A while back, I received a program feedback submission for a client’s safety incentive program in which the employee said, “I believe if you put a limit on how many points we can earn in a year, we are putting a limit on our safety in the work place.”
My first reaction was to be incredulous. “Seriously? You really think people stop being safe just because they’ve capped out on points for the year?” (I believe intensely in the benefit of our programs and can get a little defensive at times.)
However, once I calmed down and allowed my rational side to speak up, this simple statement actually does sum up many companies’ major concern with setting up an employee incentive program – that participants will start to take the program for granted and begin to focus on the awards they are receiving rather than the goals, activities and achievements that are the true focus of the program.
Of course there’s a danger that employees will get wrapped up in the awards… in any good incentive program the awards are exciting and desirable and because of that, they are great motivators and help your employees focus on the goals you set forth for them.
The challenge is in structuring your employee incentive program so that while the awards remain a memorable result and reminder of the program, they do not become the end-all, be-all of the program. The most successful incentive programs are set up to develop a workplace culture (whether it’s a safety culture as in this case or a more broadly focused recognition culture that targets employee engagement) and should offer employees a number of outlets for interacting and getting involved rather than just providing a simple list of ways to earn points.
In this case the incentive program had fallen into exactly that pitfall. When it was originally set up, the client had provided a list of safety activities the program would reward for; a budgeted amount of points each employee was eligible to earn per year and that was it. Having run a number of years without a whole lot of freshening up, the incentive program had become a standard part of the client’s workplace but did little to engage the employees other than by offering them a shopping outlet to spend their points.
Armed with the knowledge that the program had gotten “stale”, along with a number of exciting new features we are constantly developing, we discussed the program’s shortcomings with the client and laid out a new plan for an interactive, exciting program which included a redesigned website that provided avenues for safety idea submissions, the ability to send an eCard to recognize a coworker’s safe behavior, a leader board showing safety improvements by plant and a number of other features.
So far, a steady stream of eCards are sent each day and safety tips and ideas have been posted to the site on an ongoing basis. A number of employees have reached out to share their enthusiasm for the variety of ways they can really participate in the improvement of their workplace safety. Of course, they’re still earning points for those original goals and activities and awards are still a major part of the program’s success, but the focus has been guided away from just the awards and back to main goal itself…safety!
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