|  |  |  | | | | | | SECTION I – The R in L.E.A.D.E.R.S.: REWARDS | | |
“An Organization Elicits the Behavior It Rewards”
When did you first learn the word “No?” You may not remember, but I suspect that you learned it from your parents, and you were probably pretty young as well. In fact, it was probably so early, that most of us have no recollection of the when, but certainly we remember the meaning. This negative word carries great power since many of us learn what “not to do” much earlier than we learn what “to do.” Frequently, we also got the message that our parents were unhappy with us, and the result of that was some type of rejection or even punishment. Another kind of negative learning, for example when we touched something that was hot, occurred when we experienced pain along with the “No.” It did not take long for us to learn to stay away from the hot object. Unfortunately, negative learning tends to continue through much of the rest of our lives. Too much of what we learn is the “what not to do” and we are find out “what we should do” by trial and error. We get lucky when something produces a positive result, so we try it again. Enough times and we find a success pattern that we can follow. Returning to the infant example…when we discovered that by using our arms and legs correctly we could crawl to another location, we perfected that process. Our curiosity was satisfied and we learned a motor skill. When we crawled to our parents, or later walked, we got stroked by them and their praise, excitement, loving touch or even a reward of a cookie or a sweet, gave us a learning that was powerful and fun. We probably then did it over and over again and before long, we would be walking and eventually talking. Ironically, some of our “other than No” learning is also the result of making a fuss and getting what we want. As infants, we could not speak, so we used our bodies and our screams to let our parents know that we were hungry, tired, uncomfortable or even in pain. Each time we screamed, we got our parents’ attention, and they usually solved our problems. It does not take long for babies to learn that lesson that when they are hungry they should simply cry and then they will be fed. This lesson is reinforced for many years, and as the child gets older there is a good chance that the lesson of the hunger cry will be applied in the form of a temper tantrum thrown by a child not getting its way. If the parents, in order to stop the tantrum, respond with exactly what the child wants, the child learns to associate that behavior with success. The “No” learning is replaced by the yes learning. The messag! e is that throwing a tantrum will result in getting what you want. This visit back to infancy truly does have a great deal of relevance to our work as leaders. The key lesson is that we can learn from the “no” response and even punishment, but the best learning occurs when we are rewarded for success. When our associates do something wrong, we can easily criticize them, or even punish them with negative feedback. This will obviously get the point across, but may not get them effectively trained. We are teaching them “what not to do” not the “should do” or “to do.” Punishment puts the focus on what you do not want, but praise highlights what you do want. In short, rewards can elicit the behavior you want. But just like the parents with a baby, we can also inadvertently reward behavior we do not want. When we allow staff to violate rules and not suffer the consequences, we are essentially telling them that the rules aren’t important and it is ok to break them. If you fail to stop, counsel against or punish inappropriate behavior, it is the same as rewarding it. Reward that behavior and you will get more of it. Great leaders discover that the most powerful learning takes place when we reward the behavior we want. As leaders we all must remind ourselves of this truth and act on it. The old expression, “catch your staff doing something right” is incredibly powerful. The message is clear: decide what you want, look for it, then reinforce the behavior with rewards that tell your associates what “to do” rather than saying what “not to do.” | | | SECTION II – Mini Case | | |
One morning about three months ago, Bill turned off his alarm without being awake and alert enough to realize that it was time to get up for work. He had been up until 3 a.m. preparing for an exam in his marketing course and he simply needed more sleep. By the time he woke up, it was 8:30 which was exactly the time he was due at work. To make matters worse, he was scheduled for a meeting at 9 with his boss.
