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Skift
11 hours ago
- Business
- Skift
Geopolitics, Inflation, Staffing: Incentive Planners Share Their Top Pain Points and Solutions
Incentive experts stress the importance of a Plan B and C as the geopolitical landscape shifts and costs continue to skyrocket. Incentive planners play the role of the middle man between their clients/senior management and their attendees — with both groups having high expectations for each year's trip. Despite tight budgets (some having remained the same since 2019), planners are expected to design an experience that will excite even the most seasoned winners. Now there's the added stress from new government policies such as tariffs andthe fact that a third of industry companies are struggling to find talented workers, according to research from the Incentive Research Foundation. So it's no surprise that the room was packed and the frustration level high during a discussion of 'pain points' at the IRF Invitational at AVA Resort Cancun in early June. The panel featured Jeremy Bielski, vice president of sales, ITA Group; Rachel McInnis, vice president, solution strategy, Maritz; and Janielle Peacock, director experiences & learning, RDV Corporation, and was moderated by Melissa Van Dyke, senior vice president, integrated marketing and innovation, Creative Group. Panelists at the IRF Invitational: Rachel McInnis, vice president, solution strategy, Maritz; Janielle Peacock, director experiences & learning, RDV Corporation; Jeremy Bielski, vice president of sales, ITA Group, with moderator Melissa Van Dyke, senior vice president, integrated marketing and innovation, Creative Group Following are the top four pain points identified by the group: 1. Safety and Security Whether a company works with its own internal security experts or hires an outside firm, destination and attendee safety concerns are heightened due to the geopolitical climate in the U.S. and around the world. ITA's Bielski said his company's security partner helps provide context to what everyone is hearing in the news. 'They're in the trenches globally and they understand what's going on,' he said. 'We have them come in pretty early on and do a risk assessment of every destination we're looking at. It gives a sense of security and trust to the client to know that their well-being and the well-being of their participants will be taken care of.' Building partnerships with hotel brands is key to being able to pivot if there's a need to change destinations, along with including force majeure protection at the contracting stage. 2. Impact of Tariffs The incentive merchandise industry has had to quickly adjust to the threat that tariffs will impact both pricing and availability. The key, panelists said, is to have a wide range of choices, so that if there are certain items that are impacted, recipients can still find something of the same value. More companies are turning to local vendors for on-site gifting, a strategy that the IRF practiced at its final evening event, where attendees were given 'fun money' to shop at a marketplace of goods from Mexican artists and vendors. 3. Crippling Costs 'If you have the same budget in 2025 that you had in 2019, your costs are 23% higher for travel,' said Van Dyke. But a 23% degradation in the experience is not an option. 'How do we start to look at these programs and make the best decisions with rising costs and inelastic budgets?' she said. One option is to increase the perceived value of the experience without increasing hard costs. 'Focus on things like access, or status,' she said. 'Who gets the priority seating at an event? Who gets first access to redeem their reward? Those are things that you can add without adding a whole lot of cost to a program.' Another strategy would be to add a meet-and-greet if the program includes an entertainer. 'That would add a little bit of value and maybe not impact the cost, depending on the relationship you may have with the vendor,' she said. Other cost-cutting suggestions included: • Cutting out one day's hosted activities • Adding more free time, which IRF research has shown is a top priority for incentive attendees • Cutting the number of hosted meals • Doing away with on-site gifting • Having attendees arrange their own transfers • Capping air credits so that attendees cover the cost of their own upgrades • Cutting lavish entertainment and relying more on background playlists • Replacing signature cocktails with beer and wine, or using drink tickets. 4. Staffing Concerns IRF research has found that a third of incentive planners are concerned about staffing. Most people don't begin their careers thinking they want to be an incentive planner, so the first step, the panel said, is to grow awareness of the industry. The two major industry associations, the IRF and the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence, have created various initiatives such as podcasts to attract young talent to the industry. SITE's Texas chapter brings hoteliers and planners together with hospitality students and represents the industry at job fairs.
