How to Use Behavioral Science to Drive Employee Performance  Rather Than Drive the Employees Away DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON Western Michigan University May 25, 2012 Global Conference on Business and Finance, San José, Costa Rica Correspondence: djohnson@operant-tech.com Slide 1 Slide 2 Two of the most common managerial approaches to employee enhancement Selecting/hoping for the perfect employee Endless cycles of training Slide 3 Often aren’t linked to outcomes for the employee or employer Poor return on investment Are you building measurable skills? Or vague, unknowable outcomes? Desperate hope that this time it will stick How to Use Behavioral Science to Drive Employee Performance  Rather Than Drive the Employees Away DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON Western Michigan University May 25, 2012 Global Conference on Business and Finance, San José, Costa Rica Correspondence: djohnson@operant-tech.com Slide 4 Behaviors are often in the skill set, but the workplace doesn't support the effort to engage in desired behavior Slide 5 Underlies all the modern techniques in therapy and education that have actual measurable results Principles that cut across species but applications can be tailored to the individual Slide 6 . The rise and success of Organizational Behavior Management as a tool for understanding employee actions How to Use Behavioral Science to Drive Employee Performance  Rather Than Drive the Employees Away DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON Western Michigan University May 25, 2012 Global Conference on Business and Finance, San José, Costa Rica Correspondence: djohnson@operant-tech.com Slide 7 . How to solve all those people problems that seemed impossible before Slide 8 . . Components are simple Combinations and applications are complex Slide 9 Supervision failures often result from not understanding how the environment influences people Most managers are not just stupid or foolish; many are experts in important areas Simply lacking a basic understanding of OBM How to Use Behavioral Science to Drive Employee Performance  Rather Than Drive the Employees Away DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON Western Michigan University May 25, 2012 Global Conference on Business and Finance, San José, Costa Rica Correspondence: djohnson@operant-tech.com Slide 10 Simply blaming workers may feel good, but doesn’t fix How tried "performance management" and decided employees can't be motivated Dissatisfaction with rewards in general Slide 11 Usually due to reward systems that violate OBM principles, rather than employees who can't be motivated Employee-of-the-month as an example Most would state that EOM is nice and would work for it; research says otherwise The distinction between rewards and reinforcers Beware self-report When identifying reinforcers, need to measure actual impact rather than presumed impact You can ask employees what would motivate them, but also observe and test Slide 12 How to Use Behavioral Science to Drive Employee Performance  Rather Than Drive the Employees Away DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON Western Michigan University May 25, 2012 Global Conference on Business and Finance, San José, Costa Rica Correspondence: djohnson@operant-tech.com Slide 13 Not only monitor to test the power of your consequences, but decide if it is even appropriate to deliver Brief and random snapshots are valuable More you sample, more precise your consequences can be and better they’ll respond Slide 14 . When almost never show up, distorted view History that leads to hatred of supervision Slide 15 . . Every job activity is made up of behaviors, every behavior can be measured Only fight measurement because most measurement is used to penalize rather than enhance How to Use Behavioral Science to Drive Employee Performance  Rather Than Drive the Employees Away DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON Western Michigan University May 25, 2012 Global Conference on Business and Finance, San José, Costa Rica Correspondence: djohnson@operant-tech.com Slide 16 But, they should oughta, wanta, do- it People simply don't work that way Can keep making this protest or actually fix the problem! Slide 17 The real behavioral relationship underlying hourly pay: just don't get fired and nothing more Slide 18 We constantly do things we shouldn’t How to Use Behavioral Science to Drive Employee Performance  Rather Than Drive the Employees Away DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON Western Michigan University May 25, 2012 Global Conference on Business and Finance, San José, Costa Rica Correspondence: djohnson@operant-tech.com Slide 19 . Don't blame the employee Blame and fix the contingencies . instead Slide 20 Some consequences are better than others A cooperative and collaboration working relation is fairly straightforward but rarely adhered to Slide 21 How to Use Behavioral Science to Drive Employee Performance  Rather Than Drive the Employees Away DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON Western Michigan University May 25, 2012 Global Conference on Business and Finance, San José, Costa Rica Correspondence: djohnson@operant-tech.com Slide 22 . If you build trust and use feedback as opportunity for success acknowledgement, they will seek it Remind you when forgot to measure Slide 23 . . Vague labels cause unsure performance Operational definitions are critical Slide 24 . . Evaluative, Objective, Accurate Frequent small feedback How to Use Behavioral Science to Drive Employee Performance  Rather Than Drive the Employees Away DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON Western Michigan University May 25, 2012 Global Conference on Business and Finance, San José, Costa Rica Correspondence: djohnson@operant-tech.com Slide 25 . . . This isn't about simply being nice to people Blind kindness can damage workplace relationships Recent research showing the damaging effect of nice but inaccurate feedback Slide 26 Don’t pit against one another Success is relative to their past performance Running business with a sole focus on your superstars is ineffective Slide 27 . . Attainable goals Take them where they are at and build How to Use Behavioral Science to Drive Employee Performance  Rather Than Drive the Employees Away DOUGLAS A. JOHNSON Western Michigan University May 25, 2012 Global Conference on Business and Finance, San José, Costa Rica Correspondence: djohnson@operant-tech.com Slide 28