‘Behavior 101’ Articles

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Why Wall Street won’t ever change their spending ways

January 13th, 2012

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business man with piggy bank on head and hands onI’m going to get right to the point.  I have little faith that Wall Street will ever get smarter about how they spend their money. The reality is they have too much of other people’s money and deal in such large amounts day to day that they will never take seriously the efficiency and effectiveness of their own management systems.  They have seen good times and bad.  While they are talking about making dramatic changes now, history has proven that they will only be temporary.  Even though they are in a position now where their financial belts will have to be tightened, it will be only for a short time because when the economy improves they will return to their spendthrift ways.  Why?  Because they don’t know any better and since they are in the business of selling money have come to believe that money will solve their problems only if it is given in large amounts.  It is an environment where $100,000 is considered “chump change.”

What prompted this blog was an article in Bloomberg News titled, “Wall Street Mulls Partial Pay Freeze” by Jeffery McCracken and Christine Harper.  They talk about the fact that revenues in the investment-banking business have been so bad that they might have to resort to eliminating the practice of boosting pay automatically each year.  They quote Joseph Sorrentino of Steven Hall & Partners, an executive-compensation consultancy who said, “Pay increases have been traditionally automatic because there are traditionally very long hours in terms of the amount of work and this is another way to try to boost their morale and signify that they’re a strong part of the firm and that they’re appreciated.”  This quote cracks me up because it shows the almost total lack of understanding of the laws of behavior.

I can assure you that Mr. Sorrentino has no data showing that the way these investment banking firms structure bonuses improves junior bankers’ performance, retention or morale.  It is naïve to think that you can treat people poorly day to day, give them money at the end of the year and think that will create the feeling that “they’re a strong part of the firm and that they’re appreciated.”

The reason these firms can get away with wasting millions of compensation dollars is because practically every company in the industry is using the same poor uninformed compensation practices.  Therefore, no firm has an advantage or disadvantage.  The customer pays the freight.

If these firms ever get to a point where they must operate in a more sound way financially, I can suggest several things.

  1. Every problem cannot be solved with money, even on Wall Street.  What causes people to quit and go to another company is more about the way they are managed than the money they make.  If employees are treated poorly, they will leave for a dollar more.  If they are treated well, it will take a lot more to hire them away.  Make no mistake, loyalty cannot be bought.  Big bonuses have often helped a disaffected employee start a competitive company or retire early.


  2. Bonuses that are not earned, more often than not, do not strengthen productive behavior because that is not the contingency involved in receiving the bonus.  While upper management believes that annual bonuses increase loyalty and performance, they do neither because they don’t have to be loyal or productive to receive one.  They have to do just enough to stay on the payroll.  Of course management doesn’t believe this because if they did, they would make immediate changes where nothing would be automatic that was not individually earned.  A system where employees knew the personal accomplishments they had to achieve to earn the money would be far superior and less costly.


  3. Forget what rival firms do.  Focus on promoting to management only those who have good social skills and an understanding of the science of behavior.  Pinpoint the behaviors and results that are valuable and generously reinforce those behaviors and reward those who produce the results.  That way, the only thing that executives will have to “mull over” will be how to spend the money that is left over.

Ask Aubrey, Behavior 101, Consequences, Culture "Change", Incentives, Leadership, Performance Pay, Positive Reinforcement, Results, Rewards

New Year’s Resolutions: Beware!

January 3rd, 2012

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MH900438914The origin of New Year’s Resolutions can be linked to pre-Christian times in Rome, thousands of years ago.  So every year about this time, I ask audiences where I speak how many made New Year’s Resolutions.  What I have noticed is that fewer and fewer have gone through the ritual.  Does that mean that fewer people are interested in carrying on this ancient tradition?  I think not.  In fact, it’s been reported that more than half of those that proclaim resolutions fail at realizing them. The reality is that most people who make resolutions don’t keep them – many don’t keep them even for a day.

The primary mistake people make in making resolutions is that they think that changing some personal behavior or habit is simply a matter of will power or “making up your mind.”  It is as if people who fail don’t grunt enough, don’t have enough resolve (how do you get more of that?), are not really serious (How can you increase your “really seriousness?).

