A good part of business travel is related to incentive travel. Incentive trips are business-related trips that are designed to provide motivation or incentives to help business people be more successful.
To learn more about incentive travel, About.com business travel guide David A. Kelly interviewed Melissa Van Dyke, president of The Incentive Research Foundation, a nonprofit that funds research studies and develops products. for the incentive industry. as well as helping organizations develop effective motivation and performance improvement strategies.
What are Business / Employee Travel Incentive Programs?
For many decades, managers and business owners have used the promise of traveling to attractive or exotic destinations as a motivational tool with both their internal staff and channel partners. However, many people do not realize that a large number of research-based methodologies and best practices have been developed around incentive travel over the past half century. Similarly, an entire industry of professionals now exists with the expertise in when and how to use incentive travel as a motivational tool within organizations.
As part of its study, »The Anatomy of an Incentive Travel Program«, the Incentive Research Foundation provided the following concrete definition for Incentive Travel Programs:
“Incentive travel programs are a motivating tool to improve productivity or achieve business goals in which participants are rewarded based on a specific level of achievement set by management. The winners are rewarded with a trip and the program is designed to recognize the winners for their achievements. «.
Who should have them and why?
In virtually every industry, incentive travel programs are often used as a motivational tool with internal or external sales teams, but can be used effectively by any organization or workgroup when there is a gap in productivity or goals. work not done.
Previous research by Stolovitch, Clark, and Condly offered an eight-step process that helps potential program owners determine where incentives would be effective and provides guidance for implementation. The first event in this Incentive Performance Improvement (PIBI) model is evaluation. During the evaluation phase, management details where there are gaps between desired organizational goals and company performance and where motivation is an underlying cause. The key to this assessment is to ensure that the target audience already has the necessary skills and tools to close the desired gap.
If they exist, then an incentive travel program may be a good option.
What are some examples of incentive programs and the value they provide?
In “The Long-Term Impact of Incentive Travel at an Insurance Company,” research found that the total cost of the travel incentive program per qualifying person (and their guests) was approximately $ 2,600. Using the average monthly sales of $ 2,181 for those who qualified and an average monthly sales level of $ 859 per non-qualifying agent, the cost payment for the program was over two months.
In The Anatomy of an Incentive Travel Program (ITP), researchers were able to show that well-rewarded employees tend to perform better and stay with their company longer than their peers. Net operating income and tenure for ITP participants was significantly higher than for non-participants. Of the 105 employees who attended the Corporation’s incentive trip, 55% had superior performance ratings and a term of four years or more (significantly higher than the average employee), and 88.5 percent had superior performance ratings .
But the benefits of incentive travel programs are not just monetary and numerical. This study also detailed a number of organizational benefits, including positive organizational culture and climate, and described the benefits for the communities served by the travel program.
Additional case studies:
- Channel Incentive Travel Case Study
- Nomination-Based Incentive Travel Case Study
What are the challenges associated with developing a program?
The main challenges with programs tend to stay within tight budgets and run an effective program that demonstrates a certain level of performance.
The Anatomy of an ITP study provided five recommended elements for successful incentive travel efforts. Additionally, to maximize the benefit of an incentive travel program, the research concluded that the incentive travel event should include:
- The criteria for obtaining and selecting the reward must be clearly linked to the business objectives.
- Communication about the program and participants’ progress toward goals must be clear and consistent.
- The design of the travel program, including desirable destinations, interactive sessions, and free time for the winners, should increase the overall excitement.
- Key executives and managers should act as hosts to reinforce the company’s commitment to the rewards program and recognition.
- The company must maintain detailed records that prove the productivity of workers and their contributions to the financial performance of the company.
- recognition of employees
- Networking opportunities for the best employees to build relationships with other best employees and key management
- collaboration between best employees and management on best practices and ideas
- motivation of employees to continue achieving high performance.
The amount of meeting content to include in an incentive travel program also tends to be challenging, with planners currently allowing participants to spend approximately 30% of their experience on meetings.
What is the ROI in this type of program?
In their research study, “Does Incentive Travel Improve Productivity? “The IRF found that incentive travel is a sales promotion tool that works well to increase sales productivity. In the case of the studied company, productivity increased by 18% on average.
In the study »Measuring the ROI of sales incentive programs«, the sample ROI in a dealership sales program using post-hoc data as a control group was 112%.
However, the success of these programs naturally depends on how well the program is designed and executed. In the study, »Evaluating the impact of sales incentive programs«, the study found that if the organization did not take into account the changes that had to occur in the upstream and downstream processes, the incentive travel program would have yielded an ROI of -92%. However, when these changes were considered and implemented, the program achieved a true ROI of 84%.
What are the current trends?
The main trends in incentive travel programs (and the corresponding number of planners currently using these options) are:
- Social networks to promote (40%)
- Virtual (33%)
- Corporate social responsibility (33%)
- Well-being (33%)
- Game mechanics or gamification (12%)
