Yes, You Can Create Some Excitement in the Workplace

B. F. Skinner is considered the ‘father’ of positive reinforcement theory. There is a story about B. F. addressing a group of business people wherein he lambasted them for their outdated, outmoded and ineffective methods for improving employee behaviour on the job.

During his address he told the audience that managers typically were overusing ‘negative reinforcement’, ‘punishment’ and ‘extinction’ as ways of altering behaviour. He also said that they were under-using ‘positive reinforcement’. He went on to tell a story about an employee who is constantly late. The typical managerial response (or response from peers for that matter) is to be critical (e.g., nagging), dock their pay, or take something away that is valuable to the employee, when they are late. He said that if they wanted real change they needed to use ‘positive reinforcement’ or ‘recognition’ when the employee performed the expected behaviour. In short, his advice was ‘on the days the employee arrives on time, be sure to acknowledge and recognize the behaviour’.

As you can imagine B.F. Skinner’s wasn’t very popular with the group of business people. The advice was radical in its day. Today his pioneering work remains the foundation upon which all reward and recognition programs are built. For example, Michael LeBoeuf, a noted management authority, was quoted as saying, ‘Things that get rewarded, get repeated’, and he considers this as the greatest management principle in the world.

Ironically when someone proposes a reward & recognition program, visions of programs with pens, badges, plaques, hats, t-shirts, and other trinkets are created. The reality is, rewards & recognition programs go far beyond ‘gifts’, though small tokens of reward are quite valuable and should be an integral part of any organization’s reward and recognition program.

To use a reward & recognition program properly and to ensure that the allocation of rewards has the desired effects, an organization should:

Identify the desired behaviours that should be rewarded.

Maintain an inventory of rewards that can be used as a positive reinforcement tool.

Recognize individual differences: We’re all different, and a reward that would be of value to you, may not have as much value to another.

Ensure everyone in the organization knows exactly what must be done to receive a reward.

Administer the reward, immediately upon witnessing the desired behaviour or accomplishment.

The vast majority of organizations under-utilize the power of positive reinforcement, after-all we’ve been conditioned (mostly through our up bringing) to use the tools of negative reinforcement. The good news is a program needn’t be complex, it should be comprehensive enough to meet your needs.

You can start using the power of positive reinforcement, with or without a defined reward & recognition program. It is simple and it is easy. It just takes some practice. Here is the 4-step process used by effective leaders to recognize the contributions of others:

• Be sincere

• Be specific

• Gear it to the person

• Be immediate.

One of my favourite definitions is about insanity: ‘Doing what you always do, but expecting a different result’. How can we really expect changes, productivity improvement, excellent Customer Service, and increases in employee loyalty using the systems of behaviour reinforcement that are based on the negative?

As leaders, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends, peers, co-workers, teammates, etc., you do have a choice. That is, to reward or not to reward. Think back to a time when the ‘boss’ said you ‘did a fantastic job’, how good did it feel? Did that reward cost the company money? No! Was it worthwhile? Yes. The power of an effective rewards & recognition program/system is underutilized in most organizations’ don’t let it be in yours.

Sid Ridgley, can be reached at 905-294-1260, fax: 905-294-3266

or e-mail: sridgley@simulcorp.com

Copyright ©Sid Ridgley