Plan ahead and partner for best results
When you’re looking for employee motivation, think far away. As in, incentive travel to somewhere far from the office (and even the home office!). Group incentive travel is one of the few benefits with almost universal appeal. In the 2022 Incentive Research Foundation Report (IRF), “the percentage that found group incentive travel to be ‘extremely’ or ‘very motivating’ increased to 91%.” That sounds like a winning strategy to motivate and reward your top performers. How can you navigate incentive travel for the results you need?
The 4 Ps of a Good Plan
- Plan Ahead: As with any large endeavor, start planning early. In fact, ideally, your client can promote next year’s trip at this year’s event. (It’s both practical and motivating!)
- Prioritize Expertise: We always tell our clients to divide to conquer. They bring invaluable knowledge of the corporate culture and individual preferences to the table. We have the expertise to know what resorts and venues will work best for their specific needs, as well as our negotiating clout and global connections. And when it comes to on-site experiences, we always recommend working with a destination management company (DMC) who will know all the ins and outs that don’t show up in typical reviews and searches.
- Prepare to Research: When looking for the “perfect” boutique property or unique venue, traditional search methods may not be enough. Develop a list of multiple options from “ideal” to “acceptable.” Engage your DMC early—they might have existing relationships with hotels and venues in your desired destination and can help with negotiations. Take on the detective role and ask questions, look at websites, check reviews and always do an extensive site visit.
- Prevent Surprises: Speaking of site visits, nobody likes surprises. Build a robust site visit agenda that allows you to see all the suggested options. When it comes to a trip that’s meant to be a reward, it pays to do as much investigation and quality assurance ahead of time as possible.
Read More: Incentive Travel: A New Generation
3 Tips for the Best Experience
Go into your incentive travel with the words “partnership” and “communication” front and center.
No. 1: Share: Think of everyone you’ll be working with as your partners. The more you can share your vision with them, the more buy-in you’ll have. People respond best when treated as part of the solution, not a “task taker” just meant to carry out orders. Start by sharing the goals, and paint a picture of past program successes, getting into what worked well and what didn’t.
No. 2: Communicate: If you picture everyone walking around with a flock of tiny birds chirping and swooping around their heads, that might help us remember that we’re all busy, and we all have multiple priorities. Set up a call schedule and timeline as soon as possible, and stick to them. Even if you have no updates, a quick check-in at your scheduled call time keeps your partners engaged. Hold each other accountable for deliverables. If they see you value their time as you expect yours to be valued, that goes a long way to building engagement in shared success.
No. 3: Remember: Your vendor partners are still feeling the pandemic pain of the employee exodus. Now they’re also confronting the result of undertrained, overworked replacements. The more you can take that into account, the smoother the planning and the better the final results.
“Picture everyone walking around with a flock of tiny birds chirping around their heads to help us remember that we’re all busy.”
Incentive travel should be fun—for everyone! The more you can plan in advance, partner with all your resources, and keep the goals in mind, the more you can enjoy the amazingly unique experience.
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Bert Guy, Bishop-McCann senior program manager, has more than 30 years of experience in corporate meetings, events and incentive programs.
This article appears in the July/August 2023 issue. You can subscribe to the magazine here.