Forbes
09-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Listening To An Employee Owner's Experience Will Make Your Day
Very simply, my enduring passion for employee ownership to which I've devoted over three decades reflects a delight in hearing workers tout the benefits of being an employee owner. And the advantages they cite go far beyond the substantial retirement funds they can attain from being part of an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP. These personal accounts illuminate the human aspect of employee ownership often restrained or overlooked when a family-owned or mid-size firm contemplates an ESOP. Thankfully, Danny Massey, head of strategy and communications at Expanding ESOPs – a coalition of over 50 organizations promoting wider adoption of ESOPs – is giving voice to and amplifying workers' stories. Let's listen in. Typically, employees initially know little about employee ownership. With time, they ... More enthusiastically tout the financial and other rewards to their and their families' lives. The account of Archie Reed of Web Industries, a flexible materials converter and ESOP in Marlborough, Mass., typifies many of the stories. Reed had been laid off from his previous job during the Great Recession, and it took a while before he got his opportunity at Web. It was at his interview there 16 years where he first heard about the ESOP. 'They explained it to me, but it went over my head. I was 31…and I was just looking for a steady paycheck,' he recounts. 'But when I got hired and hit the shop floor, I could tell right away this place was different. I was used to a dusty, overheated warehouse, but the temperature was comfortable and everything was pristine. If a pallet was out of place, someone would pick it up.' Thinking about his future now, Archie says, 'It's a huge relief to know that my ESOP is there to make a secure retirement possible.' Listen, too, to Mike Kromminga, a senior data architect at ITA Group, an ESOP in West Des Moines, Iowa. He also had been laid off and also learned during his ITA Group interview that he would have an additional retirement account as well as a financial benefit. 'I didn't have any idea what it actually meant to work at an ESOP company,' he remembers. 'I went from unemployed to owner. The ESOP has given me a sense of purpose and security. My voice is respected,' and as his annual ESOP financial statement grows bigger, he exclaims, 'Wow, this is life changing.' Also, consider the story of Karen Jones of Oconomowoc, Wis. She stopped working full-time for 15 years to raise her three children before becoming eager for a job. She was hired as a purchasing clerk at Sentry Equipment, but that it was an EOP 'didn't really register,' she says. 'The culture was different than anything I'd ever seen. Sentry wanted everyone to grow,' which explains how she attended a lunch about an accelerated adult learner program at a Milwaukee university. She had an associate degree but through the program, she earned her bachelor's degree in two years. With the degree, she emerged as a leader. She was promoted to materials manager, a new position she had suggested and, ultimately, she became director of Commercial Operations. Meanwhile, in her 19 years at Sentry, the value of her ownership has climbed 12 times as the company grew. She considers an ESOP 'something special.' These employees initially knew little about employee ownership. But now they enthusiastically tout its financial and other rewards to their and their families' lives. Their satisfaction is common, and it helps explain the upswing in employee ownership interest. Among the factors: ESOPs outperform non-ESOPs in job retention, pay, and workplace health safety and lower voluntary worker quit rates. It's these expressions of happiness that spreads interest in the benefits of employee ownership and ESOPs. No wonder such interest grows, attracting the attention of Congress and a growing number of states to the benefits of ESOPs and of companies with an employee ownership element. And take note. The Aspen Institute and Rutgers University are hosting their third annual Employee Ownership Ideas Forum this week (4-9 and 4-10) in the nation's capital. It's theme, appropriately, is 'From Workers to Owners' and the forum will highlight how the experience of ownership changes the reality of work for workers. I hope you will join me in my fervency for employee ownership. I urge you to learn more about it. Great resources include the National Center for Employee Ownership, hosting its annual conference the week of April 15 with over 1,000 attendees; the ESOP Association; ESCA, the Employee-owned S Corporations of America; and Expanding ESOPs, the aforementioned coalition of those of us who dream of welcoming many more worker owners. Imagine how being an employee owner might impact your own work and financial security. If possible, reach out to employees and leaders of a local ESOP and ask them to relate their experiences. An estimated 14.9 million workers participate in 6,500 ESOPs with over $1.3 trillion in assets. It would be tremendous to see their ranks – and their voices of happiness – swell in the years ahead.
