Offering 5-star travel in your employee benefits package could help your company attract talent and boost retention

• Companies can add value to their benefits packages by offering travel perks.
• Experts told Business Insider that it's a great strategy for attracting and retaining talent.
• Travel benefits can include stipends or subsidized hotel stays.
• This article is part of "Talent Insider," a series containing expert advice to help business owners tackle a variety of hiring challenges.

Recruiting top talent today often means offering more than a competitive salary. One way businesses can entice prospective employees is through a five-star travel benefits package.

A travel benefits package is a company-sponsored plan for employees that can include travel stipends or complimentary flights and hotel stays. It's become a valuable offering, especially as more employees embrace the digital-nomad lifestyle.

Earlier this year in a survey of American adults by The Vacationer, nearly 85% of respondents said they planned to travel over the summer. In a November survey from the company, about 50% of American adults said they were planning to embark on holiday travels.

With many Americans prioritizing travel, we asked three experts for their advice on how businesses could implement travel perks as part of a company benefits package.

Why offer a travel benefits package?

Travel is a popular motivator, especially among millennial workers who are spending less on material items and more on experiences.

"When companies talk about 'benefits,' they generally discuss health and wellness benefits," Barbara Palmer, a workplace-leadership consultant and the founder of Broad Perspective Consulting, said. "But anything that compensates an employee, including travel benefits, should be taken into consideration when you are trying to attract and retain talent."

Millennial and Gen Z workers also want a better work-life balance and view vacations and leisure time as a necessity.

"As the job market has shifted dramatically over the past couple of years, employees are considering benefits as a major determining factor as to whether they will accept a job," said Heather Rider Hammond, an employment attorney at the legal service provider Gravel & Shea. "Things like compensated or discount travel, enhanced medical benefits, and generous PTO allowances that allow workers to achieve a better work-life balance are playing a bigger role when employees are job searching."

What to consider including in a travel-benefits plan

Palmer told Business Insider that companies could consider flexible travel benefits and allow employees to book travel with their preferred firms.

"Giving employees the option of working with a travel-booking service, allowing employees to stay at their loyalty chain of choice, and keeping rewards points for airline and hotel stays are all travel benefits that midmarket businesses can offer to their employees," Palmer said. "Also, consider offering access to airport lounges and gym memberships like ClassPass that can be used in different locations or offering deals on upgraded seats."

While a travel benefits package can go far in attracting and retaining talent, it doesn't have to come with a hefty price tag.

"Companies can consider partnering with certain hotel groups to provide room blocks and discounted room prices," Hammond said. "Companies could also provide discounted airline tickets or tickets to events happening in destination cities. The price point of providing travel benefits is usually the biggest misconception, and it's important for companies to 'shop around' and see what they can achieve within their budget."

Foster a company culture that encourages travel

If a company is going to offer travel perks as part of a benefits package and reap a reward, experts told BI, it should make sure employees are aware of what's available.

"A major mistake companies make is having these benefits available but not advertising them to employees," Hammond said. "It is also important to foster an environment where an employee feels comfortable actually utilizing the benefits. If employees are too scared to take time off, they will also not utilize any travel benefits available to them."

Jennifer Kraszewski, Paycom's vice president of human resources, also advocates for making employees feel like they can take time off without punishment and that it's not frowned upon to take a break. Offering generous travel benefits needs to align with the company's values around paid time off.

"Providing workers great discounts and stipends without the time to take advantage of them will not be of benefit to individual employees, so it's integral to build a travel-benefits program that fits your company's needs and culture," she said.

How to implement travel benefits

A company can roll out a comprehensive travel-benefits plan that includes international travel deals or a more curated plan with local hotel discounts, but Kraszewski said it's crucial that companies communicate to their employees how to participate in the program.

"One of the most common mistakes companies make in offering travel benefits is focusing too much on good intentions without a plan for the implementation, since managing travel benefits for large organizations can pose challenges if not done correctly," Kraszewski said. "If you offer a stipend to every employee for travel, make sure it's easy for them to access and take advantage of. Then be sure they are reimbursed quickly and seamlessly, which is where strong HR software is integral.

"The chain of command for these types of reimbursements should be clear; each person should know who approves expenses and what the anticipated turnaround time is to get the money back."

Though offering travel benefits is a relatively new frontier for companies, the payoff could be a motivated workforce and an attractive way to appeal to top talent.

"Providing this type of benefit to employees is very new and will likely require some fine-tuning as a company learns what works for its employees and what doesn't," Hammond said. "However, it's a benefit that could make a company stand out amongst its competitors and substantially increase morale."