HANDLING PROBLEMATIC

EMPLOYEESA NEW APPROACH TO BEHAVIORAL CHANGE

Richard Dettling MSHRM

University of Phoenix, Program Manager

MY BACKGROUND• 7 YEARS AS A UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATOR• 15 YEARS AS AN ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT• 16 YEARS AS A HUMAN RESOURCE PROFESSIONAL (CONCURRENT)• PHD CANDIDATE – HIGHER EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION• MASTERS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Do you remember

being punished as

a child?

Why do you think your parents did

that? Despite what we thought back then.

It wasn’t because they hated us or

enjoyed watching us

suffer through a week without

television.

They merely disapproved of

our actions

They merely disapproved of

our actionsand were hoping to prevent us

from repeating them in our

future

BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION

THE TECHNIQUES USED TO TRY AND DECREASE OR INCREASE A PARTICULAR

TYPE OF BEHAVIOR OR ACTION

PARENTS USE BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION TO TEACH THEIR CHILDREN FROM RIGHT AND WRONGYou shouldn’t

eat candy all day

THERAPISTS USE BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION TO ENCOURAGE HEALTHY BEHAVIORS IN THEIR

PATIENTS

ANIMAL TRAINERS USE BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION TO DEVELOP OBEDIENCE

BETWEEN A PET AND THEIR OWNERSit!

Good Boy!

WE EVEN USE BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION IN OUR ORGANIZATIONS AND BUSINESSESWITH OUR EMPLOYEES IN ALL DEPARTMENTS

You need to arrive at work

on time!

LIST OF ITEMS• BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION• BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION IN ORGANIZATIONS• PROBLEMATIC EMPLOYEES• USING BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION FOR PROBLEMATIC EMPLOYEES• USING PROBLEM SOLVING TOOLS AT WORK• A NEW PROBLEM SOLVING APPROACH FOR PROBLEMATIC EMPLOYEES

BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION•THE FIRST USE OF THE TERM BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION APPEARS TO IN 1911. IN THORNDIKE’S ARTICLE PROVISIONAL LAWS OF ACQUIRED BEHAVIOR OR LEARNING , WHICH MAKES FREQUENT USE OF THE TERM "MODIFYING BEHAVIOR”

•SKINNER’S BOOK THE BEHAVIOR OF ORGANISMS, PUBLISHED IN 1938, INITIATED THE STUDY OF OPERANT CONDITIONING AND ITS APPLICATION TO HUMAN AND ANIMAL BEHAVIOR.

BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION•THROUGH EARLY RESEARCH IN THE 1940S AND THE 1950S THE TERM WAS USED BY JOSEPH WOLPE'S RESEARCH GROUP.

•THE EXPERIMENTAL TRADITION IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY USED IT TO REFER TO PSYCHO-THERAPEUTIC TECHNIQUES DERIVED FROM EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

• IT HAS SINCE COME TO REFER MAINLY TO TECHNIQUES FOR INCREASING ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR THROUGH REINFORCEMENT AND DECREASING MALADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR THROUGH EXTINCTION OR PUNISHMENT

BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION

•BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION RELIES ON THE CONCEPT OF CONDITIONING

•CONDITIONING IS A FORM OF LEARNING

TWO MAJOR TYPES OF CONDITIONINGCLASSICAL CONDITIONING •RELIES ON A PARTICULAR

STIMULUS OR SIGNAL THAT PRODUCES A PARTICULAR RESPONSE

OPERANT CONDITIONING

Classical ConditioningI smell

cookies!

TWO MAJOR TYPES OF CONDITIONINGCLASSICAL CONDITIONING •RELIES ON A PARTICULAR

STIMULUS OR SIGNAL THAT PRODUCES A PARTICULAR RESPONSE

OPERANT CONDITIONING

•USES A SYSTEM OF REWARDS AND/OR PUNISHMENTS

Operant ConditioningCome boy,

sit!Learning New Behaviors

Operant ConditioningGood Boy!Learning New

Behaviors

I’ll give you a treat if you

stop jumping on me

Operant ConditioningUnlearning Old Behaviors

BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION

•DOES NOT FOCUS ON WHY A PARTICULAR BEHAVIOR STARTED

•IT FOCUSES ON CHANGING THE BEHAVIOR

TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUESPositive ReinforcementRewards

Negative Reinforcement

Positive Punishment Negative Punishment

“”

REINFORCEMENT IS THE PROCESS IN WHICH A

BEHAVIOR IS STRENGTHEN BY THE IMMEDIATE

CONSEQUENCES THAT RELIABLY FOLLOW ITS

OCCURRENCE(MILTENBERGER, 2008, P.73)

WHAT IS REINFORCEMENT?