The real mistake lies in not planning or managing consequences well.  It is easy to resolve to quit drinking, lose weight, start exercising, etc. but it is harder to plan consequences that you will actually be able to self-administer to get the behavior change you seek.  Therefore, the resolution is nothing more than a goal, and goals aren’t reached by grunting, wishing or talking; they are reached when you have consequences that support the behavior change.

Here are some practical suggestions to help you be successful should you want to carry on the New Year’s Resolution tradition.

  1. Plan consequences for behavior change. Allow yourself to do things that you like contingent on a certain accomplishment. In other words, if you resolve to do some project in your house, commit to getting it done before you sit down to watch your favorite TV program.
  2. Set very small sub-goals. The more, the better.  If weight loss is a target, set a goal of no more than one pound a week.  The trick is to set a goal that you are almost sure to reach.  Less than a pound is ok if you can reliably measure it on your scales.  Smoke one cigarette less per day; walk around the block.  No goal can be too small at the beginning.
  3. Post a graph of your progress at home or in the office where everyone can see it.  Set the parameters so that progress is easy to see.  Tell family and co-workers what you are doing.  Use social media to show results.  Put the graph on Facebook, Twitter, etc. The more people who see your progress will reinforce you for it and in return you will be more motivated to keep at it.
  4. Celebrate every success (every goal accomplishment), no matter how small.  Reward yourself.  Publicize your small accomplishments.  “I am one step closer to finishing that big report.”
  5. In addition to rewards that cost money (buying something for yourself, dinner at a fancy restaurant, a movie, some new software for your computer, an iPad, etc.) think of rewards that have a low cost or have no financial cost.  Use the “IF I do X, then I will do Y” contingency.  Or, “when I do X, then I will do Y.”  If your resolution is to clean the attic, basement or garage, simply say, “When I put something in the trash, I will watch T.V, answer my email, play a computer game or go to McDonalds for breakfast.”  You will be surprised how quickly you finish the task with this simple start as long as you maintain the contingency “When…then.”

By the way don’t do it in reverse which most people are tempted to do, that is, “I will work in the attic after I come home from McDonalds.”  I call that bribery since it reinforces the wrong behavior.  You get the reward for promising to do the behavior, not for actually doing it.  Not a good plan.

Most failures to reach personal or work goals result from poor goal setting and from failure to plan positive reinforcers for success.  If you start the New Year with small goals and a multitude of reinforcement, 2012 may be your best year yet!

Behavior 101, Consequences, Goals, Motivation, Negative Reinforcement, Performance, Positive Reinforcement, Results, feedback

There they go again: National ban on texting while driving

December 27th, 2011

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textingThere is no question that if no one used cell phones while driving, lives would be saved but so would not eating while driving or drinking a Coke or looking at GPS or talking to a passenger or solving disputes between children in the back seat or daydreaming or…(fill in the blank). It is a fact of life that distractions on the road are increasing and all of them increase the likelihood of an accident.

I believe that everyone who drives should keep his/her eyes on the road at all times and not attend to anything in or out of the car that would distract him or her. However, it ain’t going to happen. (Even in space the astronauts looked out the window.)

Cell phones are addictive in that they provide the user with a rate of reinforcement that is higher than almost anything else in the car. Therefore they are clearly the most dangerous. If we have just eaten we will not be likely to eat or drink in the car but if we have just talked to a friend while at the restaurant, it does not reduce the probability that we will not talk on the cell phone when we get back in the car. It may even increase it because we may remember something to tell the friend that we forgot when talking in the restaurant.

Employees at ADI responded to the NTSB’s recent national plea to ban cell phone use by making a pledge to stop using the phone while driving. It is a worthy goal. Only a week later, and none has been able to stop. They all said they are doing better but no one has stopped. Is it possible to develop a habit of driving without using a cell phone? It is, but it will take time, probably many weeks, even though they are not doing it under threat of getting a ticket or losing their license. It is a volunteer activity.

