Once a Safety Pays user has discovered the motivational effectiveness of Safety Pays through the reduction/elimination of workplace safety infractions, they’re eager to target other workforce concerns. Absenteeism and tardiness is always at the top of the list.

It’s easy to see why given the organizational burden attendance problems inevitably create, the least of which is lost productivity and efficiency given all hands are not on deck. Equally important is the detrimental impact employees showing up late (or not at all) can have on morale.

Let’s not forget the safety ramifications. Whenever someone is late or absent, an added pressure is placed upon that employee’s coworkers to pick-up the slack – increasing the possibility of an accident or injury due to the need to move faster.

Addressing attendance issues is therefore of critical importance to many companies. There’s any number of methods you can use to easily integrate absenteeism & tardiness as an integral component of the program:

Individual Method: The “individual” approach provides a potential bonus reward for those individual employees who have maintained a perfect on-time record during either the preceding game round, or during the 30 day period prior to the start of a new game. Essentially, this bonus is made available to the employee in the form of an extra game-card worth an additional dollar amount. (eg. $50) As always, the employee must win the game with the Bonus Card received in order to actual win this $50 Attendance reward.

Additional cards are awarded to those employees who have gone for extended periods with perfect attendance (ie. A card for every additional month of 100% attendance up to a total of 3 cards). This provides those employees with the best attendance not only more chances to win the game’s jackpot itself but extra dollars as thanks for their effort in this regard. Another way to handle this is rather than hand-out additional Bonus Cards, instead raise the value of the Bonus Card for extended perfect attendance.

Group Method: Where attendance is a genuine problem some companies run a separate game targeting not only absenteeism and tardiness but other performance issues. We provide such customers an entirely different Master Game Board entitled ‘Performance Pays’ and assist with creation of performance oriented rules using the Safety Pays motivational formula. Meet those performance goals and you’re a part of this special game. But if you fail to meet a performance standard on any given day, you’re eliminated from the current game round. This approach instills a sense of group pride for those employees who month after month demonstrate not only safety awareness, but a commitment to meeting all of the Company’s established standards of conduct. Call 800-942-1022 or email CUSTOMER SUPPORT for further information.

Penalty Method: While the 2 methods previously discussed are rewarding in nature, some companies have opted to use consequences as a motivational technique to discourage absenteeism and tardiness. To do this, a notice is printed on company letterhead and placed in the program’s Display Frame at the beginning of a new game. This notice clearly states that either an unexcused absence or 2 tardies during the course of any game will result in game round disqualification.

One proviso in taking this approach though: Don’t be too rigid in applying such a consequence. Instead, allow employees an unstated grace period of 5 minutes before marking them “late” for a given workday. This approach is most effective when linked to one of the other methods suggested above.

Although these are the most common techniques program users have taken advantage of to reduce/eliminate absenteeism & tardiness, there are any number of other approaches we can suggest via our CUSTOMER SUPPORT helpline. What’s most important in the creation of additional incentive goals is that they precisely target the behavior modification desired in a way that is both easily understood as well as rewarding and fun.

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