In 2005 General Motors launched a consumer incentive program after a few years of sluggish sales. From this promotion alone, the auto maker’s share of the US market jumped almost seven per cent in just 30 days. So do business incentives work? Yes they do, if it’s done right. If you are a business owner or a decision maker in a company and you have not seriously considered incentives or you’ve “been there done that” already, you might want to revisit the dynamics of business incentives and of being a step ahead of your competition.

Most high level executives will say it’s important for them to incentivize their staff – yes, that’s a real word - yet they believe by giving them an engraved pen or a baseball cap is enough. The reality is there is a disconnect that can be traced to the 80/20 rule. In case you’re unfamiliar with this term the Reader’s Digest version is that 20% of your staff are responsible for 80% of your results. Because of this companies don’t feel the need to shower everyone with gifts when only a small percentage of employees actually produce anyway, which explains why many companies don’t have incentive programs at all. This creates the domino effect: the employee doesn’t feel appreciated, performance eventually stagnates or declines and managers end up talking to, writing up or letting the employee go to find someone else who’s always motivated. Do you realize how expensive that is? The cost-per-hire ratios and the man hours it takes to find another person is staggering.

Of course there are many companies who operate successfully with highly productive people. And for those smoother running ships, you can be assured there is an incentive program in place. Business is a partnership, be that with an employee or a customer. There is a symbiotic relationship you cannot deny or you will die, and this transcends into personal relationships too. To put it another way, if you are not appreciated in some tangible capacity you will not be there for long. And like the principles in the laws of gravity, this never changes. When was the last time you gave your partner flowers or movie tickets? When was the last time you hugged your teenaged son or daughter? There is, however, a right way and a wrong way in the world of appreciation. As an example with Christmas’ gone by, have you ever received something you wanted to give back immediately? Yeah, we’ve all been there but the right thing to do is to say thank you and that you love it. The same can be said in receiving a travel mug from your employer for instance. It’s a nice gesture and you appreciate it but, come on, after you use it once it sits in your house or your office collecting dust. The one incentive everyone agrees on that can positively affect your work environment is travel. Statistically proven, it is the number one incentive employees, clients – people – prefer over anything else.

While we all know cash is king you also know that once you give it, that lucky employee will spend it all within a day or two and then it’s gone and forgotten. With travel, you never forget who gave it to you and the photos you take while away become treasured memories for years. Perhaps even more important is if that employee leaves your company; it’s like going to a great restaurant, they’re going to tell someone about it. Companies such as Coastal Vacations provide an inexpensive, unique and simple to use lifetime discount travel package that caters to every personal whim from mini-getaways to hotel stays, theme parks, luxury condos, dining, golfing and a lot more. It has many uses such as igniting sales through contests to retirement gifts, rewarding employees or just to say “thank you”. So when the time comes to implement an incentive program that will ultimately push your organization forward, think about the long term positive affects of what a little getaway will do for you.