When it comes to attracting the top tech talent, look further than your checkbook.
From Silicon Valley to Washington, DC, the war for the top tech talent rages on. But in a marketplace crowded with stock options and sleep pods, how can you make your organization – and your compensation plan – stand out?
For starters, you’ve got to think outside of the box, and beyond dollar signs. While salary and bonuses are a huge consideration in the tech world, more and more prospective hires are looking for a “wow” factor to go along with their new job.
So, what if your next offer included a chance for an annual excursion to Space Camp, or an all-expenses paid trip to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas?
Sounds wild, doesn’t it? And more importantly, it sounds unique. Incorporating incentives like travel and experiences can give your organization a leg up on the competition, by providing something more memorable and meaningful than dollars and cents. And, it pays to do your homework: those incentives become more valuable the more relevant they are to your industry. Best of all, they don’t only attract the best talent, non-cash rewards can actually lead to people working harder. Talk about a win-win.
So, how do you do add travel and experiential incentives to your compensation model?
- Know your audience. Come up with meaningful, timely, relevant ideas, or you’re finished before you start. Got an office full of early adopters? Get them early access to some new tech! Working on the latest in automobile heads-up-displays? Why not send your team to racing school? The more unique the experience, the more memorable it will be – especially if it relates to your organization’s work or mission.
- Set parameters, and a budget. Coordinate internally with HR and management to answer the big questions. Is the program individually personalized, or is it a group incentive? How will team members earn it? How often does it pay out? And how much are you willing to spend?
- Plan, implement, test, and tweak. Even the best programs take a little trial and error to work for your organization – and situation. Working with an experienced incentive partner will ensure that this phase goes smoothly.
- Spread the word. Once you’ve implemented the program, share on social media, your Slack channels, Google hangouts, and more – and encourage the rest of your team to do the same. It’s as much about building excitement before and during the event as it is building memories afterwards. And If you haven’t yet, let prospective hires know what awaits them before the offer letters even go out!
Not interested in the heavy lifting? No worries. At Motivation Excellence, we help organizations like yours do it all. So, contact us today to start attracting the tech talent you want with a whole new world of travel and experiential incentives.
