Consistently meeting sales and other goals are some of the biggest challenges that a business can face. Even if one quarter’s performance is excellent, there are no guarantees that it will be the same in the next one.
That’s why savvy managers that want to get ahead of a dip in sales or profits make sure to plan steps that can prevent that.
And an increasingly popular way to achieve that is by using an incentive travel program to motivate your employees to reach your goals.
But while an incentive travel program can be useful for many companies, will it work for you?
Well, while there is no clear-cut answer to that question, there are things you can look at that can help you determine if you need to offer a travel-based incentive to your employees.
Poor Performance
One of the more obvious things to look at if you want to figure out if a travel program based on incentives is something you should look into is your business performance.
If you see your sales and other numbers dropping across the board, that means that something is wrong. And no matter what the cause may be, one thing that inevitably comes together with poor performance is that the employees get discouraged.
So, while it’s essential for you to try to identify and fix the problems that are causing the dip in results, it’s just as important to set up an incentive program that promises a valuable reward for your employees if they manage to reach specific milestones or accomplish set goals.
This is especially useful for departments that allow you to measure the results precisely. Offering travel incentives for sales teams is a very popular way to utilize rewards to get your employees to push themselves to deliver better results, but it can work in other departments as well.
One thing that’s important to remember is that the incentive travel program must pay for itself by reaching the specified goals so ensure that you calculate your budget and plan to appropriate journey for the cost.
Low Employee Motivation
Sometimes, even if everything was going smoothly before, your employees just hit a slump. Whether it’s a slower period before or after the holidays, overall low morale because of gloomy weather or hundreds of other reasons, there will be times that your employee motivation suffers and there’s little you can do about it.
Berating your employees is never an answer as that can hurt morale even more, so the only viable approach is to offer an appealing prize that gets them focused and driven.
Nothing will get your employees fired up more quickly than offering a retreat to a sunny place in the middle of winter.
And, while it may seem like an investment at first, if your employees reach the specified goals, offering the travel incentive may be the best purchase you make that year.
Poor Employee Retention
The marketplace for good employees is as competitive as ever.
Headhunters are always on the lookout for people that do their job well, so companies need to be able to offer competitive pay and benefits if they want their employees to stick around.
And a creative way to improve the odds of your employees wanting to stay with your company is by offering travel incentives to the best performers.
Because the people that usually get the travel prizes are the ones that are the best employees anyway, it works out in a way that your best employees get additional benefits that they couldn’t expect almost anywhere else, without it seeming like you’re favouring any particular employees, since everyone is entitled to the prize.
What’s more, once you or one of the many event production companies organise a few incentive journeys, word will get around about your company and even employees in other companies will start to strongly consider switching to your company because you offer such cool benefits and prizes.
Teamwork Issues
In today’s competitive business landscape, teamwork plays an integral role in how a business operates and achieves its goals.
So, if your employees don’t know how to work together effectively, it will be tough to sustain growth and maintain your edge over the competition.
But while there are plenty of team building events options that can help your employees to bond and learn to work together, few things can unite a group for a common goal like the prospect of an unforgettable journey as a reward for their hard work.
You could reward the entire group for reaching their goals so that they have to learn how to work together.
This process can also allow you to identify potential leaders in the group who excel at bringing people together and solving problems.
High-Stress Environment
Finally, you can’t underestimate the adverse effects that the work environment can have on the stress-levels of your employees.
They’re facing deadlines and the pressure of achieving goals every day, which can sometimes even make the job that they otherwise enjoy something they dread doing.
Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do to completely alleviate stress from the lives of your employees – in high-paced industries, it’s always going to be a part of the day-to-day operations.
However, what you could do is offer your employees a way to unwind as a prize for their hard work.
With an incentive journey, you could provide them with a reward that they can keep on their minds as they push through obstacles and tackle stressful challenges every single day.
Showing your employees that you care about them and want them to succeed by giving rewards for effort and results can not only alleviate some of the stress but even give it a more defined purpose.
Sarah Hill is a content writer at Seven Events Ltd – one of the leading event companies in the UK, providing conference and incentive travel, conference venue finding services, and corporate team building services. She started her career in the events industry almost a decade ago; as time progressed she became an avid event blogger sharing her insight on corporate event planning.