Performers get exotic trips

This Diwali, Rakesh Mehta, a senior sales and marketing employee with an IT firm, will celebrate in Australia with his family. Mehta, is one of the top performers of his company and has been rewarded with this 'Diwali Gift'. Other top performers from his company will celebrate their diwali in New Zealand and Mauritius. In fact, a lot of IT, BPO, pharma companies and banks are rewarding their employees for good performance by sending them to exotic locations to spend time with their families.

Till now, corporates had restricted such trips to clients and dealers. "These travel trips are used as an incentive tool not only to reward the employees for a good performance but also to plug attrition," says a travel agent.

And the trend is on the rise. For instance, SOTC, which deals with such corporate holidays, says it has seen the reward bookings go double in the past one year. Says Fredrick Divecha, senior V-P marketing, SOTC, " Last year, we did around 200 such holidays and this year the number has doubled." Analysts says, the incentive business in India is growing at 30 per cent.

The reward depends on company's budget. For instance, for one person, a five night trip to Sydney would cost a company Rs 60,000. So if they are sending a family of four, the company would end up paying Rs 2.4 lakh for the trip.

While Australia is a favourite destination with many IT companies, BPO's prefer Thailand. However, Europe and The US also figure on the list. Banks and pharma companies send their executives to leisure destinations such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Egypt and Greece. Interestingly, a lot of companies are open to trying new, unexplored destinations also.

However, an emerging company for the incentive sector is insurance. Says Arup Sen, executive director, Cox & Kings,"Insurance is a key sector where companies are bullish on such performance rewards. Insurance companies use this tool as an opportunity to encourage their employees and perform better."