The corporate incentive trips are effective resources that many companies use as a motivation and reward tool for employees, teams, partners, etc.
Indeed the incentive based on a wage increase or the inclusion of a certain bonus in a specific pay check is the most common incentive used in the business world, however, this alternative also exists, where the individual is rewarded with a personal and memorable experience.
In this article we will cover everything related to corporate incentive trips, benefits, disadvantages… as well as the ideal way to organise them to attain our corporate objectives with an effective motivating strategy.
Foto de Gerrie van der Walt en Unsplash
What does a corporate incentive trip consist in?
The corporate incentive trips are trips that companies offer their employees as a reward for their good performance at work. These rewards are intended to motivate and reward employees according to their achievements, their constant hard work or attaining specific objectives.
There are certain key features that define the corporate incentive trips:
- The objective is to motivate the employee with a trip: When the employee is offered this type of incentive, they try to attain specific objectives or achievements, knowing that they will get rewarded for this.
- It is an exclusive experience: Generally, they are trips in which participants have certain experiences or that, given their characteristics, are exclusive because they would be expensive or could not be acquired in any other way. Luxury destinations, special activities, taking part in certain events, slow travel…
- They are customised: They are usually designed in accordance with the preferences or the specific characteristics of the people rewarded, which means the destination, the activities, dates, etc. are customised.
- It is a public acknowledgement of the achievements of the employee or the team. In fact, in some cases they are even awarded or preceded by some type of celebration or ceremony where the success of the people involved is highlighted.
What are the benefits of organising corporate incentive trips?
This type of corporate incentive trip is organised to get a number of benefits, not only for the employees, but also for the company itself. The main ones are listed below:
- Increase the motivation of the employees and their commitment to the company, by seeing that their hard work and merits are rewarded.
- Improved employee performance, they put more effort into their work and they are more determined to attain the objectives set, in order to get their reward.
- Have employees who are more motivated and do their job better, which directly results in an increase in the company’s productivity.
- Retain talent and the best employees, who see how their productivity and success is rewarded and, therefore, they feel comfortable in the company.
- Competitive differentiation by offering an attractive and ambitious incentive system that other companies do not have.
- Better work environment. The incentive trips are often offered to various employees, who strengthen their bonds on the trips, and this contributes to a better work environment.
- Those that benefit from the incentive trips develop new skills that, on many occasions, involve activities or acquiring new knowledge that might improve them professionally and personally.
- If the incentive programmes are offered to business partners or customers, they improve the loyalty of these partners, which also consolidates the professional relationship.
- This all leads to an improved image of the company, where its employees and partners feel happy with their relationship with it, and they become its best opinion leaders.
Disadvantages of the corporate incentive trips
Although there are many obvious advantages, there are a few disadvantages or challenges to take into account when it comes to implementing an incentive trip in the company. They are as follows:
- The company has to invest time and money into organising them. This investment will depend on the number of employees who are going to be rewarded with this type of trip, along with the cost of the trips.
- It might cause jealousy: Employees who are not rewarded might feel bad or unfairly treated, which would lead to low morale in the workplace.
- The challenge of selecting the employees who are going to be rewarded might be a delicate process. That is why; it is a good idea to always establish quantifiable objectives that everyone can recognise easily when it comes to awarding incentives.
- If the trips are not organised and managed properly, what might have started off as being a reward for the employee could end up being a bad experience.
Ideally how long should a corporate incentive trip last?
The company should always be the one to decide on how long a trip lasts and the conditions of the related rewards based on the knowledge and the opinion of its employees, its own brand and, in general, what they consider to be positive for each case. In any event, here are a few ideas about how long an incentive trip should last ideally.
- Between 2 and 5 days is a good amount of time. It is enough to reward the employee and not too long to be a setback for the daily activities of the company or the workmates.
- The budget available for the trip can also effect the duration of it.
- There must be a certain amount of flexibility in the duration of the trip, in this way, the employee who has been rewarded the trip can also adjust it to their availability or their wishes.
- Much better if it takes place on work days. Firstly, because the reward is supposed to be a rest from their normal activities at work. Furthermore, if it is on the weekend, the employee might find inconveniences, such as availability or they might feel that the trip cuts into their free time (turning a reward into a setback).
- If activities are available, it must be with a loose agenda. If it isn’t, what is meant to be a relaxing trip would turn out to be an exhausting list of engagements that would be very stressful.
- The needs of the rewarded employees must be taken into account. It should be a gratifying experience, so, it should adapt to the preferences of the employee or the partner who has been rewarded.