Employees are happier when they are in dynamic, inspiring, and sometimes even exotic working environments. Now, this does not mean you need to suggest relocating the whole office or even separate departments. You don’t have to move your R&D team to the Canary Islands. Accounting does not have to take up residency in The Emirates. Pulling in new business from abroad does not have to be a priority either. What you can do is far more simple and that is exactly where Incentive Travel comes in.
We are familiar with the age-old sales team prizes. The Range Rover Sport going to the top sellers in departments each week. We have seen the quarterly all-expenses-paid trip away to the Mediterranean. I am sure there are many people we all know who have enacted all manners of subterfuge to secure an invite to the bosses annual golf trip. All of these methods and carrot-dangling tactics are tried, tested, and proven to work. Yet they are just one-side of the Incentive Travel equation. How often have you thought about rather than leaving the office to get away, go away, and take the office with you?
Creating More Incentives to Travel.
Incentive Travel does not just have to apply to your own employees. You have some new clients that are due to arrive in town for a pitch. Rather than bringing them into the familiar environment of your workplace, why not take them, and the whole of the creative team to a more neutral setting? Put them at ease but also build their anticipation. Give your team a little more room to flex their muscles without all the usual pressures of the home office. Creating incentives doesn’t just have to apply to your people, but travelling with them and the people you’re pitching too is an entirely new way of doing business.
It’s approaching the end of the financial year. Accounting is crunching their way through the books and gradually sagging into their chairs with each passing day. Pack them off for a week working where they can see the sun and sea out of their window. Give them a break from the usual stress and the chance to relax. It’s mid-winter. Your team are starting to flag, the usual coughs, colds, and other forms of influenza. Get the jump on inevitable sick days that are coming. Why not find a wellness spa and move them to work there instead of seeing them deteriorate in the office? You don’t have to travel far, or for long, to increase productivity. But sometimes any change of environment is a welcome change indeed.
The Good, The Bad, and The Obvious.
Now it is obvious that Incentive travel comes with a nasty word that unfortunately, must always be considered, Budget. It is an intimidating word to contend with when it comes to ordering the cake and flowers for someone’s birthday, let-alone justifying a work trip of any kind outside of the office zip-code, let alone country. There will always be some who argue as to why Incentive Travel is not a worthy investment for you. But the fact of the matter is that Incentive Travel can offer you a fantastic ROI and boost productivity. Let us not forget an obvious return point also. Morale.
When someone mentions “earnings” or “net profit” next, show them HR’s reports on employee welfare and motivation. Look at the numbers on how much your company or business is losing each year due to “lack of productivity”. Mental Health is now more under more scrutiny in society and the workplace than ever. Providing a positive working environment and motivation to your employees to continue their hard work is difficult. Incentive Travel is a means of letting your employees know you care about them but does not have to result in reduced levels of productivity.
Invest In Your Image with Incentive Travel.
Most importantly, employee welfare should not be something which is settled by digits and decimals. There should not be a number that quantifies their value to a business. Incentive Travel should be exactly that, an incentive to work harder, to work better, and to be rewarded accordingly. Any company that invests so much into their employees will only attract the best applicants for the future. If your business is seen to invest just as much in their clients then who is to say how many more may come your way?
