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Developing a Successful Driver Safety Incentive Program

   Bill Sims, Jr., President, The Bill Sims Company

Can we pay professional drivers to drive safely? It depends on the currency. Our experience in structuring rewards and incentives programs for a variety of companies shows that the most cost-effective way of achieving improved safety is through rewards and recognition. And money is one of the least effective rewards.

Let me give you two examples. We once worked with a company in the business of transporting new cars from factory to dealerships.  To encourage safe driving, it offered its drivers $400 each time they went three months without an accident.  That amounted to $1,200 a year per driver, at a cost to the company of $400,000.  We offered a program designed to accomplish the same thing, but at a cost of $35,000 a year. Instead of cash, we offered a $35 jacket with the company logo to every driver who compiled three accident-free months. A $35 jacket in lieu of $400 cash?

The drivers were pleased. Wearing those jackets meant that you were being singled out for recognition as safe drivers.  The driver was rewarded with a useful and attractive piece of clothing, but -- more important -- he was receiving recognition. How much was that recognition worth? Toward the end of the three-month period, one driver backed his truck into a pole and broke out the rear window of a new Ford Taurus. He offered to buy the damaged car and eat the $3,000 in damages so he could still get his jacket. "I don't want to be the only guy without a jacket," he told his supervisors.

Another company offered its drivers a watch worth about $300 upon their completion of five years of safe driving. One driver was offered a promotion that carried with it a $5,000-a-year raise.  He asked the company to postpone the promotion until he could qualify for his watch. 

From these examples, it's obvious that money alone doesn't provide the motivation to reach company goals. We at the Bill Sims Company have learned that the way to achieve improvements -- whether in safety, quality, customer service or any other aspect of your business -- is to seek behaviour change.  That means shifting your focus from the end result to the behaviour that leads to the end result. And the most effective means of achieving behaviour change is through recognition and rewards.

Like most tools, recognition and rewards require skilled and committed use before they can effect the behaviour change. Used incorrectly, an incentive program wastes money and time, and casts a pall over future programs.

Some pointers for those considering the adoption of an incentive program:

(1) Start your planning process by knowing where you are and where you want to go.
Look at your performance record for the past two or three years. Is it getting better? Worse? Staying the same?  How does it compare with your competition? What deficiencies do you need to overcome?

(2) Analyze what your employees really need from you. Do they need basic information on how to drive safely? Incentives to drive safely when nobody is looking? Information on recognition for positive behaviour on the job? All three? Over time, successful incentive programs shift emphasis from education to performance and recognition. Knowing when to shift your focus is crucial.

(3) Pick the right incentive. This is one of the most difficult choices managers make. Nearly twice as many companies use merchandise as use cash. Managers are realizing that the cash amounts awarded in safety incentive programs do not motivate people to change their behaviour. Smart executives build their programs around awards with "trophy value" -- items that will be memorable for months or years to come.  The previously mentioned jacket and watch are examples.

(4)  Reward frequently. Effective programs reward participation and performance frequently. Rewarding groups creates positive peer pressure. Rewarding supervisors for their group's performance gets them fully behind the program.

(5)  Pick the right agency. Look for someone with experience in incentive programs, who will custom-design a system to meet your needs and provide training and advertising aids that fit your work force.

(6) Plan for the long haul.

(7) Measure your progress. Between the first six and nine months of a program, take a critical look at how it's being accepted. Are there problems that need to be addressed? A good agency will work with you to uncover the roots of the problems and to keep the program on course.

Incentives are an increasingly valuable tool in the risk manager's tool kit. Once you know the secrets to proper use of the tool, you can obtain spectacular results.