All companies have business goals. Offering a travel gift certificate program is a proven way of incentivizing employees to help achieve those goals. Here are four reasons it works.

Motivation That Works

A business’s efforts to motivate and reward employees with travel gifts certificates can yield significant payback. When a program is carefully designed to achieve business goals, and then reviewed and tweaked from period to period, it’s a win/win for the company and the employees. Designing shorter terms and specific objectives for new programs makes it easy to see if the program is succeeding. Takeaways can be applied to the next period for further success.

“Properly structured programs aimed at individuals improved performance 25%; those aimed at teams showed 45% improvement. An overwhelming majority of workers— 92%—said they achieved their goals because of incentives.”

International Society of Performance Improvement

The initial reward of a travel gift certificate is not only a prize but using it can rejuvenate the winner and drive productivity after they return from vacation. Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) found a 22 percent gain in performance after implementing a new program, and that improvement jumped to 44–48 percent for programs in place longer than six months.

Experiences Outrank Goods

When a company gives experiences to its employees instead of cash rewards, it shows a more genuine and personal appreciation for the job done, beyond the dollar value. Cash is forgettable but a vacation offers a huge impact from an experiential perspective. If an employee purchases sporting goods or a new watch with a cash reward, they will undoubtedly enjoy using it, but they are unlikely to remember later that the company was responsible for the gift. When they relive the memories of a vacation, those experiences are indelibly tied to the gift.

What’s more, giving a travel gift certificate simplifies administration of the program, yet allows the recipient the flexibility to customize the gift to their personal desires and travel style – another win/win. It has been proven that the planning and anticipation of a trip improve one’s happiness and well-being, so that’s a bonus experience that factors in.

Attract and Retain Talent

Having a strong employee engagement strategy is essential for companies to attract and retain the talent necessary to be competitive. This is even more true during what has been coined “The Great Resignation.” In the last year, employees across all kinds of jobs and industries have been considering what they want from their jobs, their employers, and their work/life balance. If it’s not a good fit, they retire, move to a competitor, or change careers altogether. Research shows that an organization’s failure to appreciate high performers is one element that predicts attrition.

Companies that have effective incentive programs enjoy 31 percent lower voluntary turnover. The use of travel incentives and travel gift certificates, specifically, promotes higher job satisfaction and employee retention. Travel rewards and recognition programs also attract quality candidates for new hires, giving the company a competitive edge.  

Stimulate Better Work-Life Balance

Achieving a work-life balance means equally prioritizing the demands of one’s job and self/family. A good balance results in less stress, better mental and physical health, and a lower incidence of burnout. Vacations are a wonderful way to recharge and reconnect with what is personally important.

In 2019, the last “normal” year studied (pre-pandemic), 53 percent of Americans didn’t use all their paid vacation time. That’s 768 million days! One of Covington’s corporate clients is so committed to the importance of work/life balance and the regenerative value of travel, that it is currently creating a travel gift certificate program to help employees pay for vacation travel arrangements as a way of encouraging its employees to take their vacation time.

How can companies use travel gift certificates?

There are multiple ways that organizations can use travel gift certificates to achieve company goals.

• Increase or maintain sales
• Recognize performance
• Build employee loyalty and trust
• Start or maintain relationships
• Build customer loyalty and trust
• Improve customer service
• Foster teamwork
• Create new markets

Contact Covington for help creating a travel gift certificate incentive program for your organization.