The incentive industry has boomed over the last 10 years with more businesses than ever choosing to include incentive programmes in their business strategy. As the industry develops, so do the trends within it. 2018 was all about CSR and sustainability and whilst it will remain a focus, 2019 is becoming the year of wellness.
We all know about the important and necessary rise in mental health awareness that’s taken place over the last few years. It’s now in our consciousness more than ever that we should be focussing on mindful living, maintaining a work / life balance and finding ways to relieve stress from our day-to-day lives.
It can certainly be said that the new millennial generation is a push factor for this, with not only the rise in trends such as yoga and veganism, but also their desire for travel to be more than just a material experience.
Here are three reasons businesses should run wellness incentives:
Employees want wellness incentives
Incentive trips can be so jam-packed that delegates come away feeling tired. Often attendees will be eating food they don’t normally eat, be taken out of their normal exercise routine and will most likely get back to work the day after they get home to catch up on work they’ve missed.
Why not give them an experience that will rejuvenate them, so they go home feeling more motivated and balanced as opposed to tired and out of sync?
A wellness retreat is a fantastic opportunity to offer an authentic, meaningful experience that allows your employees (and yourself) to unwind and come back home refreshed and rejuvenated in body, mind, and spirit.
Focussing on wellness impacts businesses positively
Wellness incentives can help teach your delegates how to maintain a balanced lifestyle by providing tools that help handle stress, such as writing, painting, meditating and breathing techniques – but it can also help creative stimulation, be a useful teambuilding exercise or even help your guests connect to nature through outdoor activities.
Whatever you choose, it will have a positive impact on your business as by taking delegates to a place completely different to their day to day life you’ll give them space to re-connect with themselves and the world around them.
Employers benefit from healthier and more productive staff, plus trips that have a focus on wellbeing show that you care, that you’re invested in your people and that you want to make them the best they can be!
Wellness is an easy component to add on to trips
You don’t have to produce an entirely well being focused retreat to show that you care and want to let your delegates take some well-deserved R&R. A great way to incorporate wellness is through ‘zen zone’ days, where people can do morning yoga/ tai-chi, days where staff engage with charitable activities or detox days where alcohol and calorific treats are off the menu.
Take it one step further and put your delegates on a ‘digital detox’. Remove all phones, emails and social media from their experience and instead usher them into their natural environment to re-connect with the everyday wonders they might have been missing. It’s all about finding a balance between thrill and relaxation, that leaves your delegates feeling recharged while also taking away some incredible memories.
Many of us spend eight hours a day, five days a week at a desk, so it’s important that delegates feel like they’re suitably rewarded from their incentive trips. It’s important to always find the balance between wellness and adventure so each delegate has a rounded experience, but fundamentally, the key is to listen and understand your audience, business and values so whatever incentive trip you go on, it’s tailored exactly to your people.
