Incentive - June 2008 - (Page 18)

Jennifer Juergens, Incentive; Marcell King, ACI Gift Cards Michael Arkes, Hinda Incentives; Leo Jakobson, Incentive the bulk of those who use incentives. TIM HOULIHAN: On the eco question, and forgive me for sounding cynical, but I think that we are ahead of the curve. Requests by client sponsors for eco-friendly travel or eco-friendly merchandise products are rare. Also, I don’t see the recipients of those programs demanding it or really acknowledging it. I think our clients think, “Well, it’s nice to have.” Right now, we’re waiting for the participants and client sponsors to catch up with what the incentive industry is offering. STEVE MASELKO : You might want to use another example of a socially responsible program that I was part of not too long ago. It was a small incentive trip that I was on that recognized some of our best customers. As part of that, we spent an afternoon working on a Boys and Girls Club—renovating and doing rehab on the facility for people in a part of Las Vegas that is really poverty stricken. That event brought lots of our customers so close in that one particular experience—there’s nothing that we could have done as a teambuilding event that could have accomplished that. We’ve seen how powerful and how potent that can be, on an emotional level, for people who are participants. T H : I don’t disagree that there is a tremendous amount of power in that, and it’s very potent stuff when it happens. What I don’t see is a sense of the demand from the participants. I see the client sponsors saying, “We believe we need to represent this.” Q What effect is the recession having on the incentive business? PAMELA VA L D E Z : The banks are not traveling. You can direct them to destinations that are dependable, but they’re not coming. That’s on the international side. On the domestic side of things, insurance incentives are changing the experience. It used to be, “Bring your spouse and have this lavish day.” Well, now it’s become a long weekend with family. So, let’s make the eighth floor a romper room because we travel so much you no longer have to leave your family. GLORIA LANDOW: I, personally, haven’t seen a major change in incentive travel. Travel programs haven’t been eliminated; however, budgets for the program have been somewhat reduced. My clients still want upscale properties, but in order to keep the cost down, are cutting out some of the gifts and other amenities that are given to the participants on site. B H : You still have to have incentives for your top performers, and the only area I’ve seen maybe a little fallout—other people may agree or disagree—is with their training meetings and stuff like that. But on the incentive side, if anything, it’s just gotten stronger. D B : I’ve watched the economy go up and down for the 30 years I’ve been doing this. In every case when the economy was down, it was a great opportunity for talking to companies about engaging, and increasing morale and recognizing employees. I really see the downward economy as an opportunity rather than a challenge. Non-sales programs and peer-to-peer recognition programs have been growing rapidly. Will this continue? T H : Today versus five years ago, there’s more being spent on individual recognition and employee programs. And, I would add, that it’s making a difference. The best companies in our country have figured out how to maximize retention through improved employee recognition. However, in the past year, budgets have tightened. The economy is affecting this. With things tightening up, clients believe that employees aren’t going to be so comfortable quitting if they’re not getting the Q 18 | Incentive | June 2008 | incentivemag.com http://incentivemag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Incentive - June 2008

Incentive - June 2008 Contents Editor’s Note In The News Cover Story: Seventh Annual Industry Roundtable Incentive Interview Case Study Soft Incentives Empowerment and Engagement The Incentive Career Incentive Primer Travel News: Where To Go and What To Do The Cook Islands Field Report: Bermuda Potentials: Here and Now 50 Top Motivators: The Best of the Best Electronics: High-end Audio Equipment Gift Cards: Should One Be Enough? Advertiser Index Off The Cuff

Incentive - June 2008

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