This posting is about, tail wagging. To understand this analogy image a dog sniffing out and discovering new and exciting things regularly. It’s that discovery and learning model that is the basis for most successful litter program, seeking out understanding and enhancement.
Now if we moved to the other end of the dog and saw the busily wagging tail, we could make the dangerous assumption that everything is alright and everyone is happy. The back end of your litter management operation is your contractors, maintenance people and even local council staff. It needs to be remembered that litter management is about people in public spaces doing the right thing.
Don’t fall into the trap of doing things to keep your contractors happy; they should be getting paid to do the right thing.
It is doing what’s right, not what’s easy that makes for high-quality services.
Tail wagging in your organisation is what happens when you start doing things that you profess is about litter prevention, but many of those actions are designed to appease somebody other than the public.
Instead of having litter management, prevention or reduction as the principal purpose something else has taken over the priority. That’s not to say that the action still won’t help manage litter, the potential is some of those actions can. But instead of getting the best outcome many local councils will still allow themselves to fall into the trap of tail wagging just to keep a contractor or paid service provider happy.
A couple of obvious ones that spring to mind;
- Litter enforcement to raise revenue, not encourage behaviour change
- Same-Same strategy, doing what everyone is doing not what your community needs
- Shiny thing syndrome, looking for one-off events to boast about, not sustained change
- Bin installation to suit contractors and service staff, not community and user needs
- Grass cutting crews failing to collect litter before a cut, makes their job easy and the place messy
- Bins with features that companies want you to buy, not bins that work for your community
These are just a couple of examples of where the tail can start to wag, or simply put making decisions based on keeping organisations happy, not people.
Perhaps cardboard is not the right material?
Another way to look at this is to visualise a crowd of people moving about in different directions in any public space. That is the customer base; they are the target audience. If you can confidently say that each and every action your council takes is about assisting or enabling them to dispose of litter thoughtfully then you are acting with the best intent. If you apply the wants and needs of contractors or others above the community, then you are guilty of tail wagging.
Positioning easy to find, easy to use bins help the public “do the right thing”
Enforcement programs are perhaps the largest single offender when it comes to tail wagging. The United Kingdom is a fantastic example where currently private companies are supplying littering enforcement staff to the local authorities. The fact that these companies are making more money for just issuing more fines is where they got it wrong.
Attaching profits or payments to outcomes rather than actions is a far more sustainable method. That same approach also works in any field of litter management, pay for what’s working, pay for what will be working into the future and what’s connected to your community.
If you plan on offering bonuses and deals to contractors, you need a measurable return.
That could be a;
- percentage of litter reduced on the ground,
- a level of satisfaction within your community,
- a saving or reduction in time spent on other elements of your program.
The idea of incentives and bonuses based upon the perception of happiness will only lead to shallow, superficial improvements that won’t stand the test of time. Genuine long-term improvements and behaviour change will only come about when they are for the public.
I’m a fan of enforcement, of quality contractors emptying bins and of getting bins in the right place. They all matter, but they can’t be measured in contractor satisfaction, they must be measured in community satisfaction.
This ‘Tail Wagging’ can be contagious, once you’ve done it once and start thinking about just taking the easy way you can fall prey. The simplest way to avoid it is to put yourself in the public’s shoes, ask and answer your questions from their perspective, if its value for money, quality work, improving behaviours and makes things easier for the public then your headed in the right direction.
As with all the postings if you have a question or comment, please feel free to contact me at paul@wasteadspace.com.au