Coming up with travel incentives for your employees is not a simple case of motivating them. Other fundamental aspects have to be involved so that your organization and your employees get more value from the program. The basic goal here is to turn your travel incentives into a win-win situation.
Here’s how to do it:
Make your qualifications fair and within reach.
Your travel incentives for employees should motivate even the non-earners. Sure. It makes sense to target the top one to five percent of your best salespeople or senior leadersip. This design not only limits the possibilities of your program but also creates a kind of exclusivity that breeds enmity and discord in any organization. You want your travel incentives to motivate as well as improve teamwork.
Talk about it.
Incentive travel programs and the rules around them need to be communicated regularly to the participants and stakeholders. Your frontline employees, management and senior leadership should be well aware of changes and additions so that you continue to create excitement that compels participation — at all levels.
Offer up compelling — and relevant experiences.
Where do your employees want to go? What are the most desirable locations that fit your budget? What do they want to do during those incentive trips, and how will they fit into your organizational goals?
The travel experiences your incentive program offers need to be compelling and relevant so that they never fail to encourage employees to improve performance — to qualify. This provides a cycle of engagement that consistently nurtures and retains.
Some things to note for your trips include exploring the relevance of trending destinations, adding unscheduled time for other activities, and considering guest policies that involve families of participants.
Think measurable results.
Understanding how well (or poorly) your travel incentives are received by your employees will provide insights that enable improvements. You can use surveys or Web-based reports to determine the success of your program.
Explore technologies that increase employee engagement.
People will want to share great experiences; Facebook has proven that to be absolutely true. Employees also feel valued when the company recognizes his or her achievements, no matter how small. Make it easy for them to share their great incentive trips to friends and family through social media and mobile devices. And try to highlight their accomplishments through posts or updates.
The incentive trips for your employees can do more than just motivate them to be consistent with performance. With the right program, your incentive travel could increase participation, boost engagement, and maintain the success of your company in retaining the best talents in your industry.