Seven steps to modifying employee behaviour

 Oct 24, 2016

As a team leader or manager, one of your primary responsibilities is to get your employees to produce desirable results through specific behaviours. To do this, you have to get them to actually change their behaviour patterns.

The key principle to understand in changing employees’ behaviour is that you can’t change it for them; they must change it themselves.

With that principle in mind, the following is how to motivate employees to change their behaviour:

  1. Identify the desired behaviour you want the employee to have. To help you identify the desired behaviour, apply these principles:
    • Behaviour is something the employee does. Attitudes and feelings aren’t behaviour.
    • The outcome or result of the behaviour must be positive and help you and the employee reach your goals.
    • The behaviour must also be meaningful to the employee.
    • The behaviour must be specific and easy to understand. For example, scheduling interviews, closing sales, calculating cash receipts, etc.
    • The behaviour must be easy to measure accurately.

  2. Communicate the Behaviour:
    • Be specific regarding the behaviour you want.
    • The benefits of mastering the behaviour.
    • The consequences of not executing the behaviour.

  3. Keep Score:
    • Score keeping must be seen as helpful and positive.
    • Accurate score keeping motivates people to do better. Personal biases of management are removed.
    • Results are rewarded.

  4. Evaluate the Results:
    • How did the employee fair?
    • What went well?
    • What went wrong?
    • How can it be corrected?

  5. Dealing with the Consequences:
    • Reinforce the desired behaviour. With reinforcement, the employee will adopt the new behaviour. Without it, the past behaviour will return.
    • In the absence of positive and/or negative reinforcement, you will receive behaviour at a level just above the point of punishment or the minimum acceptable.
    • When negative behaviour is exhibited by an employee:
      • Give a warning and explain in depth the new behaviour you expect.
      • Give frequent feedback on the spot. Don’t wait! Don’t store up criticisms.
      • Be sure the feedback you give is appropriate.

  6. Encourage Positive Productive Behaviours:
    • Form the habit of complimenting your employees for their accomplishments to reinforce desirable behaviour.
    • Give compliments honestly and unconditionally. Don’t give them and take them away by adding comments such as “that was great, but I know you can do better.”
    • Don’t penalise the employee you’re rewarding by adding work to their jobs unless you’re certain they want added responsibilities and duties.

  7. Evaluate and Adjust:
  8. Evaluate the results of the behaviour.
    • Did you and the employee succeed in reaching goals?
    • Where do you go from here?

In motivating your employee’s to change their behaviour, one of the key criterions is that you and the employee both agree that the behaviour needs to be changed and that both know exactly what the desirable behaviour should be.

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About the Author:

Stan Thomas  

Stan has been working in a professional training capacity for over 15 years and possesses a wealth of knowledge in the areas of adult education gained through both formal study and practical training delivery both nationally and internationally. As the Professional Development Manager for New Horizons Melbourne, Stan is responsible for the delivery, quality control and enhancement of existing and new programs at New Horizons.

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