My Take on Behavior Based Safety…
A bird’s eye view of the rise of Behaviorism in the workplace…
Behavior Based Safety is both loved and hated. Hailed by some as the answer to all of our human challenges, it is feared by others as a way for “big brother” to control and humiliate the worker
As is true of most things in life, neither of these extreme views are truly accurate. The answers are often a bit cloudy and murky since so many consultants have slapped the “behavior based” wording on differing models. I will attempt to bring some clarity to this discussion by offering the following thoughts. Read more
Injury Hiding-How do you stop it?
“I’ve inherited a safety incentive program that rewards people for lagging indicators and I’m worried there maybe injury hiding. How can I shift it to become behavior based?”
All too often, safety managers find themselves the unwilling inheritors of an old school safety incentive program based on trailing indicators. These programs reward employees to work a period of time without reporting injuries. While initially sometimes achieving dramatic injury reductions, these programs quickly deteriorate into a “self-perpetuating nightmare” as one safety manager put it. Read more
Expediting Employee Behavior Change by Implementing the Right Incentives
An interview with Bill Sims Jr by Dr. D. Hunnicutt, President of Welcoa.
Dr. David Hunnicutt is the President of the Wellness Council of America. As a leader in the field of health promotion, his vision has led to the creation of numerous publications designed to link health promotion objectives to business outcomes.
How important are incentives to the behavior change process?
Sims: I believe that the last numbers that I’ve seen say that 75% of all companies who implement a wellness program use some sort of incentive to do it. So I would think, in my opinion, if you don’t have a well-thought out recognition strategy, you probably are wasting your time to even get involved in wellness.
When you’re using an incentive program, should you use carrots or sticks? What’s your view?
Sims: I think the answer to your question is, “yes.” By that I mean carrots and/or sticks can work in facilitating the behavior change process. Now having said that, it’s important to share with you that carrots are highly preferable to sticks when it comes to incenting employees.
From the literature, the concept of positive reinforcement has been studied time and time again. One of the best books I’ve read on the topic is Dr. Aubrey Daniel’s book, Bringing Out the Best in People. In his book, he reinforces the fact that both carrots and sticks have their place. There are times when you have to use negative reinforcement.
For instance, if you encounter an employee who is doing something that could kill someone or kill themselves, you might have to use negative reinforcement immediately to get them to stop a behavior. But negative reinforcement should be used as a means of last resort— that’s what most wellness practitioners and corporate executives are missing. By far, the most effective strategy for reinforcement is positive reinforcement, and I’ll give you a couple of stories to illustrate that.
Download the entire article: Expediting Behavior Change by Implementing the Right Incentives.
Companies Succeed in Growth and Talent Wars
18 Apr, 2008
IST, Padmaja Alaganandan & Anuradha Oza , Economic Times
That is what a number of companies in India are starting to do, and rightly so, according to our experience and research, because they have sensed that the story of an unstoppable India is, in the end, a story. It has a beginning, a middle and without thoughtful interventions , it may have an unexpectedly sad end for many. Consequently, their responses have not been in the bandwagon mode of “more” : more growth, more employee spend and more change. Read more
Money or Compliments?
Here’s a segment from ABC News comparing money to recognition.
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?cl=7544218
Praise just as exciting as money, study finds
CTV.ca News StaffPeople get just as excited about receiving a compliment as they do at the prospect of getting money, according to the findings of a new Japanese study.
The study shows that the part of the brain called the striatum, the brain’s reward-perception system, is activated when someone is paid a compliment.
The striatum is triggered in a similar way at the prospect of a financial reward.
The study’s authors used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure the brain activity of 19 study subjects.
Read the rest of the story
Safety Behavior a Matter of Motivation
The word that arises when dealing with the change of a workers behavior is “HOW”? How can I get motivational success? How can we influence desired behaviors through motivational factors? How can I motivate people?
The answer to the question of how is not simple, research shows us that true motivating factors were found to be such things as being personally recognized the opportunity to grow and advance, self achievement and responsibility. The level of an employee’s motivation can be determined by personal needs, what is gained, and the personal beneficial values. An employee that acquires what he foresees as a goal and a success becomes even more motivated and even more responsible.
An employee’s effort when becoming motivated can be influenced by the value of what he attains and what he thinks his efforts will bring forth as a personal achievement, goal or reward. As a result of this effort coupled with skills and abilities, knowledge and experience, the performance level and accountability of the employee increases.
