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Incentive travel is one of the most effective ways to recognize employees for their hard work today. Money is always appreciated, but cash bonuses are typically spent as part of an employee’s regular compensation. These can be used to pay household bills, to buy regular items that employees need, or even to add to their savings. As a result, cash bonuses rarely create lasting memories of employee recognition and can actually be viewed as part of an employee’s regular compensation.
The primary way that companies are recognizing their best employees is through individual incentive travel. What better thing to give an employee who has worked hard to achieve something than the opportunity to enjoy a vacation, earned by their hard work, to a destination of their choice.
While money can be perceived as being used for paying of daily bills and expenses, experiences are what create lasting memories. These memories can be created while the employee is looking forward to the trip, while they are on the trip and even after they return home. This emotional connection is why travel continues to be at the top of recognition and rewards programs rather than handing out a check or cash bonus.
Employees remember where they went, who they traveled with and the activities they participated in while on vacation. Whether the award is for a vacation to Tuscany to taste the local wines, to Hawaii on the beautiful Kohala Coast, to Barcelona to take in the sights and sounds of this vibrant city or to sample the best Champagnes on a tour of France, employees will remember the experiences they had while on their award for years to come.
They have the chance to relax and recharge in a wonderful setting. While they’re there, they remember the reasons they received the award in the first place – and relish in their hard work and merit. So many individuals remember the destination and the activities they enjoyed. Perhaps they stayed in a private Italian villa and explored vineyards, or headed to the Kohala Coast of Hawaii and relaxed on the pristine white sandy beaches, or discovered the energy of the streets of Barcelona. Other recipients have gone on a Champagne tour in France, or experienced the excitement of Broadway in New York City. Some have even ventured to California’s wine country in Paso Robles, or the Big Island of Hawaii, or explored adventure in and around Barcelona.
That emotional impact makes travel a powerful recognition tool. Employees don't simply remember receiving an award. They remember the experience itself.
In addition, research is continually demonstrating the power that experiential rewards hold in terms of motivation. These types of rewards are often valued far above physical prizes because they are felt to be so meaningful to the individual.
One of the biggest advantages of today’s incentive travel programs is flexibility when it comes to travel dates.
There is also a big difference in how employees can use individual travel incentives as opposed to cash rewards. With individual travel, employees can arrange for their travel to best fit into their schedules as opposed to having to travel together as a group of employees on predetermined dates.
Today’s recognition programs take an employee-centric approach, offering a wide variety of experiences that allow recipients to plan the best time to use their reward for travel. For example, rather than receiving a voucher for a vacation to be taken up to 18 months, the employee is given the ability to choose and book their dream vacation within hundreds of options of destinations and experiences around the world, such as: Relaxing on the beautiful white sand beaches of the Caribbean or experiencing the excitement of a Broadway musical in New York City. Traveling through the scenic vineyards of Paso Robles in California or the picturesque island of Hawaii’s Big Island. Taking in the culture and sights of a historic city in Europe such as Barcelona or touring the French countryside on a Champagne tour. The possibilities are endless.
Perceiving value to employees means offering choices that allow them to pick the experience that is most meaningful to them, and thus, is the most rewarding.
Rather than rewarding employees for their achievements with one experience that may or may not appeal to each of them, businesses are now providing their best employees with access to hundreds of destinations and experiences within different travel niches. These businesses allow their best employees to choose a reward that is truly meaningful to them.
Delivering an exceptional travel reward experience to employees involves so much more than just picking a destination to reward employees for their hard work and achievements. Employees expect an experience from start to finish.
In addition to choosing a destination for the award, the experience must also be seamless for the recipient from planning to return. The employer’s time should not be consumed by making travel arrangements. That is why working with a travel partner is so important.
Mitch-Stuart specializes in Incentive Travel and in offering individuals an array of travel choices that can be redeemed for a variety of purposes. We can take care of the travel arrangements for employees from start to finish, including booking flights, arranging for hotel accommodations and booking tours and activities. And, we can do it all with the level of personal service that a concierge would provide. We make it easy for employers to administer an Incentive Travel Program without requiring them to be involved in the details of planning a trip for employees.
It creates a very rewarding recognition experience for your employees and an incredibly easy experience for you to administer.
One reason travel incentives continue to be one of the best ways to reward and recognize employees is that there are so many different types of places and experiences to choose from.
Some employees are inspired by the ocean and a relaxing vacation, while others are motivated by historic destinations, culinary explorations, or even great outdoor adventures. A business can recognize the many interests of their employees by offering a variety of destinations and create a very rewarding recognition experience.
