Construction Law

Using Incentive Programs to Motivate Construction Workers

Many construction employers are looking for ways to motivate their employees to work harder. As a result, they implement safety incentive programs to recognize and reward employees for practicing safe and healthful work practices. Your incentive program must be designed, implemented, and managed well to produce positive results. Below, our Miami construction attorneys will discuss the effectiveness of incentive programs, the types of programs used, and how to implement them in meaningful ways.

Are Incentive Programs Effective?

Incentive programs are widely used but they are not always the most effective. They are an integral part of engaging construction workers and keeping the workplace safe and productive, but if not implemented correctly, they can become the focal point rather than the catalyst for increasing workplace health and safety.

Types of Incentives

There are several ways to reward employees: thank-you awards, gifts, incentive compensation, and profit-sharing. But, select a reward system based on your company’s overall goals. You must also ensure that these rewards will motivate employees to work harder and engage in teamwork as well as result in an increase in the company’s bottom-line profit. The aforementioned rewards can further be broken into two types: earned or arbitrary.

Earned Incentive

An earned incentive rewards workers for actual results based on predefined and clear tasks, accomplishments, and milestones. When workers know what is expected of them and are compensated extra for it, they will be driven to meet these goals.

Arbitrary Incentive

An arbitrary incentive is a monetary reward given to workers based on the generosity of management. These rewards aren’t given based on a worker meeting a predefined milestone, rather, it is more so a means to keep workers happy. These rewards do not necessarily encourage workers to be more productive.

Recognize Employees in Meaningful Ways

Focusing entirely on the reward itself is not beneficial to the employer and workers in the long run. Instead, employers should focus on recognizing employees in meaningful ways. This includes making sure that employees are recognized:

Immediately: Provide workers with instant gratification as a means to reinforce the desired behavior.
Consistently: Provide recognition consistently to convey that good practices and behavior is noticed and rewarded.
With sincerity: Ensure your recognition program is beneficial to both the workplace and the workers.
With significance: Provide recognition based on what’s meaningful to the workers. If a particular reward is unappealing or doesn’t motivate workers, it will be a waste of time.

If you would like to speak with a Miami construction attorney, please contact us at 954.210.8735, or submit our contact request form.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for general educational information only. This information does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to constitute legal advice, nor should it be relied upon as legal advice for your specific factual pattern or situation.