Managers play a big part in the management and outcome of an employee’s behavior. Communication is a factor because workers need to know what responsibilities are expected of them while on the job. The value and importance of the job will need to be emphasized and the expectations of the employee’s responsibilities the company seeks will need feedback during and after the workday. The reward of personal appreciation for compliance to the assigned responsibilities will add incentive to employees. Managers that don’t foresee the reward of personal recognition as a job performance motivator will have employees that are unhappy, unsatisfied with their jobs, and this creates a lack of motivation for job performance.
Employees expect more from their jobs then a paycheck, they expect recognition. What could have more of a personal effect on a employee then when a manager shows appreciation for what a employee does and the additional added value to the company? Employees need to know how they are doing on the job; they also want to know how they are doing on the job. When we personally recognize employees in a positive manner it sends a strong message that not only do we support their efforts but also recognize their positive behaviors thus enforcing these in the employee.
The pillar for motivational success is the identification of the desired behaviors and the recognition of the employee’s positive performance and responsibilities in reaching these behaviors. Employee recognition will reinforce the desired actions needed and employees will have no desire to take unsafe risks or uncalled for unsafe acts. Having employee involvement in setting company objectives, recommending suggestions of advice and improvements will help employees develop a feeling of company unity, interest and support, thus creating a meaningful personal involvement in desired company objectives and behaviors.
The beneficial factors of an effective motivational program are that there will be fewer injuries, a decrease in damages and company downtime and improved work production and quality. Employees that are motivated will complain less and become more sociable and interactive, and also company morale improves. The most significant change and overall result of a successful motivational program will be the Bottom Line; the profits of the company will increase.
As Quoted and written by Wayne Dyer: “If we change the way we look at things, the things we look at will change.
Donald Andrechek
Central Alberta Well Services Corp.
Red Deer, Alberta ,Canada
403-341-3933
Thank you: The two little words that are better than a pay rise
From the DailyMail.co.uk
It is often said that politeness costs nothing. In fact, it seems that a little more courtesy could save businesses £5billion every year.
Frequently hearing the phrase “thank you” or “well done” means the same to staff as a modest pay rise, researchers say.
Praise and encouragement also makes employees more likely to work hard and stay in their jobs, saving on the cost of finding replacements.
A third of 1,000 workers surveyed by consulting firm White Water Strategies said they did not get thanked at all when they did well - and a further third said they were not thanked enough.
In both cases, staff said they felt undervalued, meaning they were less likely to exert themselves and were more likely to look for employment elsewhere.
The net result is around £5.2billion in lost productivity from employees who would raise their game if they felt more appreciated, White Water claimed.
According to the company, praising staff has the same motivational kick as a 1 per cent pay rise - and works out much cheaper for bosses.
Three out of four employees said that regular acknowledgement by their bosses was important to them, but only a quarter said they were actually given as much praise as they felt they needed.
The survey found that those in blue-collar and manual jobs were less likely to be given any recognition for doing well.
In regional terms, Scottish staff felt most undervalued. Four out of ten workers said they were never thanked and eight out of ten said they would like more praise.
However, workers in the North-East are less impressed by being buttered up by the boss, as only 69 per cent said they felt the need to be told “well done” regularly.
Older employees and women need the most reassurance, according to psychologist Averil Leimon, a director of White Water Strategies.
She said that words of praise did more than create a pleasant place to work - they could even boost profits.
“It is not a question of being nice,” she said. “Saying ‘thank you’ fundamentally affects the bottom line.
“Staff are primarily motivated by two key areas - financial reward and a happy working environment.
“Acknowledging staff achievements properly has the equivalent perceived value of a 1 per cent pay rise - that translates to a £5.2billion saving for UK business.
“Typically, only one in seven employees is engaged in their job.
“Address this and businesses will see lower staff turnover, people working harder, productivity increasing and sickness miraculously reducing.”
Are safety programs schemes?
Recently, the Mine Safety Advisory Council,(Australia) in its Digging Deeper Action Plan, uses the word scheme when referring to safety incentives. The dictionary defines scheme as:
1. a plan, design, or program of action to be followed; project.
2. an underhand plot; intrigue.
A poorly devised scheme will inherently be riddled with failure, injury hiding and non-reporting. But what about a plan that is well thought out and is not based on lagging indicators such as lost time injuries?
Is it possible that a well planned scheme can take a proactive approach, by not focusing on the lagging but on the leading indicators to drive the number of incidences down?
