MODULE THREE: EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT

Introduction

It's difficult to have an effective safety and health management system without developing a corporate safety culture that encourages genuine employee involvement. Why is it important to motivate employees to be involved in safety? Simply put, involvement increases ownership. We value what we own. We use what we own. What does this mean to safety professionals: Employees will use their "own" procedures when not being directly supervised. With this important principle in mind, it's important to understand that employees are much more likely to use safe practices and procedures they are involved in designing. Ownership increases the rate of safe behaviors when employees are not being directly supervised.

This module will take a look at safety incentive and recognition programs, the first of two strategies for developing employee involvement in the safety and health program. Safety communications, the second of two strategies discussed, will be covered later in Module 3.

We do what we do because of consequences

As we discovered in Module Two, employees are held accountable by the employer to comply with safety rules, and report workplace injuries and hazards. However, the employer will not be able to successfully "require" employees to make suggestions and participate in voluntary safety activities unless they reinforce those behaviors by responding with effective positive consequences. The employee is motivated to participate in voluntary activities when they believe there is some real benefit.

Here's an important idea I call the "5-R principle"...

Jack Durkin receiving special recognition for long-time service to safety in Oregon.

Recognition goes a long way! One strategy companies use to motivate their employees is to have some sort of safety incentive and recognition program, and there are many such programs used and promoted these days. A company cannot be successful in its safety and health effort without motivated employees. Motivated employees are willing to put forth greater effort to accomplish tasks or reach objectives. But what motivates employees? There are many theories, including Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Maslow identified five human needs that motivate behavior. As each lower-level need is satisfied, the next higher need becomes more important to a person. Reference the graphic below. The most basic employee need in the workplace is Job security. If employees feel secure in their job, they are then free to place more thought about being safe.

When safety and security needs are satisfied, employees will seek out relationships that provide for their social needs, respect, status and recognition from others. With all these needs satisfied, employees will place emphasis on self-actualization...achieving their ultimate potential.

Recognition is more a function of leadership than management

If your company does not presently have a formal safety recognition program, it doesn't necessarily mean safety incentives and recognition are not in place. It just means a formal program has not been established. If real safety leadership exists in your corporate culture, a formal program may not be needed because leaders are providing effective incentives and recognition informally. If effective leadership is not occurring, it's probably a good idea to think about introducing some of the ideas presented in this module to your safety committee or safety director so that your company may implement an effective program.

Tangible rewards are great...

Safety rewards come in a bazillion colors, flavors, and varieties. We are all motivated by primarily two types of rewards: extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic rewards are tangible and external. You can touch, eat, see, smell, or otherwise use them. Examples of extrinsic rewards:

• Money - raise, bonus, stocks
• Awards - plaques, pins, cups, certificates, jackets
• Trips
• Time off from work
• Social - parties, lunches

• Improved self-esteem
• Increased sense of purpose
• Higher credibility
• Feeling of accomplishment

Now, is it the tangible reward, itself, or the underlying meaning the motivates you the most? If you're like most others, the sincere "thanks" that rewards intrinsically is the real motivation. We like to be appreciated for what we do. It makes us feel that we are valuable, important, and a part of a team...something bigger than ourselves. All this is improves what we think about ourselves.

The big secret:

To be successful, management doesn't necessarily have to spend money to motivate. They do need to spend time to personally acknowledge and express appreciation. As a supervisor, ask yourself, "Do I have time to praise for a job well done"? Of course you do.

It's important, when designing safety incentive and recognition programs to remember that it's not the nature of the reward that is most important: the big secret is recognizing appropriate behavior with in a meaningful way. As we learned in the previous module, we do this by making the recognition soon, certain, significant, and sincere.

Reactive safety incentive programs

In Module One we talked about the concepts of reactive and proactive safety programs. Safety incentive programs may reflect aspects of one or the other, or (more likely) both. It depends on the behaviors that incentives and recognition are being rewarded in the program. No matter the approach, incentive and recognition programs always motivate some kind of behaviors. The trick is to motivate proactive behaviors.

Believe it or not, most companies design and implement reactive safety incentive programs. In reactive incentive and recognition programs workers are usually rewarded for "working safe" over a given period of time. (I bet you're familiar with this incentive.) Well, frankly it's not appropriate, and here's why: Working safe, a behavioral concept, is commonly defined in a reactive program as an outcome or a condition such as, "working a year without getting hurt," or "working injury free."

