𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟮 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿. Night shift. An operator twists an ankle. TRIR spikes. Twenty percent of the plant bonus — gone overnight. I’ve seen it happen more than once. One accident in January, and by February the energy on the floor has vanished. After a decade of designing and running incentive systems in plants, here’s the truth I came to: 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 — 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀. Playable systems balance what matters, reward what’s in people’s control, and keep teams moving all year — even after a rough start. 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗴𝗼 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 • Departments chase their own scoreboards — Production, Quality, Maintenance, Shipping. Each wins alone; the plant loses together. • Lagging metrics like TRIR punish the unlucky. Once it’s blown, no one can recover. • Group plans feel unfair. In plants, perceived fairness drives engagement more than payout size. • KPI overload drains focus. Seven targets mean none truly matter. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝟭. 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄 – Align KPIs so functions win together (Output + Yield + Maintenance Compliance + Loads Shipped On Time). 𝟮. 𝗥𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝘂𝗰𝗸 – Pair outcomes with leading actions (Toolbox Talks, Safety Timeouts, Kaizen Events). 𝟯. 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀 – Short feedback cycles keep momentum; annual “all-or-nothing” kills it. 𝟰. 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲, 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆 – Keep KPIs stable year to year. Mastery beats novelty. 𝟱. 𝗝𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 (≈ 𝟱–𝟭𝟬 %) – A small discretionary pool lets leaders stay fair when shocks hit. 𝟲. 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 – At least one cross-functional KPI (𝘖𝘯-𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥) that connects every department. 𝗔 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗿 When we mapped “on-time loads,” ten loaders turned into an entire plant team. Packaging, scheduling, maintenance — everyone saw their fingerprint on the truck. The metric stopped 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 people and started 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 them. 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 Perfect is a myth. 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴. Which KPI in your plant creates the most friction — and what leading action could replace it next quarter? Comment 𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗧-𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗘𝗧 for the 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘐𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵. #ManufacturingLeadership #EmployeeEngagement #OperationalExcellence #ContinuousImprovement #IncentiveDesign