If you answer no, it is not possible, I would direct you to history to say that the impossible is possible.
The world knew that the Sun revolved around the Earth. Galileo proved them wrong
The world knew that the world was flat, Columbus proved them wrong.
The world knew that it was impossible for man to fly. The Wright brothers proved them wrong.
The world that it was impossible for bumblebees to fly, but yet they do.
At Bill Sims, we have taken 100 years of leading research and have built a proactive, trackable solution that is free of injury hiding, guaranteed.
Gary Voysey
Bill Sims Company
Small measures that go a long way - From improving work profiles to tackling issues of trust, Tesco HSC is listening to its employees
Anjali Prayag
Tesco HSC’s HR best practices are built on five requirements that its people emphasise all the time: the need to have an interesting job, the opportunity to get on, a manager who supports them, to be treated with trust and respect and to make their work simple minus all the hierarchy of a large organisation.
“These are not new things but it’s about staying focussed on them and building our action plans based on these requirements,” explains Sudeesh Venkatesh, Head of HR, Tesco HSC.
‘Interesting’ job profiles
Employees in the tech sector in India now increasingly demand ‘interesting’ job profiles. The employee is keen to work at the higher end of the value chain, i.e., move up from coding and testing to design and requirement specification.
In the last three-four years, Tesco HSC has consciously moved the work counter up in response to the demand from their employees. The company that started off with just IT services, is now involved in the design of stores. “This also provides our employees an opportunity to get on,” says Sudeesh. Tech workers are also looking at opportunities to innovate and do things differently. Tesco HSC conducted an Innovation Summit where employees could come up with suggestions on ‘things that could make business better.’ This was a ‘no constraints, no blue sky thinking’ exercise that received 108 entries.
Support structure
Employees at Tesco, as in any fast-growing sector, constantly look for support from their managers. “People became managers here even before they are ready to take on the responsibility,” says Sudeesh.
Investment in managers by way of training sessions and leadership development programmes is critical. Tesco HSC has achieved this through its situation leadership programmes and mentoring opportunities for new managers to connect with the senior members of the company or with external executive coaches. IT companies are also realising that for career development, employees need to criss-cross the organisation map. For instance, employees can choose any one of these four paths for growth: project manager, domain specialist, tech architect or a testing and process specialist.
At Tesco HSC, these are not mutually exclusive paths, but areas that people can cut across and grow, with support from the organisation. “We provide all employees with a framework of all the skills, competencies and the training required to make these moves and support them when they decide to move.”
Exit interviews provided the seed for the fourth employee requirement at Tesco HSC: the importance of trust and respect towards employees.
“Though most people who quit give reasons such as the need to relocate, or compensation, you’ll find that the decision to quit was actually taken six-nine months before when he or she was treated disrespectfully or when there was a breach of trust.”
This trend, he realised, had to be plugged at the point of origin rather than regretting it when the employee decides to exit the company. Thus was born Tesco’s Values Workshop where the CEO teaches managers to ask more than tell, praise more than criticise, celebrate success and take care of their people so that they take care of the customers.
Greater accessibility
The fifth employee requirement is all about making work simple.
What Tesco HSC is trying to do is build simple HR systems so that employees get their answers at their desktops and don’t have to waste time running around for information. Apart from these five focus areas where the company is trying to make a difference, Tesco HSC has formed the Staff Action Groups and Rapid Action Teams that help HR make decisions in all employee-related matters.
This practice comes with two advantages: one, decisions are no longer seen as an HR initiative, and second, though employee involvement may slow down the decision-making process, the company gains because of the concurrence from all departments and, therefore, ease of implementation, says the HR chief.
Kunal A. Patel
”Kalyan”, 35-Alkapuri Society, Baroda-390007.Gujarat. INDIA
Phone No.: +91 (265) 3013632 CELL Number: +91-98980-99179
E-Mail - sayaji.kunal@smi.sril.in
Free Report
Click image to download.
Free Video
Watch the preview below, then download the entire video
Recently Written
- My Take on Behavior Based Safety…
- Injury Hiding-How do you stop it?
- Expediting Employee Behavior Change by Implementing the Right Incentives
- Companies Succeed in Growth and Talent Wars
- Money or Compliments?
- Praise just as exciting as money, study finds
- Safety Behavior a Matter of Motivation
- Thank you: The two little words that are better than a pay rise
- Are safety programs schemes?
- Small measures that go a long way - From improving work profiles to tackling issues of trust, Tesco HSC is listening to its employees