Incentives/rewards programs

Activators and consequences are external to the performer (as in the environment), or internal (as in self-instructions or self-recognition). They can be intrinsic or extrinsic to a behavior, meaning that they provide direction or motivation naturally as a task is performed (as in a computer game), or they are added to the situation extrinsically to improve performance. An incentive/reward program is... 

An incentive/reward program is useful here. Such a program attempts to motivate a certain target behavior by promising people a positive consequence if they perform it. The promise is the incentive and the consequence is the reward. In safety, this kind of motivational intervention is much less... 

Most incentive/reward programs for occupational safety do not specify behavior. Employees are rewarded for avoiding a work injury or for achieving a certain number of "safe work days." So, what behavior is motivated Not to report injuries. 

Here are seven basic guidelines for establishing an effective incentive/reward program to motivate the occurrence of safety-related behaviors and improve industrial health and safety. 

On the other hand, when the incentive/reward program is behavior-based and perceived as equitable and fair, it is advantageous to display progress toward reaching individual, team, or company goals (Guideline 7). When people see their efforts transferred to a feedback chart, their motivation and sense of personal control is increased, or at least maintained. 

You can see how this simple inexpensive incentive/reward program was both pleasant and constructive. It got people talking about the behavior-based coaching process in positive terms and it rewarded the most difficult aspect of a behavioral coaching process— interpersonal feedback. It is relatively easy to complete a critical behavioral checklist (CBC) compared with relaying the CBC results to an observee in a positive and constructive interpersonal conversation. The potential reward for completing this last and most important aspect of behavioral coaching added an element of fxm to the whole process. It made it easier to transition from behavioral observation to interpersonal feedback. 

This successful mystery observee program illustrates an important principle in incentive/ reward programs. You get what you reinforce. Programs lhat reward employees for handing in a completed CBC will probably increase the number of checklists received, but how about tire quality of the CBC Will the number of constructive comments on a CBC decrease when a reward is given for quantity You can count on this for employees who view the reward as a "payoff" for their efforts. That is why it is important to educate people about the rationale and true value of a particular safety effort. Then the big payoff is injury prevention, and the extra reward can be perceived as a "token of appreciation" for heartfelt participation. 

So these employees "fall through the cracks" again, to be faced with a Level 3 intervention. This might be an incentive/reward program or a goal-setting and feedback process. Of course, these motivational techniques require more time and effort from both intervention agents and participants. 

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