Lab Incentives

[Mike Fretto]

Can anyone out there give me some ideas on lab incentives programs for employees. Personally I feel that a paycheck, and maybe the knowledge of a job well done, ought to be enough but I guess that's "OldSchool". Anyway I've been asked to look into some creative ways to motivate people to do what there already getting paid to do. It seems the people in the dispensary are making a killing through this carrot on a stick mentality, never mind what the patient needs or can afford, its what gets the highest perk. I'm sorry to be so negative but come on people, -0.50 spheres O.U. 48 eye frame no decentration lets sell them Vizio's 1.66 index 1.0mm C.T. UTMC Coating give me a break. GEEEEEEEEZ Well I feel better now. Seriously I dont doubt there are benefits, if we in the lab could eliminate mental mistakes that ought to be worth a pretty big carrot or something the qustion is what? If any of you are involved in some kind of incentive program I would appreciate hearing how youv'e fared.

[stephanie]

Yes Mike I can feel your pain on this one. We have some of the same problems. People selling just to sell. I can't tell you how many remakes today alone I did for that very reason. You should have seen one I did today first customer this morning. He asked me if I could make the frames stop popping off of his head. Well any idiot could have seen the frame DID NOT fit this man. The temples did not even come close to even fitting behind his ears. Obviously whoever fit him didn't even bother to try to adjust frame at all. This goes on constantly btw. I said sir it is simple...I can't make the frame fit any better because it doesn't fit you let's go find one that does. If this person who sold them took just 5 extra mins of their precious time they could have seen that it wasn't going to work. What you posted is something I complain about (mostly to myself because no one else cares)continuously. My pts are number one. Their needs come before anything else including personal phone calls and breaks lunches etc. The bottom line is some people think they are supposed to get a gold star everytime they do something. NOT SO!!! Your gold star should be your happy satisfied customer. Or your pts saying wow thanks for taking your time with me you are a great optician. Unfortunately today people want you to have them a pizza party everytime they show up for work as if they have really accomplished something.
Have a great day!! Keep doing a good job Mike!!
Steph

[ziggy]

Mike, I think that you Steph and I may have been seperated at birth! The only lab perk that I have ever seen work well is to give a bonus based on reduction of lab errors. You figure the $ amount lab errors cost and give that, or a % of that to your lab rats. Any perks based on, on time or, # of jobs out the door just add to the problem. Good Luck, and let us know what you come up with!! Paul

[Steve Machol]

ziggy,

Good idea in principle. The trick is to make sure the lab does not begin passing marginal jobs because of the incentive. Granted if you have the right people and training in place that shouldn't be a major issue. However as Stephanie pointed out, incentives often distort the quality of work performed.

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OptiBoard Administrator

[sgreen]

Lets talk about lab incentives. We struggled with this for years; the lab people were fabricating high dollar scripts sold by the retail guys, who are getting a healthy commission. The lab guys were becoming disenchanted with the process, we were in a One Hour / same day model in some locations and a main lab in another.

We used one of two lab bonus programs;
Program one was paid at $1.00 per job paid at 100% for 95% or better one-hour service with 4% or less breakage. The monies were split among the lab people again with monies deducted for being late, being absent, and jobs sent out wrong.

Program two was used in our main lab and paid at $50.00 per week per person. With all jobs going out the same day, and special orders out the day lenses were received. The same process was used for the payouts.

E-mail me for more details or to discuss this further at: sgreen@usa.net

[Jeff Trail]

I'll tell you how I got around the problem, I may have a slightly different way since I am a wholesale lab owner and we can't "let things slide through" hust to improve the production %.. so we can't "fudge" the jobs to improve the numbers Steve :) ..My biggest problem is being wholesale I do not have the same profit margin to play with you retail guys have so instead of money we came up with a plan that gives "time" ... be it just a half day off or added days to vaction or holidays it has worked well.. and since we can rotate the people getting bonus "time" it never leaves us short handed, and since everyone is salary it does not effect the pay at the end of the week :) .. Most of my guys prefer the "free" time to head to the beach or whatever over getting a few xtra bucks in the pocket they have to pay income tax on..
Just a thought for an alternative way that works for me and my company.

Jeff "give me a half day on the golf course anyday" Trail :)

[John R]

Originally posted by Mike Fretto:
Can anyone out there give me some ideas on lab incentives programs for employees.

Now there is an idea i like :D Working in a lab for 25 years here's what i would like and
what we get :(
1. After 10 years co pays into your pension plan
2. Certain folks get bupa (helth care to you yanks) but we have to pay tax on it :( which is more than the co pays for it..So its not realy a bonus..
3. After 15 years service you get an extra 5 days hols to take between october and march.
There are NO bonus's for time keeping etc or keeping the reject rate low.
If you are real lucky you may get a pat on the back (wow) and a thanks. You can almost see the boss choking on the words, (but it don't pay the bills....

What i would like to see is some form of cash bonus based on keeping rejects down and keeping the work flowing out the door ie same day return.

Personally I feel that a paycheck, and maybe the knowledge of a job well done, ought to be enough but

I guess from that statement you are either owner or management,
Sorry but after all my service i need more than the satisfaction of a job well done as it don't pay the bills one little bit.....



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Every day a grind
Every week a bind
www.iooi.co.uk

[stephanie]

Actually Ziggy Mike and I are cousins 16 times removed!! LOL!! At least it is nice to know that there are other people out there who share the same ethics and concerns as I do. Sometimes I think that maybe it is just me being a perfectionist in my job.
Have a great weekend!!
Steph

[bblack]

Incentives are a natural element of the free enterprise system. Incentives should be a tool that clearly defines to the employee what is important to the company. A well thought out incentive plan will help us do a better job for the consumer and the company. If an incentive system leads to greater productivity with increased quality this can only be a good thing for everyone. An incentive plan is not a gift. The proceeds are not coming from the money tree in the back of the lab. Incentives are a part of the employees' salary. The only difference is that it is a monitored aspect of the daily workload of the employee. I would base it on three or four key areas. Some areas to use would be quality, speed, breakage, and lab remakes. These areas could be weighted based on the lab situation at that time. I believe most people want to do a good job and the incentives are just a way to keep score.

Just an opinion, I could be wrong

Bill

[Jim G]

Mike and I are related...his Dad used to work for us! (I thot Joe would have taught ya better!)

I think "bblack" said it well but would only add that we have seen that where tardiness and/or absenteeism is a problem, adding a qualifier of no absenteeism coupled with a "no later than x minutes (5?)" has worked well. Also, the more you make it a team reward, the better it works.

[EyeManFla]

Here is a good one for ya......

There is a large chain here in Fla....Yes,THAT ONE.....that had a most interesting way to calculate the bonus for Lab managers:

You are put on salary. HOWEVER, 30% of that salary is based on a whole list of a bonus scale that is imposible for the lab manager to control.
If the sales person measures the progressive wrong and it has to be redone, it is recorded as a shop error.
So, if you do well, you get all you pay....but nobody ever does.....

A class action suite with the FED put a stop to that.

Personally, I hire shop people that have good track records and pay them accordingly.
I am not like some Drs here in Fla who believe that there isn't a shop man alive worth more than $5.00 an hour.