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.
"I've been working with Bruce and his team on two projects and they've been great to work with. Bruce has helped us set up a referral/incentive program for us to roll out with our clients and strategic partners. Bruce was great to work with. He's set up a 7 tier program that allows for flexibility and he's also helped us to market the program."
"Beverly arranged and managed the early Envivio Sales incentive trips for us. Each of our events was an outstanding and motivating experience Our Sales team appreciated the attention to detail and to fun. Qualifying for the "trip" was a motivating factor behind many end of year sales pushes. I will use Beverly again in the future."
"Peak Performance’s attention to detail and personal service made me feel like I had a true corporate meeting planning partner that I could rely on throughout the planning process right up until I was on site. I look forward to doing more meetings with them."
"I have used your services two years in a row and you all have made my vacation a great one. You have the most helpful and considerate employees. Always very friendly, respectful and willing to make my travel experience a good one. Thank you and keep up the great job."