Why is it that the Department of Transportation only thinks of punishing those who do something wrong or dangerous as a way to stop the behavior? The first reason is that they want to give the public the impression that they are awake at the switch. The press release about “banning all cell phones” gives the appearance of taking the problem serious. Second, the statement by the chairman, Deborah Hersman that “We’re not here to win a popularity contest” makes it sound even more serious. Tough talk is often rewarded by the press and the public. Such speeches are make-work, “full of sound and fury signifying nothing.” In spite of appearing to be the right thing, they are the wrong thing to do for at least three reasons:

First, fining or even taking a license is a negative but uncertain consequence. No one using a cell phone thinks that s/he will get caught. When an uncertain negative consequence comes face to face with the positive immediate consequence of talking to someone about a problem, a girlfriend or boyfriend, an appointment, a dinner date, etc., the positive immediate consequence will win every time.

Second, the behavior of avoiding getting caught makes the use of the cell phone even more dangerous.

Third, how many times does the Department of Transportation have to come out with knee-jerk reactions and solutions with little evidence that they understand anything about human behavior until the public completely ignores their “warnings?” Think about compliance to speed limit signs.

I am bothered by drivers on the phone like everyone else. If a car is moving slowly in traffic or moving erratically, it angers me to see on passing that they are on the cellphone. However, I don’t want a legal or governmental solution since I know it won’t work. I also know that if a legal solution is advanced, it will never be repealed even though it doesn’t work.

I believe, as I have said before, that because of the positive immediate consequences provided by cell phone use, the only solution is a technological one. Make cell phones so that they will not work as long as the phone is moving. The sooner we come to that realization and put resources and time on that solution and less on pronouncements that won’t work, the sooner we will begin saving lives.

Behavior 101, Consequences, Negative Reinforcement, Technology

Why Some Managers Fail at Getting Effective and Efficient Performance

December 7th, 2011

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 MH900399109To succeed in business today, everything must constantly be scrutinized. As such, leaders and managers are forced to evaluate and reevaluate performance; specifically the performance of their people and its impact on the company’s bottom line. For some, their role is rewarding and the path forward is clear. For others, they are left wondering how to get direct reports to deliver the performance needed to achieve necessary business outcomes.

Effective performance is not something that only lucky managers can achieve from their employees. It’s also not something you’re born with. For those who find themselves challenged to get desired performance from direct reports, it’s likely they have fallen victim to some common traps. Here are two traps that failing managers can fall into:  

Using ineffective management practices: In management, just because something doesn’t work doesn’t mean managers won’t continue to use it. So many practices have been institutionalized through the years that it’s no wonder managers think nothing of adopting them. Ranking is one such practice whose intention is to drive motivation to be the best but in reality it devalues the performance of all those who aren’t at the top. What managers don’t understand is that, among other things, it creates internal competition and doesn’t motivate the ones on the bottom to improve or those at the top to reach higher. Unfortunately, it often creates enmity between those ranked higher and those rated lower. The reality is that if you aren’t at the top, or close to it, this process becomes demotivating as they realize they will never be able to perform better than those above them. 

Another common, and unintentional practice, is when managers use the ‘you did a good job but’ approach when providing feedback or attempting to correct poor performance. When managers provide reinforcement for the things employees did right but then end it on a note of what more they can improve, employees forget the good and focus only on what they did wrong. If this is done often, employees hate to hear the good because they know some criticism is likely to follow. They also begin to suspect that the only reason you say something good is to set them up for bad news.

A frequent mistake in correcting behavior is to “sandwich” the problem behavior between two compliments. Managers are often taught that saying something positive before mentioning the problem makes the employee more responsive to the negative and by ending with a positive it protects the person’s ego. What it does, in fact, is to dilute the message at best and provide positive reinforcement for the problem behavior at worst. Break this bad management practice. It may make you feel better about the correcting but has a very unreliable impact on the performer.

These methods even if done with the best of intentions are demotivating and usually result in employees doing only what they are required to do.

Unintentionally rewarding negative behavior: When managers don’t understand positive reinforcement as a scientific concept many problems usually occur in an effort to build a positive culture. For example, the worst advice you could ever give or get is: Always be positive! While it sounds good and many people strive to eliminate negativism from their relationships, we know that if you are positive at the wrong time, you will get more of the wrong behavior. Behavior that you want more of needs positive reinforcement; Behavior that you don’t want, does not.