Consequently, employees work towards that result, and if they're motivated, they may use any strategy to achieve that result. The most common strategy is to withhold injury reports. That's right! Look for a banner or a sign that says, "80 bazillion work hours without an accident!" When you see that, you'll know the company is employing a reactive approach to motivate employees. Sure, the company might have actually achieved 80 bazillion hours without a reported accident, but that doesn't mean the workplace is accident free. It may mean accidents aren't being reported. In reality, the workplace may be full of the "walking wounded" who don't report an injury or illness.

The problem is inherent in the approach. In an effort to win, be team players and loyal co-workers, or in response to negative peer pressure, workers do not report their injuries. They do not want to ruin the safety record. In some instances peer pressure is so great they will not report an injury until the pain becomes severe: something they can no longer hide. Consequently, the actual number of injuries in the workplace may decline, but the severity of each reported injury increases, and becomes much more costly. In these instances, everybody loses.

Proactive safety recognition programs

More and more companies are discovering that the most effective safety recognition programs are proactive. Proactive recognition programs reward employee behaviors that occur before an accident...these behaviors help prevent accidents. These behaviors are mandated by the employer and/or Oregon OSHA regulations. In proactive incentive and recognition programs working safe is more appropriately defined as a behavior. Consequently, employees are rewarded for behaviors such as, "using safe procedures and practices," or "complying with all safety rules." Other appropriate employee safety behaviors include:

• Reporting injuries immediately, no matter how minor;
• Warning coworkers and reporting hazards.
• Submitting safety suggestions.
• Active involvement in safety committees/teams.

Effective recognition strategies

Complying and reporting behaviors are usually required. Making suggestions and participating in safety activities and committees are usually voluntary. All of these behaviors represent very important professional behaviors that should be recognized. Once again, while both positive and negative reinforcement may be successful in motivating required behaviors, only positive reinforcement strategies will be effective in increasing the frequency of voluntary behaviors.

When employees are recognized and rewarded for these behaviors, their overall involvement in safety and health increases greatly. They become more aware, interested and involved in uncovering unsafe work conditions and practices. They know that reporting injuries as soon as they occur reduces lost work time and accident costs.

Proactive recognition programs that work

Here are a few ideas for developing a proactive incentive and recognition program for your company:

Safety Bucks: Supervisors carry safety bucks, and when they see someone doing something impressive, they reward them. The employee can take the safety buck to the company cafeteria for lunch, or they can use it at a local participating store to purchase items.

Bonus Program: When an employee (1) identifies a hazard in the workplace that could cause serious physical harm or a fatality, or (2) make a suggestion that prevents injury or saves the company money, supervisors are authorized to reward them with a bonus check. In some cases the bonus check is a fixed amount. In other programs the bonus check is a small percentage of the potential direct cost for the accident that might have occurred.

By the way, the average direct cost to close a disabling claim in Oregon is around $10,000; a fatality costs about $300,000. Doesn't it make sense to reward an individual with a gift certificate or some money for identifying a hazard that could potentially cost the company thousands? Small investment for potentially huge returns!

Safety Hero: After an extended period of time, management rewards employees with a certificate or bonus check for complying with company safety rules and otherwise demonstrating safety leadership. We're not talking about "employee of the quarter" here that creates one winner and many losers. Recognition should be criterion-based such that anyone and everyone that meets the criteria established receives the recognition or reward. Remember, this is safety, not sports...no first, best, most improved criteria.

Reporting Injuries: Wait a minute...Do I really mean that supervisors should thank employees for reporting injuries immediately? What's with that? If employees report injuries immediately, they not only minimize the physical/psychological impact of the injury on themselves, they reduce the direct/indirect accident costs to the company. The worker, his or her coworkers, and the entire company wins if the employee reports injuries immediately. Immediate reporting is not only OSHA law...it's smart business policy.

Recognition is more a factor of leadership than management

In each of the above examples, the supervisor, not the safety committee is recognizing the rewarding workers. The most effective safety incentive and recognition systems are designed such that recognition and reward opportunities are maximized for line supervisors and managers, not safety committees. (I encourage safety committees to get out of the recognition process, if they can, so that supervisors and managers get involved.)

Why promote supervisor and manager involvement? Because when line supervisors and managers promptly recognize in a sincere, spontaneously manner, workers perceive the "act" as leadership. Consequently, the working relationship between labor and management improves. That's an outcome we all want.

Why should the safety committee remain in the background? When safety committees recognize, it's perceived more as a policy-driven management process. Safety committees want to maximize these opportunities for supervisors and managers who are responsible for "doing" safety.

