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The Power of Incentives


Suggestion Program Saves $22 Million in 18 Months

HR Magazine: Sept, 2003
by Donna Oldenburg

Employers that think they can't afford incentive and recognition programs in a tough economy may be disillusioned. When West Valley Nuclear Services chose to use these powerful business tools the suggestions flew and the bottom line soared.

By investing $20,000 in an employee suggestion program West Valley Nuclear Services'West Valley, N.Y. Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention program realized more than $2.2 million in cost avoidances in an 18-month period. [paragraph] West Valley Nuclear Services manages and operates the West Valley Demonstration project, an environmental cleanup operation within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Cathy Atkinson, chair of the program, and her team developed the employee suggestion program in response to stringent new DOE guidelines regarding energy savings and procurement, as well as the reduction of all types of waste streams (radioactive, hazardous, industrial and sanitary). [paragraph] Although the company already had a Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Program (Wmin/P2) in place, employee participation was limited and customers did not view the program as effective. In addition, tracking the various initiatives and activities was difficult because many employee efforts were not being captured in company reports. With the new guidelines for energy savings and procurement in effect, Atkinson knew it was time to get more aggressive about how things were done

"We wanted to find a way to track how we were meeting our goals," Atkinson says. "We also wanted to save money, recognize employees for the good things they were doing, encourage them to do more, and have documentation to prove that we were doing all of these things to meet our goals."

The solution was an incentive program developed in conjunction with The Bill Sims Co., a Columbia, S.C.-based incentive and recognition company. "Having an incentive program to reach our goals was a new concept," she says. "The DOE had just recently mandated new goals that were rather aggressive. Both the company's and program's performance and budget was dependent on reaching these target goals so we knew we had to 'get out of the box' to hit our target. We chose a program that would allow us to align our goals, track our progress, make it easy for employees to use and recognize their efforts, and give us a return on investment."

With federal and state budget cuts looming, Atkinson and her team "knew the company had to prove itself or risk the loss of much needed funding. More than 800 employees from engineers to cafeteria workers were targeted with the program.

"Because the goals and criteria were clearly stated and provided on every suggestion form, employees knew what expected of them and could put their efforts in the areas where they had direct knowledge," Atkinson explains. "They also knew up front what they could expect from their efforts."

To ensure employees received timely feedback, the Waste Min/P2 team reviewed the suggestions every two weeks. This two-week response time kept employees motivated, as well as focused on implementing suggestions that had been accepted.

Implemented suggestions earned employees "Star Bucks" tickets, which they could then redeem for awards from a special gift catalog. A quarterly drawing for larger prizes, such as a cruise, was also held. Awards were shipped directly to employees' homes in order to encourage family excitement about the program.

In the 18 months that Atkinson headed up the program, West Valley Nuclear Services received 183 suggestions; 63 of which were actually implemented.

According to Atkinson, the program resulted in more than $2.2 million in cost savings and avoidances, and the company finally was able to document what was being done to reach goals, as well justify the program's value. In addition, West Valley's customer, the Department of Energy, gave the company high ratings for developing such an innovative and cost-effective program. At the national level, the program also was recognized in the DOE Pollution Prevention newsletter. But the best part, stresses Atkinson, was the program's return on investment.

"We paid pennies on the dollar. If you're looking for a way to save money, get your employees to help you do that. They know the waste in your company better than anyone."


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