize Team Effort and Results

Recruiting & Retaining the Different Generations

Learn How You Can Target Your Hiring & Retention Strategies to Better Meet the Expectations of All Generations in Your Workforce (60-90 minutes)

Human Resources tends to treat employees as “one size fits all” although there is increasing evidence that different generations in the workforce have difference expectations for their work experience. To best meet all your employee needs & expectations, HR needs to adapt their organization’s communication and offerings to be more inclusive of all its employees. By being creative and aligning your offerings with the needs and desires of your different employee populations, you will better attract and retain members of each generation. Do you know what truly motivates your workforce? With such a diverse group in the corporate population – a workforce that spans 50 years – one benefit package will not speak to all your employees in the same way. How can you better meet the needs of your employees while stretching your benefits budget to maximize your ROI? Learn the different incentives that motivate employees from different generations and develop a plan to diversify your offerings to meet those evolving employee expectations, many at nominal cost to the organization. Attendees will hear research as to what members of each generation most value and strategies, many low- or no-cost, they can use to meet those varied employee expectations.

This presentation will address:

  • Three Major Trends Shaping Today’s Employee Benefits
  • Overview of the Values of the Four Generations in Today’s One Size Does Not Fit All: Work & Benefits Preferences by Generation
  • Five Levels of No- and Low-Cost Employee Rewards/Recognition
  • Strategies for More Effectively Communicating Mission, Values & Benefits

Managing Virtual Workers Today

Increase Your Ability to Attract & Retain Talent, Enhance Productivity & Engagement through the use of Remote Workers (60-90 minutes)

Fifty percent of today’s employees work virtually as of 2020. Thirty-six percent of employees would give up a pay raise for the ability to work remotely; forty percent would be willing to take a pay cut for that option. Is your company maximizing this labor source, making it a competitive advantage for your organization? By allowing greater worker autonomy and flexibility, companies can greatly expand their potential pool of talent, which is especially important in light of the increasing shortage of skilled labor facing all organizations today and in the years to come. Find out what it takes to successfully manage virtual workers, learn the pitfalls and successful tools and techniques other organizations are successfully using on this topic, and increase your confidence for effectively getting work done through workers who are not in the office.

Topics include:

  • The growing importance of virtual work and the virtual worker
  • Setting clear goals, expectations and control for virtual workers
  • Building trust, teams and accountability with virtual workers
  • Technology tools and strategies for extraordinary communication
  • Promoting inclusion and collaboration with virtual workers
  • Virtual recognition and rewards for remote workers

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