Author: Jeff Edwards

As Vice President of QIC, Jeff oversees daily operations as well as the company’s strategic marketing initiatives. He has 20+ years in the incentive and recognition industry with prior lengthy experience in retail marketing/advertising and consumer loyalty.

Employee Safety – If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail

Employee Safety - when all you have is a hammerEver been ready to take on a task or project, only to find that you didn’t have the right tool for the job?  While not the handiest when it comes to mechanical, home remodeling or building projects – I do enjoy taking on projects myself when possible.  For example, I like to perform the scheduled maintenance on my vehicles rather than taking them to someone else.  I’ve also enjoyed laying tile and wood flooring in our home, among other projects.

These tasks become much more difficult, and the likelihood of an unsatisfactory result increases without the proper tools.  The same is true of employee safety programs.  The best strategy will include several elements – and your employee safety incentive program is only one of them!

Have a plan.  Consider your current situation – and the tools (below) needed to implement a safety program –and ultimately to establish a culture of safety throughout the organization.

Have the proper tools.

  • Safety Policies and Procedures should be clearly defined and communicated
  • Safety Training Guidelines by job type and responsibility
  • Establish Safety Teams / Regularly Scheduled Safety Meetings
  • Safety Gear
  • Establish Safe Operating Guidelines and Procedures for Equipment and Vehicles
  • Employee Safety Incentive Program

Have Patience.  It takes time to effectively work through the planning stages and, once implemented – to see results.  Think about those times when you tried to complete a project, and instead of putting it off until you had the proper tool, went ahead with less-than-desired results.

An effective employee safety incentive program will compliment and support all the other components of your safety program.  You may have a beautiful, shiny tool box – but putting a hammer in it and calling it done is not only inadequate – it can also be counterproductive.  Make sure you have the right tools for the job – contact us here to find out more about employee safety programs.

Motivation and the Selling Professional

The motivation of salespeople has long been seen as a black/white or pass/fail proposition.  Meet or exceed sales quotas – earn commissions.  Don’t sell enough – face termination.  This research brief published by the Aberdeen Group makes a strong case for considering methods beyond take-home pay alone to motivate professional sellers. The Aberdeen study entitled… Read more »

July – Incentive Program KPI Awareness Month

OK – I admit naming July as Incentive Program KPI Awareness Month is a stretch (and hard to say in one breath), but turns out it isn’t really that far off the plate (just a little bit outside).  We have no shortage of national awareness causes and events each month and July is no exception. … Read more »

Wellness Programs and Cat’s Eyes Cunningham

If your company is like many these days, it has an employee wellness program in place – or one is under consideration.  In fact, according to a 2012 report by the Rand Corporation, 92 percent of US companies with more than 200 employees offered a wellness program.  Wellness initiatives continue to grow in popularity, largely… Read more »

5 Program Design Dragons that must be Slayed

Watching the 2002 movie Reign of Fire (Matthew McConaughey, Christian Bale) left me with one overwhelming and undeniable truth: the free reign of undomesticated, large, fire-breathing dragons is not conducive to a life of peace and prosperity.  As long as those dragons are around all activities are focused on avoidance, survival and a meager existence… Read more »