Making sure your employees consistently put in a top performance is crucial in business. Motivating your employees – and maintaining that motivation – plays an important role in helping them achieve that. Using money as an incentive was once the answer, from the annual staff bonus to the cash-in-hand wins for hitting daily sales targets.
But there is a much better way to motivate your staff than just dishing out the cash.
Offering employees incentive travel experiences – a night in a fancy hotel or city break through to a fantastic overseas trip – has advantages that cash can’t provide. Here are five reasons why using incentive travel packages, such as those from global rewards and incentives companies like Corporate Rewards, can work better for your business than rewarding with money.
Experiences your employees can aim for
Setting a trip as a top prize, which individuals or a team of employees have to work hard to win, gives your staff something to aim towards. Whether it’s the reward for hitting a set sales target, completing a long-term project, or getting a tough new client on board, unlike money, the trip can provide an actual experience that can act as an incentive for staff to hit those targets or maintain that performance level. The experience can also offer employees something new; an experience out of their comfort zone that they wouldn’t normally do.
The incentive travel reward could be a night’s stay in a Scottish castle, or boating on the Lake District. If you have the budget, it could be white water rafting in Switzerland or a weekend shopping in Milan. The more exciting and unusual the experience, the harder your staff are likely to work to win the reward.
Incentives to relax and come back stronger
After months of working hard in the office, having a relaxing break, even just for a few days, can be just what staff need – coming back to work rested and ready to carry on. By rewarding staff with a trip that offers some relaxation, you can get similar results from your employees.
Rewarding consistently high-performing staff with a relaxing stay in a luxurious spa, or a weekend away in a countryside cottage, can allow employees to relax and return to work feeling refreshed. It can also act as an incentive to better their performance to help their chances of winning another trip – knowing their hard work is being recognised.
Recognisable rewards with lasting impact
While giving an employee a quick buzz, a cash reward that’s just put straight into their bank account, can be just as quickly swallowed up in their pay packet and monthly outgoings – mortgage, bills, car payments, etc. A cash boost on a bank balance is also just a number that can’t really be seen, touched or savoured. As a result, it can be hard for cash to acknowledge staff performance and still have some lasting impact that will motivate an employee.
In comparison, incentive travel provides a recognisable reward that stands out, with impact that lasts. A two-night city break in Edinburgh or Paris, budget depending, with all the culture, sights and sounds that come with it, is a treat for the senses. There’s also the build-up to the experience, and the elated feeling that comes afterwards – both can give an employee that much-needed motivational boost at work.
Making memories that boost loyalty
Experiences create memories. And holidays can create memories that are unforgettable. Providing incentive travel as a reward for hard work can give your staff those memories, while linking them to your company.
Providing an unforgettable trip, like skiing in Switzerland or snorkelling in Croatia, will no doubt make for some amazing memories for your employees. And each time they think of the trip they may well think of your company too. This can increase their loyalty and motivate staff to work harder for you; after all, you made those memories happen.
Personal trips that show value
Giving out money can show appreciation for hard work, but it isn’t really personal. It may say thank you, but it doesn’t show how well you know the person, their hobbies and interests. Offering a trip, however, tailored to an employee’s passions, can show you don’t just know them, but value them as an individual.
Consider rewarding the office golf fanatic with a round of golf on a famous course in Scotland, or the team theatre lover with a dinner and show in London’s West End. Providing such an experience can show you value your staff, which, in turn, can motivate them to work harder for you. It can do the same for your other employees too. They could think: “Wow, this company really knows and appreciates its staff.” As a result, with just one personalised trip you can improve motivation, loyalty and performance across your whole team.
