Putting the tools to work in your organization

When we talk about attending to consequences, we do not mean punishment. Both positive and negative consequences influence behavior. Which is more powerful depends on several considerations. Overall, positive consequences foster organizational change more effectively. Their use fosters communication and cooperation. Positive consequences also create an optimistic atmosphere. Behaviors changed by positive consequences tend to generalize more readily, and positive consequences lack the undesirable side effects on culture often associated with negative consequences. 

What kinds of consequences can an organization provide to encourage the behavior needed for behavior and culture change Clearly, the consequences have to be consequential to the person receiving them, but beyond this, the answer to this question is controversial. Some say that to be effective, consequences have to be financial—and the stronger the better. Our experience leads to a contradictory conclusion. Safety incentives, e.g., tangible rewards contingent on incident rates, often prove counterproductive. We have written extensively about this conclusion elsewhere. So here we will just say that we do not recommend their use. 

9 Thomas R. Krause, Motivating Employees for Safety Success, Professional Safety, 45 (March 1999) pp. 22-25. 

10 Thomas R. Krause, Moving to the Second Generation in Behavior-Based Safety, Professional Safety, 46 (May 2001) pp. 27-32. 

But even as leaders use these tools, they can make mistakes of judgment about exactly when and how to employ them. Such mistakes are not limited to the employment of tools they intrude into administrative and clinical decisions as well, where they may lead directly to an increased level of hazard in the working interface and to medical errors. In the next chapter we will explore how cognitive biases can give rise to these errors. 

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