Incentive/Recognition Program Evaluation Checklist. An effective safety incentive/recognition system contains a number of very important processes within five design elements. Here's a simple checklist your safety committee can use to evaluate your incentive/recognition system. (0= Not present 3=Needs Improvement 5=Effective)

1. Formal performance criteria. It's important that incentive and recognition program policies and criteria are clearly written and communicated to all employees.

• Do written policies, plans, processes, procedures, criteria exist?
• Are policies, procedures and criteria discussed with new employees at orientation?
• Are policies, procedures and criteria communicated in the primary language(s) of all employees?

2. Commitment and support. Management demonstrates leadership by committing resources and supporting employee involvement. Employees must feel confident that they'll be recognized and rewarded for their involvement.

• Is commitment and support addressed in the written incentive/recognition plan?
• Are employees provided adequate resources in support of their involvement.
• Are employees educated and trained so that they have the knowledge and skills required to actively participate, make suggestions or otherwise contribute?
• Is adequate time provided for involvement in safety committees and other activities?
• Is management leadership evident through their involvement in safety?
• Are workloads reasonable? (Employees can get involved in safety without jeopardizing other responsibilities)
• Do employees suffer any negative consequences as a result of their involvement?
• Does recognition occur more often than discipline?

3. A process to evaluate performance. It's important that behaviors are measured and evaluated so that positive recognition and reward is based on facts, not feelings.

• Is a measurement process addressed in the written recognition plan?
• Is recognition criteria based on behaviors/activities over which employees have control?
• Is measurement criteria clearly communicated and understood?
• Do sustained performance of mandatory behaviors result in personal recognition?
• Do voluntary behaviors result in personal recognition and reward?
• Are incentives deliberately designed to increase desired behaviors?
• Are rewards controlled and monitored by management?
• Are standard procedures used to identify employees, activities, incentives?

4. Effective consequences. Without effective consequences, improvement in behaviors and performance will not occur.

• Does recognition occur soon after the performance?
• Is recognition/reward based on behaviors or luck?
• Are games (safety bingo, drawings, etc) used to determine who gets recognize/rewarded?
• Are first, best, most improved categories part of the recognition process?
• Does the recognition/reward process include individual/group competition?
• Are employees certain they will be recognized for professional performance?
• Do employees know exactly what behaviors lead to recognition?
• Are recognition and rewards considered significant/meaningful to employees?
• Are the motives for recognition and rewards perceived as sincere?
• Do recognition procedures actually result in changed behavior/performance in the desired direction?
• Are recognition and reward contingent on individual behavior. (not next on the list, politics, favoritism, etc)
• Does recognition/reward occur as a result of meeting/exceeding behavioral expectations rather than "working accident free."
• Are employees automatically disqualified from safety recognition/rewards if they have an accident?
• Are employees involved in determining criteria and recognition/rewards?
• Is the recognition/reward process consistently applied throughout the organization - top to bottom and across functions?
• Is recognition and reward appropriate to the positive impact on the organization?
• Do employees consider the recognition/reward process fair?

5. Evaluation of the incentive/recognition system. This element is essential in continually improving the processes within the system.

• Are the safety committee/safety coordinator evaluating the recognition system on a periodic/continuous schedule?
• Are all procedures within each of the recognition system elements evaluated?
• Does the safety committee submit the evaluation results to management?
• Does the safety committee develop and submit recommendations to improve the recognition system?
• Do safety committee recommendations for improvement include cost/benefit analysis?
• Does management respond to and implement safety committee recommendations in a timely manner?

Last Words.

I hope the evaluation checklist will help you evaluate and improve the incentive and recognition program to make sure employees are fully involved in safety. Now it's time to complete the review questions below.

Let's Review!

11. Mugs, jackets, safety bucks, pizza parties, certificates, and bonuses are all examples of:

a. Intangible rewards
b. Tangible rewards

a. Complying with safety rules
b. Reporting Injuries
c. Withholding injury reports
d. Reporting hazards

a. positive reinforcement
b. negative reinforcement
c. steel reinforcement
d. neutral reinforcement

a. Reporting Injuries
b. Taking shortcuts to get the work done
c. Reporting Hazards
d. Suggesting safety improvements

a. unusual behavior
b. employee ownership
c. management headaches
d. cost of doing business

Congratulations on completing module three!

Employee involvement is so critical to the success of your safety program. Do what you can to promote employee involvement. Now, continue on to the next module to continue our study of employee involvement through effective communications. And remember, if you have any questions or comments, just drop me an email at email.