The Three Cs . . .
- By Michael G. Dermer
- Jan 01, 2004
. . . of making a safety program the best it can be.
WORK site safety and safety awareness are integral to success. When safety programs are made part of the broader organizational culture that rewards performance, successful safety programs do more than stem the financial and human resource loss.
When these programs are run correctly, they demonstrate to employees the overall health of the company. They create an attitude within the company that safety is a key metric, to be measured, monitored, and improved. The question is how to make safety "top-of-mind" across the organization.
Unfortunately, management often fails to give safety programs the amount of attention they deserve. Keeping safety top-of-mind, well, is just not top-of-mind. Safety program incentives are a first step toward creating a culture of safety, but they are not enough. The assumption that incentives will increase safety negates the importance of communication, performance measurement, and frequently celebrated rewards and recognition for a job well done. Creating a positive safety environment is not easy, but it is achievable if some basic elements are in put in place.
According to Dan Horne, a professor at Providence College who studies how incentives affect people's behavior, keeping people focused is management's job, and the keys to maintaining focus are creativity and persistence. "Despite what some would like us to believe, a worker is often thinking about a variety of issues--work- and non-work related--during work hours. Industry statistics bear out that nine out of 10 workplace accidents are due to lack of attention. Thoughts about general works issues, the weather, family concerns, and where they're going to watch their favorite team's game this weekend are all competing for immediate attention and are distractions that can lead to unfortunate results. Therefore, it is imperative to create safety programs that use incentives to ensure safety objectives are prominent thoughts in their worker's mind."
A safe workplace is the result of top-of-mind presence throughout the day. Incentives are the means that tie the safety objectives to the individual. They are intended to serve as a constant reminder of the personal benefits that accrue when safety goals are met. But even when programs are created and implemented, the rewards need to be fresh and exciting enough to keep the workers' attention and the desire to keep the workplace safe.
Three key factors to safety and incentive programs that assist in making it the most effective program as possible are Choice, Culture, and Communication. As will be discussed below, the Three Cs combined with specific objectives make safety a top priority across the organization.
Choice
Incentive programs often have pre-selected awards that are intended to thank someone for a job well done. Yet the real value of the reward, and its payoff in a safety program, is as a motivator.
The key difference between reward and motivation is that motivation occurs before an event, and rewards occur after. Safety awareness is a "before the event" activity. When employees are given the choice to select rewards from a broad based set of rewards, self-motivation and basic personal goals become key ingredients in keeping safety programs exciting, fresh, and top-of-mind.
The employee is always more involved when rewards are meaningful and can be personally selected. Choice means recipients select the options that most clearly match their personal preferences. This simple shift, from pre-selected impersonal awards to one where the employee gets to choose from a large basket of meaningful awards, introduces powerful personal motivators. There is no better tool to ensure workplace safety than personal employee motivation. It's like being a kid in a candy store, knowing you will get the opportunity.
While this may seem intuitive, it is frequently not the case. For example, studies indicate managers spend 80 percent of their time in incentive programs on sourcing rewards. What's the result? Management will hand out rewards that reflect their own personal tastes. One such real-life example was a company that distributed gift certificates to an expensive, nationally known, high-end retailer. Certainly, it was something most people would love to receive, yet the value of the reward was not sufficient to purchase anything in the store. So rather than being a motivator, the certificates went unused because the recipients couldn't afford the "luxury" of the gift.
Needless to say, what had high perceived value to management actually had the opposite perceived value for recipients. The effect: a negative impact for safety regulation compliance. When you move choice closer to the person on the receiving end, you give them the opportunity to receive something they truly value. And that drives behavior consistent with objectives.
This article originally appeared in the January 2004 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.