A question to ask that will help you avoid rewarding negative behavior is, “What does the person want?” If bad behavior gets him what he wants, you can count on the fact that he will do it more often. For example, I have heard people say that “All he wants to do is argue.” If that is true, then arguing with him will only increase argumentative behavior. Positive reinforcement is a powerful interpersonal tool. Use it well and it will result in healthy, productive relationships. Use it poorly and it will make you and those you work with miserable, unhappy and unproductive. 

To create a productive and happy work group, you must:

  1. Know the reinforcers of those who work with you – everyone is different
  2. Establish yourself as a positive reinforcer – pair yourself with the delivery of meaningful reinforcers
  3. Reinforce incremental improvement – the smaller, the better
  4. Don’t stop – continue as long as you want performance

Behavior 101, Consequences, Negative Reinforcement, Positive Reinforcement, feedback

The Key to Understanding At Risk Behavior

November 28th, 2011

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Drs. Judy Agnew and Aubrey Daniels tackle the issue of reporting and acting on unsafe behavior in this latest video blog.  Watch as they discuss why management must not only listen but act, publicly, to remediate unsafe working conditions.  In the end, organizations will benefit from improved trust between employees and leadership.


Behavior 101, Behavior Based Safety, Videos

Performance Management Isn’t What You Think

November 25th, 2011

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R+ logo croppedYou may not want to miss my latest Talent Management Blog where I challenge readers on their definition of Performance Management and recommend that we rename Performance Appraisals to something that more clearly encompasses its original intent. Click over to find out what I think it ought to be called.

Also, don’t miss this month’s special report on Performance Management where you can read more from me and other leaders in the strategic HR arena.

Behavior 101, Goals, Leadership, Motivation, Negative Reinforcement, Performance Appraisal, feedback

Good Intentions, Bad Effects

November 8th, 2011

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ethicsGuest post by Darnell Lattal

Throughout the past several years, ethics has made its way into business headlines, more often than not for bad rather than good. What people may be surprised to know though is that to get an organization to behave in ethical ways, it takes more than good people seeking to do good. It takes more than rules of conduct.  Ethical behavior is what is shaped day in and day out by unintended consequences that occur as work is done. To “be ethical” requires a very deliberate focus on the impact, not the intention, of actions. It is also a clear-eyed review of how behavior got going to begin with and the unethical effects on the organization.  It requires looking ahead at impact, not what has happened but what could happen and evaluating the degree of harm or good such impact could have.

There are things that each of us can do to contribute to a stronger ethical workplace. The best way to protect you and your organization is to understand how consequences increase or decrease the likely occurrence of certain kinds of behavior now and in the future. Here are a few suggestions:

  1. Talk openly. Make ethics a part of your workplace culture by talking openly and often about it.  When you provide examples and take the time to communicate its importance, individuals will have a stronger understanding of how to avoid slippery slopes.
  2. Build ethics into hiring and training. Include ethics as part of your selection interview. Examine a person’s responses to ethical dilemmas and identify specific actions to take. Ask about times when they did something wrong and how they decided what to do. Look at a candidate’s ability to balance among conflicting values and how the individual might apply his/her judgment to “messy customer situations” or with coworkers. In training, have your employees define terms such as treating others with respect and how they demonstrate that in their behavior. Present case studies that require discriminations among choices and discuss the implications. Have individuals bring real-life ethical dilemmas to the team for discussion and resolution.
  3. Focus on consequences. Attach consequences to desired behavior and measure its occurrence. Extreme behaviors lead to immediate termination, but most actions are not stuff of moral outrage. Remember that ethical discrimination is shaped, reinforced, maintained and changed by the contingencies that surround and support individual actions. Make your expectations clear and then follow up.
  4. Define criteria. Establish a set of criteria to evaluate your own actions and share those with others.
  5. Support others. Encourage, model and help others establish a method to discuss actions and increase alertness to the ethical issues in everyday decisions.
  6. Monitor and enforce ethical behavior. Assure that structure and resources exist to monitor and enforce commitment to an ethical climate. Regular coaching and feedback, training sessions to increase skills, customer and employee feedback, structures, systems and processes that allow for the orderly flow of work are all important in reinforcing ethical behavior.

