Page 46 - Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles

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Reward and Recognition Programs Don’t Work

in the plant received a small fan that plugged into a car’s ciga-
rette lighter. He told me that these were very much appreci-
ated given how hot the summer months got in their part of the
country. Unfortunately, one of the fans had been defective and
caused an electrical short in an employee’s car, causing the car
to catch fire in the plant parking lot. Fortunately, no one was
hurt. You can just imagine the headline in the local paper: “Car
Burns Thanks to Safety Recognition Program.”
After this event, they decided to avoid electrical incentives
and stick with traditional giveaways such as logo-embossed
T-shirts, hats, and coffee mugs. Tim said that employees did not
seem very excited by these prizes. No kidding. However, in the
past few months, they had come upon a reward that was receiv-
ing a very favorable response—a three-pack of tube socks. The
previous month, employees had lined up to get their socks. Tim
was concerned, however, that the incentive program was work-
ing too well. There were rumors that employees and supervi-
sors were covering up minor accidents so as not to ruin it for
everyone in the plant. For example, one employee was mysteri-
ously sent home early only to return the next day with several
stitches on his forearm supposedly from changing a tire on his
car. Another fellow spent most of the shift in the break room
with a bag of ice on his head for a sudden headache while others
covered for him. You see this kind of team support for guys with
headaches all the time, right?
On the one hand, Tim was pleased by the power of the tube
sock program and by the apparent uptick in employee camarade-
rie. Certainly, three months with zero lost-time accidents made
him and the human resources department look good. The plant
manager was happy. Corporate was happy. At the same time,
Tim was concerned that someone might get seriously hurt and
it wouldn’t be reported. He asked if I had any thoughts on how
they might tweak the program. Where should I begin?