REWARD & RECOGNITION INCENTIVE PROGRAM (R²IP™)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why do we need an incentive program?
We expect each worker to get the work done and not have an injury.
With this kind of organizational culture, it is apparent that the focus is on outcomes. The message to the worker is “cut corners” if you have to but get the work done at all costs. Likewise, management doesn’t want to hear about near misses or minor injuries and, further, discourages workers from reporting injuries.

Using discipline or corrective action only tells the worker they did something wrong. It sets a limit or border on behavior but it does not necessarily establish what the correct or desirable behavior should be. (This is particularly true when discipline is used indiscriminately). It does not establish what is the ‘right’ or the desirable behavior.

An incentive program will only work when the management focus is on the worker behaviors that produce the positive outcomes and the desired performance. The R²IP™ safety & performance improvement is based on positive feedback and behavior modification principles by rewarding and recognizing employees for doing what’s “right.” Studies have confirmed that behavior modification and positive reinforcement are persuasive and potent principles in the effort to achieve a successful accident prevention program.

Rewarding or recognizing for what is “right” reinforces the selected behaviors and helps to “stamp it in” and causes the “right” behavior to be repeated. The more the behavior-reward-recognition cycle is repeated, the greater the likelihood that the behavior will become habitual.

It is important to understand that in the absence of a reward or recognition, the likelihood of continuing the right performance (behavior) will be decreased. The absence of a negative does not mean there is a positive.

Isn’t this a “flavor-of-the-month program” or just an extension of “pop” psychology?
No. The positive reinforcement and behavior modification principles have been around for over 30 years.

Isn’t this just another Safety Bingo program?
Actually R²IP™ is quite different. The major Safety Bingo program element is a reward for a group of employees not having a lost time injury. The winning event (or award) is based on an outcome (with no linkage to accident prevention, safety awareness, or good work practice), and with employees in competition with each other. R²IP™ rewards and recognizes qualifying behaviors that are know to provide accident prevention, safety awareness, or good working practices.

Safety Bingo is also a “one for all” type of program – one person with a lost time injury, can ruin it for the rest of the group. With R²IP™, each employee can win by doing the qualifying behavior.

We already have a bonus program, why do we need an incentive program?
There is nothing wrong with giving your employees more money! The old axiom still applies however; “Money is not a motivator”. R²IP™ provides a reward and recognition for specific behaviors and each employee controls their chance to win. A combination bonus and incentive program would be dynamite!

What happens if we have employees that do not want to participate?
This is the beauty of the R²IP™. This one employee is not affecting other employees’ chances of winning. And, this employee is missing out on receiving an award and recognition. Peer pressure or the need to be rewarded and recognized might be enough to get this employee to participate in the events, practices, and job activities or achieving goals that create a safer and more productive work environment.

Does the positive feedback mean we should no longer discipline our employees?
Discipline has its place and purpose. When used correctly, it can be quite effective and it meets a legitimate need. Punishment by its very nature is used to correct something “wrong”, after it has occurred. Discipline is effective to stop undesired behavior and tell a worker that a behavior was wrong or unacceptable and should not be repeated.

How does the program work?
The first step is establishing the behaviors - qualifying event, practice or job activity - that you want to reward and recognize. Then, employees are given a R²IP™ token for doing the qualifying behavior

Awards should be given as close to the qualifying event as possible to get the connection between the award and the behavior. The more the behavior-reward-recognition cycle is repeated, the greater the likelihood that the performance will become a habit.
The R²IP™ standard unit gives each employee a chance to receive about 4 R²IP™ tokens a month. A weekly behavior-reward-recognition cycle is the optimum time period for changing performance into a habit.

What is the standard unit for the R²IP™?
The standard unit is the smallest quantity of R²IP™ tokens that can be purchased. A standard unit consists of 226 tokens with 50% of the R²IP™ tokens having awards and 50% having safety or improvement phrases. The award denominations are on the chart to the right.

R²IP™ token values are scaled for a $1000 award pay out, per standard unit. The reward and recognition should be the significant event – the need for recognition, “to be somebody”’ or to feel important – not necessarily the actual value of the award.

What are some examples of qualifying behaviors?
Determining qualifying behaviors is the single most important element in a successful program. Select behaviors that require active participation on the part of an employee and can be observed and/or measured. Following is a sample list of qualifying behaviors, but your R²IP™ should be customized to suit your needs:

• Attending training or safety meeting
• Wearing PPE, lifting properly, following safety procedures
• Reporting unsafe condition or work practice
• Maintaining good housekeeping & order
• Reporting a near miss incident
• Offering a safety suggestion
• Working a month w/o a job injury claim
• Coming back to work after an injury w/o lost work days
• Working a month w/o an unscheduled absence
• Filling a rush order to customer satisfaction
• Arriving for work on time

I’ve heard that WISHA (OSHA) is cracking down on incentive programs. Is there any truth to that?
It is true that OSHA (WISHA) has scrutinized incentive programs. This review resulted in OSHA (WISHA) classifying programs as “traditional” or “non-traditional”. As a result of this review, traditional programs that link rewards to injury reduction, “can provide an inducement for employees to under report injuries and illnesses”, which may be sufficient grounds for issuing citations.

R²IP™ is in the non-traditional classification. Non-traditional programs link rewards to active involvement and participation that promotes interest, awareness in safety & health, and “truly enhances worker safety and health.”

Isn’t it true that an incentive program allows management to ignore the true cause of safety problems?
The degree of implementation is the key to the success for any program, including an incentive program. A successful program will target the “behaviors” that are know to cause worker injuries - not ignore them. The success characteristics of a sound incentive program are:

• Identify qualifying behaviors that define the “right” or desirable situation or performance. The qualifying behaviors need to be observable and/or measurable so the reward and recognition is earned.
• Reward the positive behaviors on a frequent basis.
• Promote the program and generate enthusiasm by making the reward and recognition event more important than the award or prize value.
• Keep it up! The more the qualifying behaviors are reinforced, the greater the likelihood that these behaviors will become a habit.

Should the award be cash or merchandise?
Either award can be used successfully. Your safety committee or an employee survey might be used to determine employee preference. Cash awards are subject to employee withholding. (See IRS publication #17).

An alternative (or addition) to cash, awards can be:
• Gift certificates (restaurant, merchandise, etc) at local merchants.
• Extra paid time off (Friday afternoon off, or an extra day off).
• Sports or entertainment tickets.
• Massage.

We don’t have much money right now. What can we do?
The optimal program with weekly awards will cost about $4 per employee per week. You can determine an award frequency that works best for you. The token award amounts can be considered as R²IP™ cash with an exchange rate of your choosing. Focus on the reward and recognition feature of the program (which is the element that changes behavior) not on the award amount (which is the stimulus to keep people interested). It is better to achieve results for a shorter period than to stretch the program out and accomplish very little. With the flexibility of R²IP™ you determine the total cost of the program beforehand.

Additionally, 25% of your retro return is from premium that was paid by your employees. This may be the “seed money” to get you off and running.

Do we have to use enhancement options?
Employer enhancement options are not necessary to have a successful program. Enhancement options provide a means for increasing (or decreasing) the award pay out and/or increasing the award pay out percentage. The standard unit has an award payout percentage of 50%, which can be increased in multiple increments of about 2% with enhancement options.

The R²IP™ can also be changed, modified, varied, or ‘spiced up’ by changing the qualifying behaviors. Enhancements and changes can occur at the end of a R²IP™ standard unit, the end of a quarter, at 6-months or other criteria.

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