Northstar

May-Jun 2017 55 meetings & conventions • mcmag-asia.com So when a client comes to you and says they want to plan an incentive travel programme, you first look at who is on that programme? We look broadly at the employee compensation plan. Is it oriented towards monetary rewards? And what about non-monetary rewards such as an incentive travel trip, gifting or motivational seminars? Then it is about bringing together the right stakeholders to ask the right questions. Not 'how do I design a great trip?' but 'how do I ensure that the right people are on that trip?' While this approach is holistic and looks at a client's long-term strategic growth, it is also highly complicated and involves many components. How do you plan the road map for them? We start with a design conference that will take no more than two days. Armed with useful data that we have secured from our client, we bring together two key groups of stakeholders – the decision makers and the implementors. They involve staff handling HR, finance, sales, channel management, commercial management, product marketing, events management and employee compensation. At the end of the conference, we will have 80 percent of the design completed. From there, we crunch some numbers, identify industry benchmarks and within two weeks, we present a straw model. We then fine-tune it and change about 15 percent of it, after which we commence a pilot test. Generally, we tell clients to work with a two- to three-year time frame in order to effect significant changes. So you have identifed the key challenge of the cost crunch, yet it is important to keep motivational levels high. How does the incentive travel planner make it work – and be creative at the same time? Let's say a client wants to spend $2m on incentive travel. The question to ask is 'what is the break-even point?' for the programme' and 'at what point do you look at incremental sales growing to justify the cost of a trip?' From there, we justify the overall spend, and decide if a multi-tiered programme would work best to cater to performers of different levels. For sure, the incentive travel trip is the most aspirational, and one that employees look forward to. A creative trip needn't be an expensive one; it can even be a road trip or dinner at a unique venue, and from these small experiences, employees can work towards earning the bigger trips. The idea is to spark that fire in your people and to provide a meaningful experience for them. What are the trends that you see influencing the way incentive travel is being designed? Depending on the type of group, there is a change in the focus of events. The gala dinner has always been the important highlight, but rather than try to outdo the previous year's gala event again and again, it is more important to focus on the unique experiences of the entire programme. For example, the tours and team building activities should be customised and with more options for delegates to enjoy the experience in small groups. And not just tours, but immersive experiences – don't just visit an opera house; rather, attend an opera performance. Take London as an example. Most people visit Abbey Road and do The Beatles Walk. For one of our groups, we visited a studio and had the delegates do live music recordings. And we played these recordings during the gala dinner. Everyone loved it. Even China. Most people do the big three – Shanghai, Beijing and Xi'an to see the Forbidden City, the Great Wall of China and the terracotta warriors. But it is also meaningful to have delegates learn about TCM medicine and go to a spa where it is applied, or to go for acupuncture and learn about the meridian points. So, there is a big move towards making a big event seem small by having a lot more flexible and customised experiences and activities. "By motivating the middle performers, a company can influence a bigger improvement in the curve. So, the top 30 percent is really valuable as well, not just the top 10 percent" – DAVID LITTEKEN, VP, ASIA PACIFIC, BI WORLDWIDE

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