Lots of people love travel. They like to get out of their home or office and go somewhere new (or old) and interesting. In fact, for a lot of people, travel is second only to covering the bills as a motivation for working. And for a lot of those people, the flexibility needed to travel is a big part of choosing a job.
Employers are increasingly aware of this, especially in a job market where flexibility is in high demand. An increasing number of travel companies and airlines are willing to work with employers to help their employees get the most out of the travel their job allows for.
What can you do as an employer to encourage your employees to travel more?
Allow employees to add a few buffer days at the end of their next business trip so they can enjoy a little vacation time as well.
Allow your employees to work from different locations. This will give them the flexibility to schedule longer or more frequent vacations since they can work from locations other than the office.
Encourage them to take vacation time. In 2015, according to Project: Time Off, more than half of American workers left vacation time unused.
Offer unlimited vacation time as a benefit. Many employers do, and it may surprise you to find out that very few people take excessive advantage of that benefit.
Use sabbaticals as incentives. The carrot of something like a paid sabbatical can do a lot to encourage employee retention. In addition to its regular paid vacation and sick time, pet health insurance company Trupanion offers a long, paid sabbatical to employees who have been with the company for five years. A paid sabbatical could encourage employees to take longer trips.
Encourage team meetings in off-site locations. Bring the whole team together for these meetings rather than simply hosting video teleconferences with your remote employees. Even if the off-site location is near your office, it’s still a chance for your employees to travel and see a little bit more of their home state than they previously had.
What other tips do you have for encouraging employees to travel? Let us know in the comments!