Survey Proves Travel Awards Will Actually Get Employees
To Want To Work Longer, Harder, Faster, And With
More Intensity Then Ever Before

Americans are willing to work longer hours, take on greater workloads, and increase the speed and intensity of their work - if the payoff is a reward that offers their choice.  When American Express Incentive Services (AEIS) polled 1,004 adult Americans at random in 1993, 63 percent said that their loyalty to their employers would increase if they had an ongoing incentive program that allowed them to choose rewards that were personally relevant.  53 percent said such a program would increase their loyalty "significantly."  (Shockingly 18 percent of working and retired Americans said they had never received a performance reward.)

Respondents to the AEIS survey said the awards they most wanted were:

Trip to a destination of their choice (40%) Shopping spree at stores of their choice (23%) Home improvements / home beautification items (19%) Season tickets to their favorite entertainment venue (10%) Electronics (4%) None of the above or don't know (4%).

Asked to recall their best and worst performance rewards, responses range from:

Over 60 percent of the respondents felt there would be a strong or moderate likelihood of change if it earned them a trip to a destination they selected.  More important than a trip itself, 40 percent said, was the "sense of appreciation and recognition" the award would convey.  They claimed it would improve their morale, and 80 percent said an individual travel award would be likely to improve their attitude at work.

What appealed to them was the opportunity for rest, relaxation, a free trip, and a chance to plan their own kind of a trip.  Only 10 percent preferred to win a trip with co-workers, a number that dropped to 5 percent if they couldn't take a companion along.