Bill made record time getting ready, and by 9 AM he was in his car driving to the office. He got there at 9:20 and ran from his car to the conference room where the meeting was scheduled. The room was empty, which made Bill even more concerned. By the time he got to his boss’s office, he was practically frantic with worry. “Ted, I am so sorry. I was up until 3 AM working on preparation for my mid-term in Marketing and this morning I turned off the alarm without realizing it.” Much to Bill’s surprise, Ted was not upset and said. “I understand Bill, and we cancelled the meeting and decided to reschedule it when you were here. What time would work for you?” Bill was floored. He told Ted the best time for him and they scheduled the meeting for the afternoon. After they rescheduled, Ted asked Bill to stay for another minute and proceeded to tell him that he had gone to school for his MBA ten years ago, and that his own experience with studying late and oversleeping made him sympathetic to Bill’s situation. He even went so far as to tell Bill that he would handle some aspects of Bill’s job if he had a problem in the morning again. This morning, John slept in again because he had just finished an “all nighter” studying for a statistics course. Bill was not concerned, since he knew that Ted had allowed him to be late many times over the last several months. He felt fortunate to have Ted as a boss as it was making his work on the MBA much easier. By the time Bill arrived in the office, he remembered that he had been expected in a meeting that had been scheduled for 7:30 this morning. Ted had made a point of reminding everybody last night, but Bill was so tired that is had completely slipped his mind. He went straight to the conference room, but the meeting was over. Ted was in his office and as soon as Bill walked in, he saw that Ted’s boss, the Vice President of Sales, was there as well. Ted started the conversation with, “Bill, this being late in the morning and missing meetings has become such a serious pattern with you. The meeting this morning was to announce that my boss is leaving and that I will be taking over as the VP of sales. We were planning to announce that you and Jane would be considered for my job, but your absence made that problematic. After the meeting, we gave some more thought to the situation and I am sorry to tell you that ! we have decided that Jane is our candidate. Question: Who made the mistake? Well, that is actually not an easy question because both Ted and John were wrong. The sad fact is that John has a bad work habit that got even worse primarily because Ted failed to make clear what “not to do.” Ted sent a strong signal to John that is was Ok not to come to work on time. That probably was well off the mark because all Ted tried to say was, I am understanding and reasonable. Unfortunately, John learned from that first time, that Ted was flexible. As John developed the pattern with subsequent tardy behavior, Ted compounded the problem by not addressing the issue with John. In the final analysis, the real cause of the problem is Ted. The leader is responsible for ensuring that the associates know what is expected of them. Ted not only failed to make the expectations clear, he actually rewarded John for being late by accepting his tardiness the first time and then by subsequently failing to reprimand John when he was late again. By the time of the latest incident, Ted shows that he has ignored the failures by being willing to consider Bill for promotion. As leaders, we must be careful that we not only make clear what the expectations are, but also that we reward the right behavior. In this case, Ted probably failed on both points and the real loser was Bill
| | | SECTION III – Tips From The Czar | | |
You are probably familiar with this point, but it’s a critical tip nonetheless: monetary rewards work, but praise often works better. Most of us like to be recognized, and even the most self-assured associates need to be rewarded for their positive behavior and results. Take advantage of every opportunity to acknowledge a good performance. If a staff member does something right, tell them so. If they do something truly great, then make a big deal out of the results.
On the other hand, do not reward associates out of proportion to the level of success. If all they do is to achieve the minimum that is expected, then acknowledge the achievement, but do not establish a reward that communicates delight on your part. (The exception might be when prior failures were so significant, that the success, no matter how small, is actually a break through.) If you have set a high bar for expectations, then make certain that you do not send a signal that low performance is great. If you do that, you will get low performance and your staff will never strive for the high bar. Remember, you will get the behavior you reward, so please make certain you reward what you want, not just what you get.
| | | SECTION IV – Ask The Czar | | |
Pete:– I have a staff member, John, who has worked for me for three years and who has gotten an exceptional performance review each year and a salary increase to match. I just heard through the “internal grapevine” that he is quite unhappy in his current position and has been looking for another job. I must admit, I am shocked. His salary reviews have been far beyond what any other staff member has gotten. How can he possibly be unhappy?
The Czar: Pete, you have just made the mistake of thinking that a great salary increase is the only reward that matters. It does matter, if you fail to get the increase, but the increase itself is not very effective in communicating your belief that this person is a star. The performance appraisal should have send a strong signal. Since it seems not to have done that, either you did not discuss it with him or the appraisal was not viewed as a real positive reinforcement of behavior and results. If either is the case, then you lost the opportunity to positively communicate with your staff member, and you need to take action immediately to correct that. On the other hand, you may actually have another problem that could be even more significant. In most cases, when associates are unhappy in their jobs, they frequently are unhappy with their boss or something their boss has done or not done. I have no idea what your relationship is with John, but if there is any chance that you are falling short as a leader, then that may be the entire problem. There is no easy way to deal with this type of situation, but as you will come to understand over time, I believe that direct dialogue with the other person is usually the best approach. I suggest that you have a chat with John and try to find out what is bothering him. I would just level with him and say, “John, I have heard that you are not completely happy in your job. My source is not important, but I really think you are doing a great job and I want to know what I can do to make you feel more comfortable. Are you willing to share with me, or to give me some thoughts on how I can make this job meet your expectations?” You may not get a straight answer, but it is in my mind worth a try. My experience is that when you openly ask people to help, they will respond by trying to be helpful. Send your questions to gerry@the-czar.com
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