Chris Groundrill, account manager for Carlson Wagonlit Travel Meetings and Events, looks at incentivising drivers.
For the commercial fleet sector, things are looking up. At the turn of the new year, the BVRLA anticipated growth in almost every area of the industry, reporting an increase in their memberships and in fleet sizes.
Also at the beginning of this year, it was reported that more and more companies across all industries were feeling in a position to give their employees a pat on the back and treat them to a travel-based incentive - be it a company day out, or a full-blown holiday with their family. More than half of travel incentive planners surveyed by the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) said they would be increasing their budgets in 2015.
Rewarding employees with a well-deserved break or exciting experience can have a remarkable effect on productivity and driving results. However, in order to get the best ROI on travel incentives, you need a strategy. If you're thinking about rewarding your best assets for their hard work, here are a few things to consider...
Give attendees plenty of notice
If you’re trying to get people to be available for a week-long incentive with only a month’s or two month’s notice, that’s a very challenging aspect, and one that often blind-sides companies. They just assume that because they’ve got this amazing incentive in a fantastic place that people will be able to drop everything and go, and the reality is that people just can’t do that.
Factor in time to market the incentive and build anticipation
Publicise the incentive as soon as possible, so teams know what it is they’re working for. This boils down to being able to getting it signed off and be able to effectively market it. Allow enough time to build the anticipation and the understanding of what the incentive is about.
Set clear parameters for who will be rewarded
Whether it’s your top ten performers, or something else, have clear criteria in place for who gets to go on the travel incentive. However, make sure that these employees will actually be able to go, and have a contingency plan in place in case they can’t, otherwise the incentive won’t achieve its aim, and the return won’t be that high, because the right people won’t be there. If a reward for your top 20 employees turns into one for your top 50 to make up the numbers, it loses a bit of its kudos – you get people saying “I’m 36th, there’s still a good chance I’ll get invited”.
Incentives aren’t just for the sales team
While the performance of sales employees is easier to quantify, back-office teams can feel de-motivated or that their input to the business is not being recognised. Consider arranging an incentive for specific divisions, or company-wide incentives, and ensure there’s a real mix of people have the chance to take part. Evaluate performance on different criteria. It could just be people who have gone above and beyond in their roles, or you could have staff internally nominating colleagues they feel are deserving.
Throw in an auto-themed activity and an exciting destination
The past few incentives I’ve organised for automotive and mobile fleet clients have all wanted something different with a tie-in activity that involves driving. For example, we did a classic car journey through Chapman Peal in South Africa, and another Thailand incentive involved tuk-tuk rides and Jeep safaris, as the client really wanted an automotive element to the incentive, which is something I haven’t really noticed with other industries. There’s a real desire to go somewhere different and embrace a different culture while doing the incentive. It’s about finding a destination that sticks out as special for the attendees.
Post-event feedback is an essential motivational tool
This can actually be more motivational than the marketing of the incentive beforehand. A communication from senior management saying “this is what we did, this is who attended and why,” so you can encourage employees that missed out to try and be in the running for the next incentive is highly impactful. We always try to include photographers as part of the incentive, so you have all the pictures and videos to back it up, and include a teaser of what you have in mind for next year’s incentive.
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