In the pursuit of promoting safe behavior, no measure seems off-limits. Companies that use bonus schemes often tie part of the bonus to the number of incidents. The idea is to motivate employees to behave safely. The question is whether motivation can actually be bought—and what the side effects of such policies might be.
Measured effectiveness of bonuses
Unfortunately, there is no research demonstrating that organizations function better after introducing a bonus system. The most obvious benefits are increased focus on defined targets and a final push when a goal is just within reach. The downside lies in poor steering. Poorly formulated targets can destabilize an organization. In 2008, for example, bank employees were widely rewarded for closing mortgages, while the risks of those contracts were excluded from measurement. Extra rewards therefore come with pros and cons that can cancel each other out. The question remains whether steering safe behavior via bonuses is effective at all.
The theory behind bonuses
Steering via bonuses originates from Anglo-Saxon thinking, where rewards and punishments are used as core principles to shape behavior. The theoretical foundation was laid by B.F. Skinner and is known as behaviorism. The premise is that behavior is strengthened when the sum of consequences is positive and weakened when it is negative. The Behavior Based Safety approach is grounded in this theory.
Behaviorism is well supported by evidence. The impact of rewards increases when:
- the employee experiences a clear link between the behavior and the reward—knowing what is rewarded and what is not;
- there is a close temporal link—the sooner the reward follows the behavior, the stronger the effect;
- for targets, the employee feels they can influence the outcome.
These three themes are elaborated below.
Direct link between behavior and consequence
Bonus targets are usually formulated in terms of the number of incidents per period. This means that no specific behavior is rewarded—only the absence of an incident. For employees, there is no clear relationship between an incident and their own behavior. The bonus therefore rewards something indefinable and, above all, not specific actions.
Temporal linkage
The same applies to timing. Behavior occurs daily, while the reward is granted once a year. Too much time passes between the two, breaking the link between behavior and reward. As a result, the bonus does not reinforce any particular behavior.
Perceived influence on achieving the goal
For a reward to work, employees must at least feel they can influence the outcome. In practice, employees become frustrated when an incident occurs somewhere else in the organization. Losing the bonus then casts safety in a negative light.