Incentive - February 2009 - (Page 37) TRAVEL “It allows more people to still have an opportunity to be in this incentive program that the company has designed for them as a group, but now they are doing it more as an individual.” The savings comes in by not having to offer the same high-ticket option to all winners, providing options for trimming within various tiers without having to make a large across-the-board change. This is the first year Peak Performance will be planning a program of this type. They have been planning only group trips until now, but with many companies cutting their budgets by 30 to 40 percent, according to Zilinek, executives are looking for new ideas, and winners are open to them. “Employees understand when it’s been a bad year, and they wouldn’t be surprised to find out there have been adjustments to an incentive trip or employee gift.” Motivation Show, where she met with three representatives from the same corporate client. “As we all sat and talked about everything going on, we came up with ideas for what we can do to order and what we can do to share, and if one person had a cancellation how could we fill that space,” says Huber. With reporting by Leo Jakobson Help From The Top Brass Sometimes the executives who are concerned about saving money on the trip can add value for little cost by getting more involved with the participants. SEI’s Huber says that recognition coming directly from the senior executive team on a trip offers a stronger motivational boost for employees and a stronger commitment and sense of connection to the company they work for. But perhaps more important to achieving the goals of the incentive program is the time participants get to spend interacting with the executives. Huber says that the “structured but relaxed” conversations between the leadership and workers about the company’s philosophy and future often provide employees with something more rewarding and memorable than luxurious accommodations. Since members of the company leadership already number among the participants for most medium- to large-scale incentive trips, the only added expense would be the executives’ time and effort. “Especially lately I’ve been thinking, ‘If we have to reduce the budget on these incentive trips, is there a way that the executive team can have more exposure and provide more value in that way?’ ” says Huber. “We can buy things for a group and bring in entertainment and things like that, but being somewhere with their executive team, being part of this elite group is a strong incentive.” Huber also urges executives to think outside the box— or silo. “Be holistic in the whole company and find out what other events are happening—what are you doing, where are you doing them, can you use any of the graphics they are using, or share resources over multiple meetings?” says Huber. Whether it means getting a bulk discount on supplies, room discounts or just simplifying the planning process, there is big value to be gained from breaking down a few departmental walls. Huber gives the example from The Meeting creates Understanding. Understanding creates Networking. Networking creates Experience. Experience creates Knowledge. Knowledge creates Technology. Technology creates Convenience. Convenience creates Well-being. Well-being creates Feeling. Feeling creates Motivation. Motivation creates Participation. Participation creates Meetings! www.austrian.com www.acv.at www.messecongress.at www.vienna.convention.at incentivemag.com | February 2009 | Incentive | 37 http://www.vienna.info http://www.austrian.com http://www.acv.at http://www.messecongress.at http://www.vienna.convention.at http://www.incentivemag.com
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