Some people respond well to punishment, and others
don’t. If your employees fall into the latter category, you
need to turn to positive reinforcement if you want to keep them.
Mason Hearn of McGuire, Hearn, and Toms, Manakin-Sabot, Va., has
set up an extensive incentive program for his field employees. “Under
the old system, if you showed up late, you’d be reprimanded,
and the third time it happened, you’d be fired,” Hearn
says. “Basically, you got spanked. We realized that it was no
way to treat the good people we had working for us.”
In the current program, now in its fourth year, employees earn
points on a quarterly basis in a variety of areas, such as safety,
attendance, and timeliness. For instance, perfect attendance for
a quarter earns the employee 250 points; 50 points are deducted for
each day missed.
Additionally, employees can earn points for training and education.
They also earn an award if they refer a person who is hired and
kept on for at least three months.
Hearn’s production manager and lead carpenters are largely responsible
for reporting safety violations, absenteeism, and tardiness to Bunnie
Pinkston, the office manager. Each quarter, Pinkston passes out a score
sheet, and the employees can see where they stand against each other.
It also gives guys an opportunity to see why they’ve missed out
on certain points.
In 2002, the person with the most points, lead carpenter Wayne
Wilfong, won a trip to the Bahamas. However, Wilfong is afraid
of flying, so he swapped his prize for a vacation to Disney World
instead.
For this past year, Pinkston turned the reins over to a professional
travel agent, who came up with a few destinations from which the
winner could choose. Wilfong was victorious again, and he’s thinking
of conquering his phobia with a mid-summer trip to Las Vegas.
Second prize this year was a weekend trip to the Outer Banks in
North Carolina. Three other employees won gift certificates to
local vendors.
Hearn notes that the program can get competitive, but in a good
way. “It’s
all geared in a positive way,” he says. “We make sure they
know we want them to work safely. We want them to earn points.”
It seems to be working. “We all strive to get to as many meetings
as we can,” Wilfong says. “And we make sure we don’t
miss a day of work, even if we’re sick. As long as I ain’t
dead, I’m coming in.”
The program isn’t 100% foolproof, however, as at least a few
employees who get behind in the beginning make little effort to catch
up. The majority, however, “are very cognizant about their performance
and their point total,” Hearn says.
At the very least, he concludes, “it’s spawned a consciousness.
There’s been a definite improvement in things like attendance
and timeliness since we put this in place.”
—H.A. |