We have tried to motivate the value analysis teams we have established, trained, and facilitated for our clients in numerous ways, but the most effective method we have found to do so is with a rewards and recognition program.
Rewards Can Become Addictive
How do you train any animal? With rewards! Those rewards can be as simple as a “that-a-boy” or a treat after performing a trick or task. And if this done repeatedly, it can become addictive. Remember psychologist B.F. Skinner’s experiments.
Skinner established that if consequences are bad (electrical shock), there is a high chance that the action will not be repeated. If consequences are good (piece of candy) the chances are good that the action will be repeated. These disincentives or incentives work the same in humans and they, too, can become addictive.
Rewards Should be Designed by VA Team Members, Not Management
The biggest mistake we have seen in hospitals, systems, and IDNs in developing rewards for VA team members is that their management decides what the best rewards are for them, such as, movie tickets, days off, or small prizes.
However, since each of your VA team members have different life goals only they know what rewards will motivate them to save money and improve quality. Therefore, a catalog of awards like Amazon (with travel sites too) should be offered as a rewards program.
By doing it this way, a VA team member who desperately needs a new refrigerator can shoot for that reward and another who is looking for an exotic vacation can strive to win this award. This way, no matter what floats their boat, everyone on your VA team is happy (incentivized) and no one is disappointed (disincentive) by the rewards that are selected.
That’s why a point system (valued at $1.00 or more a point) works best for rewards. For instance, it could take 783 points to win a refrigerator or 8,990 to win a trip to Tahiti. These points are obtained by VA team members when they complete their tasks, projects, and goals on time and on budget. Maybe, they obtain 10 points for every VA meeting they attend or one point for every dollar saved. Hopefully, you get the idea.
Recognition Can Also Become Addictive
To encourage favorable actions is the reason recognition or the acknowledgment of progress, approval, or acceptance of an action by a VA team member is so powerful. It can be in the form of a verbal or written complement by a VA team leader, which they should be doing frequently, or a certificate of completion of a Certified Value Analysis Practitioner Training Program, which is our practice. To paraphrase entrepreneur Mary Kay Ash, “There are two things people want more than anything else…recognition and praise.” Remember this quote next time you observe an action you want to be repeated by your VA team members.
A Rewards and Recognition Program is Like a Game
Douglas Gentile, a psychologist at Iowa State University, says that, “Games are so compelling because they satisfy an ‘ABC’ of human needs. The A is Autonomy, we like to feel we’re in control. B is Belonging, we like to feel connected to other people. And the C is Competence, we like to feel that we’re good at what we do.”
In a nutshell, a rewards and recognition program is a competitive game. This gives your VA team members control over their tasks, projects, and goals, recognizes that they belong to a group, and shows that they are competent in what they do. What more would you want to incentivize your VA team to do better than just good.