Tangibly Rewarding
Emotionally and psychologically, non-cash incentives can mean more and last longer.
THERE are two conflicting factions of safety professionals: those who believe it is important to motivate and reward people to achieve specified safety results by offering tangible incentives, such as merchandise and travel, and those who believe that tangible incentives are not necessary because safety results are part of their job and regular compensation.
It is well known that costs of worker's compensation and health care insurance are skyrocketing due to accidents, as well as lost time and productivity labor costs, and that effective safety improvement programs can reduce these costs. Clearly, when the workplace, equipment, and processes are safe, it is up to people to follow proper procedures to achieve safety results.
Integrated Motivation
The performance improvement industry knows that tangible incentive programs work because they motivate and recognize people on an emotional level, above and beyond compensation. Tangible incentives are used effectively for sales incentive and customer loyalty programs because they motivate people to focus on goals, change their behaviors to achieve them and, as a result, improve performance and earn the specified reward.
According to the most recent industry survey by the Incentive Federation, U.S. corporations spend more than $27 billion per year on non-cash incentive programs.
A research study conducted by the International Society of Performance Improvement shows that properly structured tangible incentive programs can increase business results by 20 percent or more for individuals and 40 percent or more for teams. It follows that tangible incentives should work to improve results for safety programs as well.
According to Doug Klein, director of corporate safety for Schwan Foods, tangible incentive programs work if they drive measurable goals and objectives and include leading indicators of safety, such as training completion and having no preventable accidents or lost time events for a specified period of time. Schwan's program tracks five measures and involves its manufacturing and warehouse employees and drivers in 600 locations nationwide. Over five years, Schwan has cut its losses by 50 percent due to its complete, integrated safety program.
Brian Galonek, president of All Star Incentive Marketing, reports that a tangible safety incentive program All Star ran for a major solid waste management company had extremely positive results. The program involved 20,000 truck drivers in 600 divisions and awarded points for the promotion of safe work habits, reinforcement of safety training, and improving the safety culture overall. Divisions participating in the program doubled the reduction of claims versus non-participating divisions, and Galonek says that this is attributable to rewarding individuals, not teams. He also noted that 90 percent of the awards were redeemed online, even though a mail-in alternative was available. The company had originally assumed that many of the participants might not have Internet access.
Why Some Safety Incentive Programs Fail
According to Richard Pollock, CSP, president and founder of Comprehensive Loss Management Inc. and VP of professional development for the American Society of Safety Engineers, tangible incentives can work and should be included within safety programs, but most fall down because there are several "disconnects":
- Many programs don't reward individuals for specific behaviors; instead, they offer groups of people rewards when collective goals are achieved. These types of programs often reward people who have not demonstrated improved safety behaviors; rather, they are just lucky.
- When the group goal is not achieved--for example, a lost time accident occurs--then the program is stopped and no rewards are given, even to the people who have worked hard to demonstrate safe behaviors. So one bad apple can spoil it for everyone. Worse, when these programs offer increasingly greater rewards for the more months that go by without a reported incident or lost time accident, then peer pressure encourages people to hide and not report injuries. This can result in increasingly dangerous behaviors and work environments, which concerns OSHA and many safety professionals.
- Programs often don't involve supervisors, who are the most influential people to directly encourage and coach employees to achieve safety results through improved behaviors.
Pollock emphasizes that tangible incentives are an important part of the mix to motivate people--however, it is essential to ensure that the company has a solid safety program in place to begin with, one that:
- recognizes the hazards of the workplace and knows how to control them;
- develops control systems that employees need to know and follow, including processes, equipment, machinery, etc.;
- trains employees and supervisors;
- audits inspection processes to ensure controls are being followed; and
- has an effective safety communications campaign.
This article originally appeared in the September 2006 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.