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENTREWARDS

A REWARD FOR DOING SOMETHING WELL

Positive Reinforcement/ Rewards: Giving a child candy after cleaning up their toys

NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT

DOING SOMETHING WELL TO AVOID A PENALTY

Negative Reinforcement: Cleaning up your room in order to avoid getting yelled at by your parents

POSITIVE PUNISHMENT

A PENALTY FOR DOING SOMETHING YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO

Positive Punishment: Giving a child a spanking for talking back to his mother

NEGATIVE PUNISHMENT

THE REMOVAL OF A REWARD FOR DOING SOMETHING YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO

Negative Punishment: Not giving a child dessert if they do not eat their broccoli

NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT VS. PUNISHMENT•NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT IS NOT THE SAME THING

AS “PUNISHMENT.” •PUNISHMENT IMPLIES THAT YOU RECEIVE A PENALTY

FOR DOING SOMETHING YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO•WHEREAS NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT IMPLIES NOT

RECEIVING A PENALTY FOR DOING SOMETHING

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION•MODIFY EMPLOYEE BEHAVIOR AND ENCOURAGE

PRODUCTIVITY•USED TO ADJUST THE BEHAVIOR OF YOUR EMPLOYEES•DEPARTMENT WIDE BEHAVIORAL CHANGE•USE VARIOUS RESPONSES TO ENCOURAGE OR

DISCOURAGE CERTAIN BEHAVIORS•RE-TEACHING THE EMPLOYEE HOW TO DRIVE IN-

BETWEEN THE LINES

MODIFYING THE EMPLOYEE’S RELATIONSHIP TO:•PERFORMANCE•TOTAL QUALITY •CULTURE SHIFT•MERGER OR ACQUISITION•CLIENT SATISFACTION•SUPPORT TEAMS

•RIGHTSIZING •REORGANIZATION•PROFESSIONAL EMPOWERMENT•TIMELINESS•SALES QUOTAS•QUALITY OF REPORTS

PROACTIVE AND REACTIVE STRATEGIES

PROACTIVE• STRATEGIES THAT ADDRESS

EXPECTED DIFFICULTIES BEFORE THEY HAPPEN

• AN EFFORT TO MITIGATE RISK. • FOCUSES ON ANTICIPATED TRENDS,

PROBLEMS AND EMPLOYEE NEEDS

REACTIVE• A SITUATION IN WHICH YOU CAN'T –

OR DON'T – PLAN AHEAD FOR PROBLEMS OR OPPORTUNITIES

• INSTEAD, YOU REACT TO THEM AS THEY HAPPEN

• YOU DON'T HAVE TIME TO LOOK AHEAD TO PRE-EMPT PROBLEMS

Reactive Strategy: Throw a random office party for their extra hard work

Proactive Strategy: Holding daily coaching or training meetings twice a day until performance meets expectations

Reactive Strategy: Paying for association fees as an incentive for superior work

Proactive Strategy: Making sure employees are aware how, and on what criteria they are being evaluated

Reactive Strategy: Give praise in front of other staff

Reactive Strategy: Acknowledging superior work at department meetings

Reactive Strategy: Ceasing required overtime when staff regularly meet their sales quotas

Proactive Strategy: Providing training to meeting performance objectives and development goals

Reactive Strategy: Suspending employees who are insubordinate or disobey company policy

Reactive Strategy: Requiring overtime when someone misses their sales quota

PROBLEMATIC EMPLOYEES•PROBLEMATIC EMPLOYEES CREATE NEGATIVE WORK ENVIRONMENTS

AND UNHEALTHY CONSEQUENCES FOR OTHER EMPLOYEES•EMPLOYEES RESISTANCE TO CHANGE•UNCLEAR EXPECTATIONS IN JOB ROLES•NEED TO RELEARN THEIR JOBS OR CHANGE THE WAY THEY ARE DOING