Mitch-Stuart’s Perfect Places collection features hundreds of locations and travel experiences across the globe, in the United States and abroad. Wine Country? Tuscany? Greece? Employees can dream of a European vacation in the historic city of Barcelona or sipping champagne in a lavish suite. The Caribbean, Hawaii’s Big Island, historic New York City, and many more Perfect Places offer employees with various interests the perfect recognition. Employees have the option to choose a travel experience that best suits their tastes and interests. With a broad selection of destinations and packages, there’s something for everyone!
There are many ways to provide memorable experiences to reward employees for their achievements, such as providing unique items or cash, which are usually short-lived. Rewarding employees with memorable travel experiences will create lasting memories for employees and associates alike, long after the journey has ended.
That lasting emotional connection that occurs with a travel reward is why it is among the most valued of employee incentives today.
The greatest advantage to the company of utilizing an experienced travel provider is simplicity to administration of the program.
Coordinating travel for any number of employees can be very time-consuming, particularly when there are different schedules, different destinations and different goals. By having Mitch-Stuart handle all of the travel details, employers can save a lot of time and focus on recognizing their employees’ achievements.
When your company uses Mitch-Stuart to provide incentive travel, your employees can choose from individualized travel packages. We’ll make it easy to implement and wonderful for your employees. Employees appreciate that help is available when choosing a travel package and that they have help with every step of the travel booking process.
Help them keep their focus on congratulating their employee for a job well done.
Not every employee dreams of the same vacation.
Others might dream of a week exploring all the vineyards and hill towns in Tuscany or relaxing on a beach in the Caribbean or traveling to Greece to learn about all of its history. You might be someone that loves the culture of Portugal or traveling to New York City to take in a Broadway show.
Every traveler is different and therefore would like to have the opportunity to select a vacation experience that is tailored to their individual tastes and interests.
Each of the travel programs that Mitch-Stuart offers are different and offer a unique travel experience. All of our programs are designed to offer employees a variety of choices to allow them to pick the program that best fits their interests. By allowing employees to choose their own travel experience, you can be assured that the recognition they receive will be of the greatest value.
The result is a recognition program that feels personal rather than one-size-fits-all.
Recognition is most effective when it creates a lasting emotional connection.
On the other hand, a travel reward is remembered for years to come. Employees will long remember watching the sunset over the Mediterranean, dining over dinner in a Tuscan village, strolling down historic streets in Portugal or taking in a performance on Broadway in New York City.
These memories are etched into an employee’s personal experiences. And they remind employees of the organization that recognized their hard work and achievement while watching that sunset or eating in that Tuscan village.
Travel is valued most as employee recognition today because it creates a lasting emotional connection with the organization, long after the cash bonus has been spent.
Individual incentive travel experiences not only make for great rewards, they can also support the organization’s goals in recognizing employees’ special contributions and outstanding performance to foster increased levels of motivation and recognize their value to the organization.
Examples of business goals and employee recognition programs that utilize individual incentive travel rewards to thank key employees for their hard work and recognition for their outstanding performance include:
Outstanding sales performance
Years of exceptional service
Leadership accomplishments
Major project milestones
Annual performance recognition
Because the incentive travel reward is aspirational as opposed to transactional in nature, most employees are highly motivated to attain an experience that they would not normally afford.
The positive reinforcement of exceptional performance and the employee’s feelings that their organization values them and their efforts.
The success of any employee recognition program is, in the end, measured by the quality of the experience that they are trying to give to their best employees.
A well-planned vacation to anywhere around the world to celebrate a person’s achievements is a powerful way to show how hard their work has been valued. As every detail of the vacation is planned to ensure that the employee has the best possible experience every step of the way, the memories of the vacation will remain with them for a long time.
That's where experience makes a difference.
Mitch-Stuart has over 30 years of experience designing and delivering the highest quality of curated travel experiences. By offering a comprehensive selection of travel destinations, allowing for the most flexible of redemption options, and providing a concierge level of service to both the employee and employer, Mitch-Stuart can take the hassle out of providing individual travel rewards to employees.
For employees, the experience feels personal.
For employers, the process is simple.
Recognizing outstanding employees is one of the best investments an organization can make.
While traditional rewards may have value, an experience-based reward will have a longer lasting impact, creating memories and stories that the employee will remember for years to come after the reward has been given.
By partnering with a travel expert, such as Mitch-Stuart, companies can provide individualized travel rewards that are meaningful, flexible, and effortless to administer.
Whatever their travel dreams may be – Tuscany, Portugal, relaxing in Greece, an Hawaii vacation or another destination of their choice – employees will be touched by their organization’s appreciation for their work when they are given the opportunity to experience a memorable individual travel reward.
Recognition that creates lasting memories is good for everyone. Employees feel that they have been valued by the organization, employee engagement increases and the work of the employee who has been recognized is celebrated.