Be alert to what the longer term effects of consequences are for individuals and for the culture of an organization. The ethical traps, unintended consequences, are easy to fall into and none of us are immune from the fall.

Read more…

Behavior 101, Consequences, Culture "Change", Leadership, Positive Reinforcement

Lean: The missing piece is behavior

July 30th, 2011

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9780937100202For many years the lean champions who have been through our Performance Management classes have all said the same thing, “This is the missing piece.”  Most of them had experienced the same problem — after a short time, interest and enthusiasm for the initiative began to wane.  They found themselves prodding, pleading, and even threatening in order to keep things going.  Managers began to question why the initial gains were slipping or in some cases why they disappeared altogether.

No initiative can be implemented or sustained without behavior.  I have said many times that every organization should be constantly “leaning.”  It should be built into the organizational DNA – the way they do everything.  Why would any company not want to eliminate waste?

The problem is that when exposed to the “lean” training, employees are excited about it because it is positively reinforcing to learn new things and to have a change from routine work offered by the training session. However, if the reinforcement is novelty, it only lasts a very short time.  After you have done one or two projects, everything new is old again.  Unless you build positive reinforcers into the lean process, it becomes like every other initiative that began with a promise but ended with a question.

Without an understanding of reinforcement, a worthy initiative frequently ends in a premature death.

Read more about sustaining your gains at www.sustainyourgains.com

Behavior 101, Performance, Positive Reinforcement

Horrible Boss? KILL them with kindness…or more specifically, Positive Reinforcement!

July 8th, 2011

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horrible bossesWith all of the hype surrounding the new movie release “Horrible Bosses,” it forces those of us that have had a horrible boss in the past to relive our own experiences.

In an article I read this week on the topic, How to handle a bad boss (without killing them), a few anonymous people spoke up about their own dreadful experiences. I was surprised, although knowing what I know about positive reinforcement I’m not sure why, that in each example, they put up with the bad boss behavior rather than do something to combat it.  I realize it’s normal to have ‘fantasies’ of bad bosses getting their just desserts but why not do what you can to redirect bad boss behavior?

Unfortunately most executives, looking only at results, don’t see the organizational costs of bad boss behavior.  You certainly don’t get discretionary behavior but you almost always get reduced personal output that spreads to other employees not directly affected by the “bad boss”.  It is not infrequent that employees resort to some form of sabotage.

Just as your boss changes your behavior (attitude, motivation, etc.) you also change hers.  Although most people don’t realize the impact their behavior has on the boss, it can be significant and can turn a bad boss into a good one.   The problem is that most employees do not see it as their responsibility to train the boss.  However, if your life is made miserable by living with a boss 40 hours a week, it will benefit you to take on the task.

It bears repeating, as I say this quite often, that if you think that you get too little recognition or positive reinforcement for what you do at work; think of your boss because he/she gets less. Before you act (if even just in fantasy) on ousting your boss, try any or all of the following.  Knowing what I know about the science of behavior and positive reinforcement, your work environment, and your relationship with your boss, is bound to improve.

  1. Look for some improvement on the part of the boss. Don’t look for large changes, but for any small behavior that is an improvement over the usual.   Tell him or her that you appreciate how they handled something at work or a decision that they made. Find something to positively recognize your boss for not only today, but next week and even next month.  Positive reinforcement is the most effective way to change any one’s behavior, even the boss.
  2. Say ‘Thank You’ to your boss. Thanking your boss for something that he or she has done that is helpful to you in some way is always appreciated by the boss. Bosses usually only get the bad news about things people don’t like; it’s rare that they hear about things they do that people actually like.
  3. Tell your boss what’s going on. Keep the boss informed about things that ARE going well.  Bosses usually only get the bad news about things that aren’t going well. Give them a reason to celebrate what is working.
  4. Help your boss be successful. Respond positively to initiatives, priorities and decisions set forth by your boss (assuming, of course, that you think they are good). Any time you help your boss be successful, his or her behavior will likely improve.
  5. Help others on your team. Go out of your way to help others who are working to implement and address the boss’s initiatives and priorities. This causes most bosses these days to relax as they are able to see that the total burden of creating results does not fall on their shoulders.

