Employee Benefits poll: A third (33%) of respondents would not fund an employee holiday designed to boost motivation, engagement and team building.
A straw poll of www.employeebenefits.co.uk readers, which received 33 responses, also found that 21% of respondents would fund an employee holiday as a one-off incentive to help motivate staff, while 9% would commit to sending staff on holiday on an annual basis. A minority (6%) would fund an employee holiday to aid engagement and team building, but only on an ad-hoc basis.
More than one in 10 (15%) would consider funding an employee holiday in the future, and a further 15% do not know if this is something they would do at all.
Technology organisation Snow Software is one employer that commits to regular employer-funded staff holidays. This January, the organisation took 650 of its global employees to Engelberg, Switzerland to celebrate achieving its annual sales target, as well as to support its employee engagement and teambuilding strategies.
The trip, which took place between Saturday 13 January and Tuesday 16 January 2018, saw 650 of Snow Software’s 720 global employees being flown to the ski resort in Engelberg. All employees based across the organisation’s 23 operating countries were invited to attend, including those who work on a part-time basis, work from home, or are currently on parental leave.
The ski trip forms part of Snow Software’s annual sales incentive, which is aligned with the organisation’s values, internally known as Snow Spirits. In particular, the incentive is linked to the value of ‘being all in for the win’, emphasising the teamwork and cohesion across the business that is required in order to hit the target. If the target is met, the organisation redefines its employees as ‘The Gold Team’, rewarding them with the Engelberg ski trip.
To date, Snow Software employees have enjoyed the planned ski trip seven times over the nine years that the global incentive scheme has been running.
Last May, private healthcare marketing organisation Digital Catalyst took its staff to Ibiza for a three-day holiday in order to boost employee engagement and motivation, as well as to increase teamwork within the business.
The employer-funded trip, which took place on Friday 12 to Sunday 14 May 2017, gave staff the opportunity to network informally, as well as meet colleagues from across the organisation’s locations in the UK and Spain.
Digital Catalyst covered all costs for the trip, including flights and accommodation at an all-inclusive hotel in Playa d’en Bossa, which includes all food and drink. Employees were also given the opportunity to select the final destination of the holiday from a provided shortlist.