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Why Safety Pays | History | Program
Design
History
The Santa Monica Seafood Story (How $afetyPay$ was developed)
Somebody once said the difference
between communism and capitalism is that capitalism brings out
the very best in people...and the very worst. Communism, on
the other hand, doesn't bring out anything at all.
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These definitions demonstrate certain self-evident truths. So long
as people remain unmotivated, very little can be accomplished. On
the other hand, when an individual is improperly motivated, there
exists the strong possibility he will resort to acts which are dishonest
and destructive. Such has been the dilemma for any company where the
Workers' Compensation system has unwittingly created an impetus for
individuals to seek benefits to which they're otherwise not entitled.
The situation is further exacerbated by the many law firms and medical
clinics which, through multi-media advertising, encourage workers
to take advantage of the system. The irony is that most companies,
confronted with this reality, make no effort to motivate their people
to do things differently. The inevitable result is their workers'
comp problems continue...or get much worse. These companies have yet
to understand that to "bring out the best" in it's employees, management
must actively encourage its people to not only do the right thing
but reward them for successful claims reduction. Afterall, receiving
the benefit of one's efforts is the cornerstone of our economic system.
The Reactive Approach
Unfortunately, when it comes to workers' compensation, something
has gotten lost in the translation. This isn't surprising given
how unfairly the workers' comp system is weighted against business.
Many, if not most companies feel as though the decks are so stacked
against them, there's virtually nothing they can do. As a result,
all too often an attitude of resentment and distrust develops towards
the workforce. At times, the management of such companies takes
on a siege mentality of "its us against them", placing increased
emphasis on warnings, probation, suspension and/or termination in
order to weed out potential troublemakers. Furthermore, claims are
more often than not vigorously denied unless there is clear and
present evidence of an actual accident having caused the alleged
injury. Obviously, this punitive course of action only serves to
further polarize the employer/employee relationship, increasing
mutual distrust and lowering morale. In fact, companies which take
this hard line approach unwittingly play directly into the hands
of those law firms who promote themselves as "protecting worker's
rights". Needless to say, rarely do businesses that subscribe to
this methodology ever win the war, but instead finding themselves
fighting one losing battle after another.
The Conventional Approach
Those companies which have made the choice to take a more positive
"proactive" approach to their workers' comp problem have, by and
large, adopted more conventional methods such as the implementation
of safety training or the use of safety manuals. Although there
is no substitute for proper safety education and clear safety regulations,
such efforts have virtually no impact on the employee who is intent
on faking an alleged injury in order to pick-up extra money and/or
time-off. Furthermore, training and safety regulations only address
half of the equation: the employee's behavior. What often remains
unchanged is his attitude. Rules and training tell an employee what
he is supposed to do (behavior), but all too often, it has little
impact on what he wants to do (attitude).
Yet genuine behavioral change cannot take place unless and until
an individual is motivated to do something, not just because he
has to but because he wants to. Consider the driver who doesn't
wear a seatbelt. Although the law requires wearing it and he knows
it's for his own safety, he nevertheless chooses not to buckle up.
You can scream, shout, threaten and plea but unless constantly supervised,
his behavior is unlikely to change until he somehow becomes motivated
to do so. This was what Seth Marshall, the designer
of Safety Pays discovered at Santa Monica Seafood Company. When
he arrived there in the late 80's, the company had a loss ratio
of 122% and was averaging 33 claims a year. Management at Santa
Monica Seafood then began to implement a number of conventional
strategies including safety training, the formation of a safety
committee, acquisition of safety equipment, etc. To their great
disappointment, all of these efforts had only a marginal impact
on workers' comp claims.
The Motivational Approach
It was then that Mr. Marshall realized that without the employees'
cooperation and commitment, Santa Monica Seafood would never succeed
at lowering its claims exposure. The issue then was to find the
means by which he could motivate the workforce to make this goal
as important to them as it was to management. Unfortunately, the
only approaches the marketplace had to offer were either ineffective
or prohibitively expensive. So he proceeded to develop a comprehensive
employee incentive program of his own called "Safety Pays" incorporating
all of the necessary elements to keep his people both focused and
responsive. The results were astounding! Utilizing the program,
Santa Monica Seafood achieved an annual loss ratio of less than
10% while the average number of claims each year was reduced by
nearly 90%! Furthermore, they haven't had a post-termination claim
since 1991... and that's with a yearly turnover of 25-30% of his
workforce. And because Safety Pays is extremely flexible in its
design, they are able to maintain long-term interest and involvement
by the workers through the regular infusion of fresh and entertaining
incentive perks. The key has been in tying individual rewards to
group achievement within a framework which promotes employee participation
on a daily basis. By doing this, the Safety Pays program shifts
the burden of claims control from management to the workforce as
a whole. A company's workers both willingly and happily accept the
responsibility because now there's something in it for them. And
because Safety Pays incorporates bonus rewards for employee communication,
a level of respect and rapport has evolved which before was unimaginable.
The obvious question then was, "Could this same program be as effective
in other companies as it has been at Santa Monica Seafood?" Since
1991, nearly 3000 companies have answered with a resounding "Yes!"
Businesses in virtually every commercial and industrial setting
have found the same level of success as was our experience. Safety Pays has allowed them to not only raise employee safety awareness
to an all time high, but has also facilitated the creation of a
healthy peer group pressure which makes filing questionable claims
socially unacceptable. The lesson in all this is simple. A company's
workers' compensation dilemma begins and ends with its employees.
Therefore, any solution must enlist their full support and participation.
The key is for management to provide a system of incentives and
rewards which allow its employees to directly benefit from their
successful efforts. As we say in the seafood business, "you bait
the hook to suit the fish". By doing so, not only will a company's
workers' comp claims exposure be dramatically reduced, but management
will have the motivational momentum to overcome any number of employee-related
issues.
Bio - Seth Marshall -
Safety Pays, Inc.
Seth Marshall is founder and president of Safety Pays, Inc., a company
which designs and implements workplace incentive programs. He is
also Executive Vice President of Santa Monica Seafood Company, one
of Southern California's largest seafood distributors. In an effort
to reduce Santa Monica Seafood's workers' comp claims exposure,
Mr. Marshall created an employee motivation program called "Safety Pays" which reduced the company's losses by 90%, saving hundreds
of thousands in premium dollars. In late 1991, Mr. Marshall began
making the program available to other companies throughout California.
After just one year, Safety Pays was being used in over 200 businesses
with claims reductions averaging well over 50%. Today his program
is being used in thousands of companies nationwhide. Mr. Marshall
received a law degree at the University of Southern California in
1978 and until arriving at Santa Monica Seafood in 1989 was a successful
talent manager & record producer with a number of Billboard Magazine
Top 10 recordings to his credit. For further information, Mr. Marshall
may be reached toll-free at (800) 942-1022.
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