TRAVEL group Globetrotter doesn’t necessarily share the sentiments of a recent survey showing business confidence at its lowest level since the GFC, and has launched a new business unit targeting employee incentives in the workplace.
The latest NAB monthly business survey may present sober reading, but Globetrotter recognised that even in tough times employers use staff incentives, particularly in sales, to get the best out of their employees.
Incentive programs are typically run to improve employees’ performance, often culminating in paid travel if specific targets are met.
Programs of this nature are most commonly used to incentivise sales and marketing staff, a cohort Globetrotter conference and group travel national manager Jayson Frazer said employers had come to appreciate more.
“One of the tilings we saw during the GFC, and what has carried through, is that companies are recognising it’s the sales end of the business that’s bringing in the revenue, so they need to keep revenue up and keep sales buoyant,” Mr Frazer said.
“Companies are just looking to get better value; instead of incentive trips being five or six days we’re seeing them go down to four or five, or instead of sending the top 30 staff they’11 send the top 20.”
To meet the continuing demand for employee reward programs, Globetrotter has established a dedicated business unit to run incentive programs for other companies - the ‘Incentive Lab’.
Mr Frazer said the company recognised a gap in the way the incentives business typically operated - with the program leading up to the reward typically ran in-house, and travel and accommodation arrangements outsourced to businesses such as Globetrotter.
“There’s this massive swing away from doing everything yourself internally to instead finding a company that can do everything and provide an incentive solution as a complete offering,” Mr Frazer told WA Business News.
“We saw the opportunity to bring the two strengths together for one full solution; the opportunity for us is to provide everything they need in an out-of-the-box solution.”
But it’s not just travel; while a trip away has long been considered the ultimate reward, Mr Frazer said the fact that it may not of itself assure long-term productivity had prompted a look at alternatives.
“If the objective is long-term growth in the sales area then we’ll try to construct a program that relates to those goals, so for some long-term effects we may not recommend a travel incentive,” he said.
“We suggest things such as merchandise rewards, gift cards or learning-based rewards.”