Safety Leadership Hack: RECOGNITION

By Josh Williams, Ph.D.

For more than 25 years I’ve heard people talk about safety recognition in terms of things like gift cards, coffee mugs, and pizza parties. These rewards can be helpful and boost morale. But they don’t replace the most important “incentive” of all…genuine recognition.

Some of you may be thinking, “I’d rather have the pizza.”

But consider this a little more in terms of organizational safety performance. Recognition is often dismissed as being flowery and kumbuya-like. In other words, soft. And this may actually be true for a small percentage of people. I maintain that even most hardened and tenured employees still like to be acknowledged and appreciated for what they’re doing well. And the newer generation certainly seems to appreciate appreciation.

Research supports this too. Eighty-eight percent of employees want recognition for safety practices but only 39% report that they get it. Also, employees who are recognized and valued by leaders are 93% more likely to say that they’re motivated to do their very best for the organization (APA Psychologically Healthy Workplace Program, 2012). So, quality safety recognition is a kind of hack for improved safety leadership. And it doesn’t cost a dime.

So how do you provide recognition well?

• Knowing your people matters. People respond to recognition differently. Some people prefer to be thanked in private while others like public (or team only) recognition. Also, recognition can take other forms like new training and development opportunities or new job assignments (Saks, 2006). Tailoring recognition to the individual determines how well it’s accepted (Luthans, 2000).
• Give recognition immediately after a positive action has occurred. The value of reinforcement diminishes as more time passes between the actual behavior and the reward (Luthans, 2000).
• Specify the behavior you’re acknowledging to increase awareness and authenticity. Recognition is more powerful when employees understand exactly what they did well as opposed to a more generalize ‘good job.’
• Be honest and authentic with appreciation. Recognition should not be “phony” and provided superficially or it will be dismissed (Luthans, 2000).
• Provide recognition consistently. This consistency builds trust between leaders and employees and it also increases the credibility of the leader. When recognition is provided consistently, praise is more likely to be internalized and not questioned (Saunderson, 2004).

Safety recognition does a couple of things when it’s delivered well. First, it makes people feel good because they’re being appreciated. Second, it increases the probability that this recognized behavior will occur again in the future, even when others aren’t watching. This, in turn, reduces the likelihood of incidents. In other words, do things properly on the front end and bad things are less likely to happen on the back end.

Leaders should make a personal commitment to recognize especially safe behaviors like effective lock-out/tag-out with complicated procedures. This should also include other actions like mentoring new employees, providing safety suggestions, and cautioning coworkers. It may even be a part of performance management, especially if observation programs are in place.

So, spend more time showing genuine appreciation and recognition for proactive safety actions. This boosts morale and ultimately decreases the probability of incidents.

And, on some occasions, throw in the pizza too.