Good staff morale results in more productive workers and increased profits for your business. One way to improve morale is through providing incentives for your staff. Treating a worker to a hot air balloon ride is a great way to motivate them.
Most managers agree that motivated and productive employees are crucial to the success of a business, but many are not sure about the best way to do this. Performance-based financial bonuses based on an annual review of performance are the traditional way. However, research published in the Human Resource Management Journal suggests that pay incentive schemes based on performance create the perception that work is an intense experience. The research found that work pressures were only partially reduced by performance-related bonuses.
Other research has found that non-cash incentives are more effective than cash ones. Non-cash incentives are seen as awards, whereas cash incentives can be taken for granted. Employees feel particularly appreciated with non-cash awards. Travel incentives, in particular, are prized as they offer the promise of adventure and excitement. A reward that includes a holiday in a luxury hotel with a hot air balloon ride included is one of the best holiday incentive ideas.
While travel awards are the most popular employee award for most workers, they can be expensive. If a business has a limited budget for awards, a hot air balloon is ideal. A hot air balloon flight can cost around £110 to £150, so is affordable by most small to medium businesses.
The value of the hot air balloon flight
When a business awards a prize of a hot air balloon flight, it is not only the workers who go on the flight who benefit. After the flight, the employees come back with souvenir photographs of the flight. These will probably include pictures of them raising a glass of champagne to toast the success of the voyage, as well as a certificate to commemorate it. The photographs and certificate should be prominently displayed on a company noticeboard.
The pictures from a hot air balloon flight usually show wide smiling faces, grins that are a testament to how enjoyable the flight was. If a hot air balloon flight is given regularly, other employees will want to be the people in that grinning photograph, and will work hard to achieve the coveted prize of a hot air balloon flight.
As hot air balloon flights do not cost a lot, they are ideal for businesses to experiment in order to assess whether incentives work for their employees.
There are two ways to tell if incentives work; firstly, simply ask employees how they feel about incentives, and secondly, after introducing incentives, look at the accounts to see if business income has increased.
There are many reasons to book a hot air balloon flight. They are a great way to celebrate a birthday, anniversary or other occasions. They are also good way to say to your employees that they are appreciated, and the serendipitous nature of how they travel is an excellent metaphor for the wild and often unpredictable ways of the business world.
