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Incentive Programs for Filling Shifts

January 30, 2008 at 12:00 AM PST

Incentives are worth exploring. Incentives drive behavior, and have a cultural, financial and operational implications. They must be well understood to get the desired result. There are two types of incentives which include Employee Based and Shift Based. Employee based can promote entitlement and have limited effectiveness. Shift based incentives are placed where it is needed and aligns the employee availability with needs of the organization.

Incentive: Something, such as the fear of punishment or the expectation of reward that includes action or motivates effort.
~American Heritage Dictionary

Path to Successful Incentive Programs

~Willingness to evaluate                                                  ~Place incentives where they are needed
~Courage to change                                                        ~Monitor performance and adjust approach
~Reward behaviors you want to encourage                  ~Communicate findings and changes to staff
~Design rewards based on staff interests                     ~Know you are not alone

BidShift’s Incentive Approaches

Fixed Rates	Premium Wage and Base Wage + Bonus	60% above employee’s base pay, $50 total shift
Variable Rate	Incentive reverse bidding and percentage reverse bidding	Start bidding at $10/h Start bidding at 60% over base pay
ShiftRewards	Point based system, tangible incentive, cost effective alternative to $$$ incentives, survey staff to identify rewards	Cafeteria meal, gas card, apple iphone, professional certification fee

The following are case studies of current clients using an incentive program that has resulted in successful staffing effectiveness

Hospital	Location	Launch Date	Approach	Impact
Medical Center of Central Georgia (Fixed Rate)	Macon, Georgia	08/06	Moved from double time pay to fixed rate shift bonus with multiple tiers, centrally managed incentive placement, developed a mentoring program for creating balanced scheduled, targeted to hard to fill shifts	40% decrease in agency spending in 2007, decreased incentive spend by 2x stated goal, 76% open shifts filled (average/mo), created a collaborative process for managing incentives
The Christ Hospital (Variable Rate)	Cincinnati, OH	11/05	Analyzed agency cost/incentive pay, reviewed percent of income paid as incentives, required a design that fit within their payroll system, reward experienced staff, pioneered variable percentage bidding	Standardized incentive approach, reward experience and commitment, retention and recruitment, $2.2 million savings in agency cost
Castle Medical Center (ShiftRewards)	Kailua, Hawaii	09/06	Shifted from $ negotiations to points-based incentive program, apply incentives to drive desired behavior, place incentives on hard-to-fill shifts	82,807 patient care hours filled, 70%-75% of open shifts filled, $9,310 incentive liability (11 cents/hour)76% decreased use of agency, eliminated all travelers