Are you looking for unique, affordable ways to motivate staff, award employees who met their sales goals, or encourage cohesion, communication and camaraderie among your team members? If so, you may have already discovered that many team building and employee incentive options are rather expensive and may not fit your budget. This is particularly true during the current economic crisis, which has forced more and more companies to get creative when searching for ways to reward or motivate their team as the funds for these types of activities shrink. And, as luck would have it, when team building and employee appreciation budgets are getting tighter due to dropping profits is exactly the time when you need your team to be more motivated and cohesive than ever.

Thankfully, there are plenty of affordable options available that will allow you to create an exciting team building experience or incentive for less than $200 per person.

Here are some examples:

• Organizing ride-alongs for employees to experience the exhilaration of a stock car racing around a track
• Scheduling full- or half-day white water rafting trips
• Arranging one- or two-day customized nature or outdoor adventure programs at a local wilderness area
• Finding a local company that offers bungee jumping

There are two driving forces behind the push for stay-cations: the current economic crisis and the green movement. As individuals and families are feeling the pressure of financial hardships and increasing numbers of people are committing to lowering the impact their lifestyles have on the environment, the world of vacations and travel is changing. More and more people are opting for cost-effective day excursions or nearby travel destinations that require less transportation and inflict less damage on the environment, while still being filled with fun activities and opportunities to make lasting memories. This new form of vacations is being called stay-cations by some, and companies are beginning to jump on the bandwagon to apply this idea to their incentive travel programs and corporate events.

The benefits for companies that opt for incentive travel destinations and corporate event locations that are nearby include significant cost savings, particularly in regards to transportation costs, and a positive public image that shows a commitment to limiting your company’s carbon footprint. Both of these can be very enticing and are often enough to convince a company to bypass exotic locations and opt for staying close to home. This can certainly help a planner keep things under budget, but it also puts additional pressure on the incentive travel or event planner to come up with an enticing nearby destination and appealing entertainment options that will please participants who may be accustomed to boarding a plane and heading to an exotic locale.

Don't let the competition take your top producers. A new research report from Deloitte reports, for the first time since initiating its longitudinal study of global talent trends and strategies in January, those executives surveyed are more inclined to believe the worst of the economic crisis has passed.

At the same time, there are many companies at risk for not implementing talent or innovation strategies required to seize the opportunities presented by a recovering economy. Here are highlights from the study:

• The worst may be behind us. For the first time since this study was launched in January 2009, more surveyed executives now believe the worst of the economic downturn is over, as opposed to impending, by a decisive 31 percent to 7 percent margin.

• Reducing headcount is secondary to training and retention as a top talent priority.

• Less than half (48 percent) of surveyed executives reported layoffs in the last quarter, down from 61 percent in May.
Surveyed executives are ramping up retention initiatives to keep key leaders and high-potential employees on board.

• Nearly one-in-three executives surveyed (31 percent) reported they are increasing career path opportunities—a jump of 11 percent from January (20 percent).
 

So what are you doing to keep your most talented producers in the game? 

Meeting and event planning this year has been a challenge, due to the low or nearly non-existent budgets. With many corporations in saving mode, it comes as no great surprise that the event planning industry too has cut down heavily on unnecessary expenditure. The days of extravagant meals and rich cuisine have been replaced by a much more economical plate full of health-conscious food that causes less heart burn- both physically and fiscally.

Event planners are no longer focused on the status of a banquet rich with off season fruits or vegetables flown in from exotic countries. The new idea is to simply get it right, and get it right on the lowest cost. However, don’t get it wrong – cost cutting does not have to equate to low grade or below average. In fact the new concept of serving food at meetings and events never looked so healthy before. A platter full of assorted meals that are beautifully presented is what you are looking for. The food menu in most events these days might be missing some of the excessively rich dishes that were offered in previous years, however it tastes just as good.

Thanks to the smart work of some intelligent event caterers, a whole new look has been introduced to food items in corporate events. Eating smart and spending smart seems to be the new motto of the event planning industry in the midst of an economic crisis. A good example of one of these innovative event meals is a beautiful set of small sized glasses neatly arranged in a row with small servings of dessert in them. This is definitely not “just” cost cutting, it is indeed “stylish” cost cutting that rather pleases the eye. This concept of serving healthy and economical food is also good for the environment as food does not go waste. A few years back, event meals used to be so lavish and extravagant that half of the food would go wasted.

Fortunately, these days most corporate groups are realizing the value of food, encouraging event meals that are high on nutrition and low on costs. The modern consumer has also turned health conscious and avoids eating too many meals in conferences and other kinds of corporate events. Healthy meals offered in small quantities seem to be gaining popular ground in the event planning industry.

These are all things to consider when planning your upcoming holiday events.

Some recent stories on Dubai have painted a dim picture of the once-prosperous regions. Others, however, say it isn’t so. Regardless of which side you’re on, there is no doubt that new constructions has slowed down and its image as a park for the rich and famous may be losing some ground. However, despite the naysayers, maybe this was just the plan all along. Here’s one opinion on why.

Dubai boasts some of the world’s most amazing structures. From the critically-acclaimed Burj Dubai residence tower to the man-made island called Palm Isl and–not to mention the Ski Dubai, the largest indoor ski slope in the world–Dubai is still poised to remain at the forefront of travel for the well-off.

After all is said and done, anything else Dubai creates will only be in competition with itself. Of course construction is going to slow down. Would you build a hundred Disney theme parks in the same vicinity? From a business standpoint that would be like diluting fine wine with tap water. Perhaps construction is slowing in part because there is not much left to build until the demand is greater. Read the rest of this entry »

Today everyone is pinching pennies, and for good reason; the economic crisis has been frightening. Anyone who isn’t at least a little worried isn’t paying attention. That said, it seems that it is possible to be too careful. One of those ways most meeting planners have already seen–companies are canceling meetings by the score, and others are going to teleconferencing and web meetings. While VoIP technology has made it possible to hold meetings more cheaply overall, it also costs in the long run. The values of “face time” are numerous.

The Risk of Impersonal Contact

Although email and other automated communications can save time and money, it also creates a barrier to more humanistic contact. Everyone has known someone who was misunderstood because of an email and created tension and disagreements–what a waste of company time! Meeting the people you email with keeps the humanity in conversations, and helps keep civility in them as well. People are a little less quick on their hot button when they can put a face with an email handle. Read the rest of this entry »

President Obama has wisely criticized many companies for their misuse of funds. Unfortunately, that also included holding meetings in Las Vegas, seen as an overindulgent way to have a business meeting.

However, the criticism is unwarranted. Las Vegas and other gaming communities are not just known for their fun times and abundances. They are also know for their flexibility, willingness to go the extra mile to get large blocks of rooms booked, and for their convenience to necessary venues. In fact, Las Vegas meeting attendees often do not even end up in a vehicle–they are within walking distance of everything they need if the meeting planner has been able to get the proper accommodations. Read the rest of this entry »