THINGS•APATHY OR EMPLOYEES ARE UNMOTIVATED

PROBLEMATIC EMPLOYEES

•NEGATIVE EMOTIONS TOWARD THE ORGANIZATION.• INSUBORDINATE CHALLENGES TO AUTHORITY• LAZY, UNMOTIVATED•OVERLY ARGUMENTATIVE

IDENTIFYING PROBLEMATIC TRENDS IN EMPLOYEES•PROBLEMATIC EMPLOYEES CREATE NEW PROBLEMS

FOR DEPARTMENTS•DOESN’T FOLLOW DIRECTIONS• INCOMPETENCE• TAKES TOO LONG•NERVOUS WORKER

• MANAGERIAL SUPPORT IS ESSENTIAL FOR TRANSFORMING POOR PERFORMERS INTO QUALITY EMPLOYEES

• INSUFFICIENT PRODUCTION FROM A NORMALLY PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYEE IS A CONCERN FOR EVERY MANAGER. DO NOT WRITE OFF EMPLOYEES WHO ARE STRUGGLING TO PRODUCE. AS A MANAGER, IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO IDENTIFY POOR PERFORMANCE AND MOTIVATE THE EMPLOYEE TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED GOAL

TRANSFORMATION•TO ACHIEVE ANY SIGNIFICANT AND SUSTAINABLE IMPACT ON PERFORMANCE, ORGANIZATIONS MUST FOCUS ON MODIFYING THE BEHAVIOR OF EMPLOYEES (Spector, 2013)

MODIFYING BEHAVIOR FOR OR AGAINST:For Commitment Building a strong emotional attachment to the goals of the organization

For Involvement Building a willingness to participate in the behaviors, being called for by the change effort

For Support Speaking on behalf of the change effort without taking any other explicit actions to promote the effort

Against Apathy Represents a neutral zone in which individuals know about the change effort and engage in no behavior either to support or oppose it

Against Passive resistance

Behaviors that oppose a willingness to voice reservation or even threatening to resign if the change goes through

Against Active resistance Behaviors that block or impede change, usually by behaving in ways that contradict the goals of the organization

Against Aggressive resistance

Behaviors the involve purposeful sabotage and subversion to the policies, procedures, and goals of the organization

Having powerful problem solving tools can make a huge difference to your organization 

A fundamental part of every manager's role is finding ways to solve them. So, being a confident problem solver is really important to your success. 

PROBLEM SOLVING TOOLS• FOR DECADES, PEOPLE HAVE USED PROBLEM SOLVING TOOLS TO GENERATE IDEAS, AND TO COME

UP WITH CREATIVE SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS• PROBLEM SOLVING TOOLS COMBINES A RELAXED, INFORMAL APPROACH TO PROBLEM SOLVING

WITH LATERAL THINKING• IT ENCOURAGES MANAGERS TO COME UP WITH THOUGHTS AND SOLUTIONS THAT CAN, AT FIRST,

SEEM A BIT CRAZY• SOME OF THESE SOLUTIONS CAN BE CRAFTED INTO ORIGINAL, CREATIVE SOLUTIONS TO A PROBLEM• PROBLEM SOLVING TOOLS HELPS TO GET MANAGERS UNSTUCK BY "JOLTING" THEM OUT OF THEIR

NORMAL WAYS OF THINKING

EXAMPLES OF PROBLEM SOLVING TOOLS

•BRAINSTORMING•SWOT ANALYSIS• TOWS MATRIX • PEST ANALYSIS• PORTER’S FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS•SCAMPER• FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking

we used when we created them.”

Albert Einstein

REFERENCESBachrach, A. J., ed. (1962). Experimental Foundations of Clinical Psychology. New York: Basic Books. pp. 3–25. Martin, G.; Pear, J. (2007). Behavior modification: What it is and how to do it (Eighth ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Pearson Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-194227-1. Thorndike, E.L. (1911). Provisional Laws of Acquired Behavior or Learning. Animal Intelligence. New York: The

McMillian Company.Wolpe, J. (1968). "Psychotheraphy by Reciprocal Inhibition". Conditional Reflex. 3 (4): 234–240. doi:

10.1007/BF03000093.