A little positive reinforcement goes a long way to improving bad boss behavior. All people need positive reinforcement to do their best – bosses included. You have the ability to strengthen your boss’s good habits and improve other behaviors by how you respond to the boss’s behavior. Positive reinforcement will do the trick. Learn as much about it as you can.  Doing it at the wrong time, in the wrong way or the wrong place will make things worse, but if you do it right and do it often, you and your boss will be the better for it.

Behavior 101, Consequences, Leadership, Negative Reinforcement, Positive Reinforcement, punishment

A reversal of fortunes: Who is Really Appraised By the Performance Appraisal process?

June 29th, 2011

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Now, I know I’ve said this before but, just because something is printed in HBR doesn’t necessarily make it true or valuable.

appraisalI was reminded recently of an article in HBR that provides tips for how to do effective performance reviews, Ditch Performance Reviews? How About Learn to do Them Well? (Written by University of Michigan professors Maxim Sytch and D. Scott DeRue) For as much as I am asked to comment in the media about the annual performance appraisal process, it is clear to me that organizations absolutely insist on keeping them around. You see, business has been “tweaking” performance appraisals for more than 50 years and it is still the occasion for the most contentious interaction between employee and manager.  Tweaking a bad system, while having the potential for making it “less bad,” cannot make it good or effective.  Much has been written attributing the “badness” to the frequency of appraisal.  This HBR article suggests that increasing the frequency from annual to quarterly will improve its effectiveness.

While frequency is an issue with the annual review, going from an annual to a quarterly appraisal will not address the frequency issue in any significant way.  In fact it  just keeps employees in a perpetual state of agitation over the process—they are not over the negative emotion of the last one before it is time to do it again. It bears repeating, as I have said this many times before, “the best job people will ever have is one where they know at the end of every day how well they have done.”

The real problem of performance appraisal is not how often or even how well the appraisal is done, but the fact that it is a divisive, labeling process.  Once employees have been labeled as “average or below average” it is very difficult to shake the label.

Years ago I was employed by the Georgia State Department of Vocational Rehabilitation to give IQ tests to children to determine if they qualified for State services of various kinds.  Qualification was based primarily on low intelligence. One day a young boy I was testing, looked at me and said expectantly, “If I do good on this test will I be able to get out of Special Ed?”  I can’t tell you what I said because the question depressed me to the point that at that moment I began to question the value of the knowing one’s IQ.  Soon after that I quit giving them.  Since he had been labeled “Special Ed”, I knew that the chances of this boy getting into a regular classroom were slim and none.  Unfortunately, once you have the label, you are treated as though you are the label.  I am sure there will be readers who don’t like that fact that I am writing about special needs children in the context of writing about a “sacred cow” of business.  However, the process is essentially the same.  Once an employee is labeled “average” only the rare bird will escape the label.  The label creates certain expectations about ‘the labeled” and any opportunity to demonstrate they are not the label only provides others that you are the label, “That was really good for someone who is only of average ability.”

You need not respond to this blog by giving me examples of people who have overcome the process. I know there are some but I assure you they are the exception.  There should be only one business reason for giving an appraisal (I prefer to rename it, “progress report.”) and that is to help the employee improve.

The mission of a boss at any level of the organization is to “create successful employees.”  In this sense a performance appraisal of direct reports is a scorecard of the boss’ effectiveness, not the employees! How about that for a surprising turn of events?

Professors Sytch and DeRue have it all wrong. Comparing one employee to another promotes mediocrity, not excellence.  Let’s get rid of this outdated, ineffective, wasteful labeling process and get back to focusing on an effective coaching process that creates an achievement-oriented culture.

And all the people said, “Amen!”

For more about the problems of performance appraisal and some ideas about what to do instead read OOPS!: 13 Management Practices That Waste Time and Money.

Behavior 101, Consequences, Negative Reinforcement, Performance Appraisal

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