Changing Employee Behavior Requires Insight
As a leader, when one of your team members misbehaves or makes a mistake, what do you do to correct the situation?
Many leaders jump directly to the assumption that the act was intentionally done with malice or done out of gross negligence. As a result, they jump immediately to discipline as the answer. Research suggests this is almost always the wrong answer. We would be far better off starting with an assumption of good intentions. That means giving the person the benefit of due process before we jump to Draconian conclusions and actions. Most mistakes or ‘bad behavior’ are a result of a bad process, poor training, or incomplete communication. There are many processes that can help us determine a good course of action in these cases.
If we eliminate process explanations for poor behavior or mistakes and settle on intentionally-poor decisions then we need to look at what might be motivating the behavior if we want to truly effect lasting change in the behavior. It’s time to put on our corrective-coaching cap!
What Motivates Misbehavior
As humans, we base a lot of our decisions on the perceived rewards vs the perceived negative consequences of our behavior. Unfortunately, we do a very incomplete job when evaluating potential outcomes.
Example: Let’s consider you are driving, running a little late as usual, to an activity you really want to get to. You’ve been planning this outing for months with out-of-town friends. As you approach an intersection that you know has a notoriously LONG light cycle, the light turns yellow, and you need to make a decision!
Do you channel your inner Indy-car-driver, floor the gas pedal, and squeal into the intersection as the light turns red? Or do you stop and wait for the light to turn green? Answer honestly, I won’t tell anyone!
Many of us, would run the light and get a little dopamine high as we feel the reward that we avoided a delay and will get to this incredibly important event on time. We might even see in our mind the greeting at the event with our friends. But if we consider the potential negative consequences of accelerating into the intersection, they could be pretty severe. We could have gotten into an accident and been injured - or perhaps more devastating, our behavior might have resulted in someone else getting life-changing injuries or even killed.
That one little decision to run the light could actually result in devastating consequences.
Why would so many of us make the unsafe decision? The problem is one of how we view probabilities and risks. Probabilities aren’t a full assessment of risk!
There is a high probability that we will get through the intersection safely and ‘feel the reward.’ The negative consequences are all much less likely- but the likelihood is real and not zero! We all know someone who has been T-boned at an intersection. It happens! Yes, you are more likely going to get through the intersection without anything bad happening – but is it actually worth it?
We must consider risk, not just probability! Risk is not the same as probability. Risk is calculated as
Risk = Probability x Severity
Behaviors that have a low probability of a very severe outcome often present unacceptable risk!
If the risk is high, even though the probability is low, then we need to take a different decision and change our behavior. We should not run the red light!
Uncovering the Perceived Reward
If we are going to confront poor behavior that seems intentional or negligent, we need to look for what perceived reward is motivating the behavior. Then we need to explain that the reward does not outweigh the risk of the severe potential negative consequences.
In our example, the ‘reward’ stems from the perception that running the red light will result in more time to enjoy the company of friends at this exciting outing. But will it really? Part of the coaching equation here is to ask questions that help the person see that the perceived reward may actually just be a perception, not reality. There are other red lights on the route. There are all sorts of other possible delays. Why do you believe running this light will automatically result in getting there faster. Generally it doesn’t! But it does set up the potential for high risk! Why act in such a risky manner? Is it really worth it?
Reconsider next time you’re coming up on a yellow light and are tempted to try to squeak through.
While the traffic light example is simple, it is illustrative to many more complex decisions. Let’s consider a more complex and painfully real situation next.
Example: In my distant past I managed a certain chemical production operation. I discovered a Senior Operator was running one of the units in a very unsafe manner. He was placing at risk his own life and the lives of a couple of nearby coworkers. He clearly knew how the unit was supposed to operate and the potential consequences of what he was doing – BUT – he felt the likelihood was very low and that if he didn’t do what he was doing, the unit would have to be shut down and undergo repairs that could take hours or even days. Worse yet, he was telling others to do the same! In his judgement, he was doing what needed to be done and feeling an emotional ‘reward’ of getting production done.
As soon as this was discovered, the unit was shutdown and repairs commenced.
The operator did receive formal and severe discipline, and in a moment that I am not particularly proud of, I screamed at him.
Clearly his perceived reward placing production as a higher priority than life-safety was wrong and pointed to a severe need to create a stronger safety culture – immediately! We had a lot of work to do to reinforce the correct priorities for the entire workforce!
The point of the story is that this seasoned operator was doing something he knew was wrong because he felt a ‘reward’ for doing so, he incorrectly assessed his behavior as low risk, and we clearly hadn’t done enough to establish the correct safety culture on site.
To change his behavior, we had to get him to see the true risks and to dispel the sense of reward. Simply retraining or disciplining him would not have adequately removed the sense of reward – and it is possible he would have gone back to his old ways as soon as our back was turned. We had to convince him that the risks were extreme and that no production was worth the risk he was taking.
How to Correct, Correctly
The above story is real. It was messy with many complicating factors and accountabilities that I skipped for brevity here. Let’s look at a more typical example to demonstrate the way most cases of corrective coaching should go;
Employee 1: “Hey Joe, can I interrupt what you’re doing here. [Pause] I see you’re not wearing your face shield while you’re grinding on that part. We are supposed to be wearing face shields for this activity. Is there a reason you’re doing this?”
Employee 2: “Yeh Frank, I know, but the face shields are locked up in the Supervisor’s office and I don’t have a key. These parts really got to get done. The boss will be pretty angry if we don’t get them done.”
Employee 1: “Yeh but how do you think she’s gonna feel if you lose an eye doing this? I think she’ll be a lot madder, and you’ll be really sad you didn’t take the 5 minutes to find the face shields when you can’t see anymore. Come-on. I’ll help you get a face shield. You’ll still get the job done, and you won’t risk losing your eye-sight!”
Employee 2: “You’re right. I shouldn’t be doing it this way. It’s not worth it. Can you help me find the face shields and get this done?”
The Corrective Coaching Process involves these steps;
Stop the behavior without creating a bigger issue.
Maintain the person’s dignity.
Ask ‘why?’ to understand the perceived reward and what obstacle needs to be overcome.
Establish that the perceived reward may not be real.
Establish the true nature of the risk. (Probability x Severity).
Offer to help get things back on track.
Get commitment from the offending employee to behave correctly in the future.
I’ve had literally hundreds of conversations along these lines. The results are usually long-lasting once you change the person’s perspective to recognize the true risk! Saving a little time or avoiding a little discomfort isn’t worth a lifetime consequence such as blindness!
Positive reinforcement
If all of this sounds daunting and you generally want to find ways to avoid having to use corrective coaching, try using positive reinforcement techniques in a proactive manner. This involves ‘catching people in the act’ of doing things right and thanking them. This simple act reinforces the understanding of what behavior is desired and expected.
To be effective, positive reinforcement must be specific, sincere, and timely. Unexpected thanks will also go further than those expected.
Conclusion
Most errors or perceived misbehavior from employees is related to a poorly developed work processes, poor training, or incomplete communication. When the bad behavior is deliberate, we must determine what perceived reward is being experienced by the offender and dispel the reward. We must also ensure that the offender fully comprehends the true risk they are taking and is not ignoring severe potential consequences just because they are low likelihood outcomes. As always, being proactive, giving positive reinforcement, and being consistent in establishing the work culture we want to see, will help avoid the need to do as much corrective coaching.
