By Jessica Kirshner
DECEMBER 06, 2004 -- Incentives Up Compliance Co.: Fast Search & Transfer, Headquarters: Corp.-Oslo, Norway; U.S. - Needham, Mass.
Projected 2004 U.S. Booked Air Volume: $700,000-750,000
Rarely have employee reward programs been as effective in boosting air policy compliance as at Fast Search & Transfer, a Norwegian tech company.
David Sunderland, finance manager and controller at Fast, saw compliance rise from 29 percent to 39 percent after Atlas Travel International-a Massachusetts-based travel management company with $65 million in annual air sales- implemented a compliance incentive program in April. "The core was, how do we incent someone to book seven days in advance of travel? On top of that, there are other things we'd like them to do, such as use the Cliqbook tool," Sunderland said. "We're trying to strike a balance between reason and personal preference."
Fast issues U.S. employees reward points correlating to specific booking behaviors. Booking seven days ahead, for instance, earns 75 points. Including a Saturday-night stay earns 75, and using Cliqbook, the company-approved online booking tool, earns 10 points. So as not to penalize less-frequent travelers, points translate into cash values depending on the percentage of compliant bookings an individual employee makes. Travelers who book within policy 60 percent to 75 percent of the time cash in at 50 cents on the dollar, whereas those who are more than 90 percent compliant are rewarded on the dollar.
"What Atlas has done is put together retail, entertainment, theater and other vendors that provide gift certificates. We offer everything from whale watches to restaurant certificates to gift certificates at The Sharper Image," Sunderland said. Personalizing the rewards has been a key factor in the program's success. "We're still at a size where we can foster that culture," he said.
Fast invested $8,000 in the program and achieved 5 percent savings during its first nine months.
Atlas first approached Sunderland with the compliance rewards concept in early 2004. "We brainstormed with Atlas about specifics of the program that would be best for Fast and its culture, creating a tailored program," he said. Atlas administers everything but direct employee communications and personal awards. "This has included program collateral, tracking travel activity and providing travelers with updates on their performance within the program, award certificates and redemption, as well as internal management reporting," he said.
Fast's 155 U.S. employees do just over half of their travel domestically. Sunderland has been involved in managing Fast's travel program at the operational level for the past three years and reports to both the U.S.-based CFO and the Oslo-based vice president of finance.
Despite being the first and, so far, only Atlas Travel client to use compliance incentives, Sunderland said it wasn't a particularly tough sell in the Fast boardroom. "It was very easy, actually. We have a culture here in which we understand that we're demanding of our employees when it comes to travel." Getting employees on board, however, proved a bit more difficult. "If you look at the three-, six- and nine-month marks, you can see that it was slow to start" Sunderland said. "When you have the first wave of awards that were issued you can see some buzz being created."
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