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Reprint from Compliance Magazine–
Careful
Planning Reaps Rewarding Incentive Programs
By Buck Peavey
Safety incentive program design requires careful
consideration.
Merchandise awards alone will not make a successful program or create
a safety- conscious environment. Programs tend to be much more
effective when you build an environment of safety awareness through
weekly reinforcement, team building, group interaction, positive
peer pressure and constant communication.
Also consider how to distribute incentives. Companies
favor lottery-style programs that make everyone a winner with gifts
that reinforce corporate identity to spark high interest.
Safety-incentive programs can offer rewards for fewer lost-time
accidents, but they should emphasize individual performance, and
make group results a secondary factor. The peer pressure that results
from trying to win a group reward must be applied carefully, because
it can lead to injury hiding, if a worker believes he or she will
ruin the team’s chances for recognition.
In addition, injury hiding can be avoided by emphasizing proactive
safety behaviors, rather than recognizing only those that have the
fewest lost-time accidents. Proactive behaviors include making suggestions
for safer operations, attending a safety meeting or reporting a
near miss accident.
However, awarding employees for proactive behaviors usually means
more tracking, more measuring and more administration. Perhaps some
of your key employees would volunteer to help in this process.
Reward Consistently
According to Michael LeBoeuf, management consultant, begin with
one question: What behaviors do we want to reward? The thesis of
his book, The Greatest Management Principle in the World,
is “the things that get rewarded get done.” This is a simple axiom,
yet day-to-day practices and unwritten codes-of-behavior can reward
undesirable behaviors. In one example, an official goal might be
company loyalty yet the highest salaries may go to the newest employees
or those that threaten to quit.
Offer Meaningful Incentives
Meaningful incentives are tied to specific behaviors or results.
They are also timely and appropriate to the level of accomplishment.
“An employee who completes a two-year project should be rewarded
in a more substantial way than the one who simply does a favor for
you,” writes Bob Nelson in 1,001 Ways to Reward Employees.
To boost the impact of an incentive, give it soon after the goal
has been met.
Customize incentives to your company. What works for one company
might not work for others. Company cultures differ radically; and
successful incentives will, too. Before you choose an incentive,
consider the demographics of your employees, including age, rate
of turnover and geographic location. Nelson suggests that distribute
a “reinforcer survey” to find out what rewards your employees want.
Incentive programs thrive on employee input.
Keep It Simple
Joan Klubnick, author of Rewarding and Recognizing Employees, notes
that managers and supervisors often fail to give recognition for
a simple reason: They don’t know what to say. Klubnick offers basic
guidelines for recognition that can be used every day.
1. Thank the employee by name.
2. State specifically what the employee did to earn recognition.
3. Explain how you felt about this behavior.
4. State how the behavior added value to the company.
Thank the person again by name.
5 Keys to an Effective
Safety Incentive Program
1. Use more than just a carrot. Use an entire
campaign to promote your program, building teamwork and
interaction with your employees. Build in smaller prizes
everyone can win and toss in grand prize awards that the
program builds up to.
2. Use frequent reinforcement. Establish a weekly award
vehicle. For example, use points and a trading component,
such as game cards. Use a flexible point vehicle to reward/award
for weekly prevention behaviors to discourage underreporting.
3. Award merchandise rather than cash. Give an employee
a $20 bill and where is it spent? At the grocery store or
maybe the gas station. Will the employee even remember?
Develop a game-based program and build trophy value by offering
a choice of merchandise items that employees value.
4. Promote the program. Posters, caps, balloons, newsletters,
flyers, parties and drawings grab employee’s attention.
Dare to be different!
5. Make everyone a winner. The initial reaction is that
including as many employees as possible will cost more.
Run the numbers and you will find the return on investment
is far greater than the expense.
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Incentive Program ROI
Use the following steps to determine the return on investment (ROI)
for your incentive program.
1. Determine the cost for your company’s average incident/accident.
In addition to increased worker’s compensation premiums, include
downtime, cost of employee replacement, time of training the replacement,
production loss, direct medical costs and property damage.
2. Run the figures. Calculate your break-even point for the incentive
program. It may be 8 percent, 12 percent, or even 25 percent but
with a well-designed incentive program, thousands of our clients
have seen an average accident reduction of 61.9 percent.State
specifically what the employee did to earn recognition.
Reprint from Compliance Magazine.
Sources:Buck Peavey is president of Peavey Performance Systems;
(800) 235-2495
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