Bob Nelson, Ph.D.

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

Bob has sold 5 million books on management, employee motivation and engagement, including 1501 Ways to Reward Employees, The 1001 Rewards & Recognition Fieldbook, 1001 Ways to Energize Employees, The Management Bible, and his latest book, 1,001 Ways to Engage Employees. His books have been translated into over 30 languages.

Other recognition & distinctions:

• Leading Authority & “Consultant’s Consultant” for Recognition & Rewards Consulting for 2019 by HR Tech Outlook
• Senior Fellow, Human Capital for The Conference Board
• Top Thought Leader by the Best Practice Institute
• Leading Global Employee Engagement Influencer by EE Awards
• Top 5 Global Management Guru for 2020 by Global Gurus.

Bob has presented on six continents; appears extensively in the national & 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, Fortune, BusinessWeek and Inc. magazines to discuss how to best motivate today’s employees. Writes a monthly blog for The Conference Board, Incentive & Inc. magazines.

Bob 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. Teaches for the MBA program at the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego.