|
| |
|
|
Encouraging Behavior
That Gets Results |
|
|
|
|
|
You’re the boss, and you have every reason to
feel good about your organization.
You’ve built a great team.
You’ve put strong players in every spot.
You have clearly defined procedures for every part of the business.
You have incentive, safety recognition, and bonus programs.
But something doesn’t seem quite right.
Somehow, there seems to be a sense of unease. You can’t put your finger on
it exactly, but you know it’s there. It’s what you wake up at 2 a.m.
worrying about.
What are the symptoms?
Well, it’s not that precise. It’s the little things. Like, well, you spend
too much time monitoring your workers – checking time sheets, correcting
behavior problems, and dealing with attitude problems. People seem to be
“doing their own thing” instead of being a part of a team.
Sound familiar?
It should, because getting optimal team performance is a common problem for
business owners, from the largest corporation to the mom and pop business.
Building a strong team provides the foundation for good performance, but
that is only part of the process. As the manager, you need to encourage
behaviors that create positive business results.
A powerful tool for encouraging these behaviors is the use of targeted
positive reinforcement within a well defined performance management system.
Much has been written about the use of positive reinforcement in recent
years, but many managers and business owners still struggle with how to
apply it appropriately. One reason many people do not hoped for results is a
misunderstanding of how reinforcement strategies really work.
Much more than “pats on the back”, “atta-boys”, and “warm fuzzies”, the
effective use of positive reinforcement strategies in a structured
performance management system relies on knowledge of your business systems,
understanding the effect of specific employee behaviors on business results,
and precisely targeted behavioral reinforcements.
Creating a strong performance management system starts with understanding
why people do what they do.
One model of explaining human behavior says that an individual’s behavior
results from the consistent pairing of antecedents (situations or events
just prior to our behaviors) and consequences (situations or events created
by our behaviors).
For example, we enter a dark room and flip the light switch to “On”. We do
this because we expect light to be the result. Darkness is the antecedent.
Light is the consequence. If we enter a room and consistently get no light
by flipping the switch, we resort to some other behavior (light a candle,
carry a flashlight, etc).
While this sounds simple enough in the example, in practice, it is often
more difficult when we apply it in the workplace.
The key is to identify the behaviors that produce the desired business
results; then create consequences for employees that will reinforce those
behaviors. Any consequence that encourages a behavior to repeat is a
positive reinforcement.
But there is a subtlety that is very important. We can encourage behaviors,
but we cannot enforce them. Many companies try to enforce appropriate
behaviors rather than encourage them.
Enforcing requires a high degree of supervisory input and nets only minimal
standard performance from employees, but encouraging requires minimal
supervisory input once the system is in place, and it usually results in
superior performance.
One way to achieve a consistent pairing of results (consequences) and
behaviors is accomplished through a targeted improvement process much like
the processes advocated by ISO, QS, and TQM management systems. The steps in
this process are:
- Identify the behaviors that create the desired results
- Measure the results of the behaviors
- Provide feedback to employees
- Positively reinforce the effective behaviors
- Evaluate the choice of behaviors and measurements – iterate to improve
selection
As business people, we should all know that human behavior drives business
results. Our daily behaviors create the results that either help or hurt our
businesses. Learning to encourage behaviors that grow the business can make
the difference between success and failure.
Copyright 2005, Guy Harris
You may use this article for electronic distribution if you will include all
contact information with live links back to the author. Notification of use
is not required, but I would appreciate it. Please contact the author prior
to use in printed media.
About the Author
Guy Harris is the Chief Relationship Officer with Principle Driven
Consulting. He helps entrepreneurs, business managers, and other
organizational leaders build trust, reduce conflict, and improve team
performance. Learn more at
www.principledriven.com. Register for Guy's monthly newsletter at
http://www.principledriven.com/newsletter.htm |
|
|
|
