Chapter 8 (performance feedback) Management

Operant Behavior

Behavior that is learned when one "operates on" the environment to produce desired consequences. Sometimes referred to as response-stimulus model. He did this by putting pigeons in "skinner box" and aiming to control their by teaching them to pace figure eights and how to bowl by reinforcing hungry pigeons with food whenever they more closely performed the behaviors.

Total Rewards

Encompass not only compensation and benefits but also personal and professional growth opportunities and a motivating work environment that includes recognition, job design and work-life balance. ex: subsidized day care, college tuition reimbursement, stocks/grant options etc. This broad view of rewards is due to stiffer competition and challenging economic conditions that have made it difficult for cost-conscious organizations to offer higher wages and more benefits each year.

Continuous Reinforcement

Every instance of a target behavior is reinforced when a continuous reinforcement schedule is in effect. ex: when your personal computer is operating properly you are reinforced when it successfully boots up everytime you turn it on... but the behavior of turning on your computer will undergo extinction if it breaks.

Upward Feedback

Stands the traditional approach on its head by having lower-level employees provide feedback on a managers style and performance. Usually anonymous, in the workplace some managers dislike upward feedback because they feel it erodes their authority.

Performance: results

Tangible outcomes such as individual, group or organizational performance, quantity and quality

Extinction

The weakening of a behavior by ignoring or making sure it is not reinforced. ex: getting rid of a boyfriend by refusing to answer their calls or unfriending them on facebook.

Distribution Criteria

There are three general criteria for the distribution of rewards, they include performance results, performance actions and behavior and nonperformance considerations

Nonperformance considerations

customary or contractual, where the type of job, nature of the work, equity, tenure, level in hierarchy etc. are rewarded.

Thorndikes Law of Effect

in the early 1900's, observed that in his lab a cat would behave randomly and wildely when placed in a small box with a secret trip lever that opened the door, and when the cat accidentally tripped the lever and escaped, it would go to the lever when put back in the box. --law says that behavior with favorable consequences tends to be repeated, while behavior with unfavorable consequence tends to disappear.

Shaping Behavior

the process of reinforcing closer and closer approximations to target behavior. ex: giving a killer wale fish when it allows the trainer to come near them, then more fish for allowing the trainer to touch them, then more fish when they allow the trainer to ride them. The key to successful behavior shaping lies in reducing a complex target behavior to easily learned steps and then faithfully reinforcing any improvement.

Organizational reward systems

types of rewards include financial/materialistic (extrinsic), social (extrinsic) and psychic(intrinsic). The purpose of rewards is to attract, motivate, develop, satisfy and retain employees.

Motivational Feedback

Motivates when it serves as a reward or promises a reward.

Skinner Operant Conditioning

Skinner focused on observable behavior and in his behavior of organisms in 1938 he drew an important distinction between two types of behaviors--respondent and operant behvior.

Feedback Do's

1. keep it relevant by relating it to existing goals 2. deliver it as soon as possible to the time the behavior was displayed 3. it should be descriptive and specific 4. focus it on things employees can control 5. be honest, developmental and constructive. 6. facilitate two-way communication and give the other person the opportunity to clarify/respond.

Why rewards often fail to motivate

1. too much emphasis on monetary rewards 2. rewards lack an appreciation effect 3. extensive benefits become entitlements 4. types of counterproductive behavior are rewarded 5. too long a delay between performance and rewards 6. too many one size fits all rewards 7. use of one-shot rewards with a short lived motivational impact. 8. continued use of demotivating practices such as layoffs, across-the-board raises and cuts and excessive executive compensation.

Feedback Don'ts

1. use to punish, embarrass or put down employees 2. provide feedback that is irrelevant to the persons work 3. feedback that is too late to do any good 5. something that is beyond the individuals control 6. that is overly complex or difficult to understand

360 Degree Feedback

Letting individuals compare their own perceived performance with behaviorally specific (usually anonymous) performance information from their manager, subordinates, and peers. Top management support and an organizational climate if openness can help 360 feedback programs succeed.

Punishment

A way to weaken behavior, the process of weakening behavior through either the contingent presentation of something displeasing or the contingent withdrawal of something positive. The outcome of punishment is that the target behavior occurs less often. (ex: getting a fine for littering, withdrawing something positive could be forbidding the use of internet in the classroom or work)

Contingent Consequences

According to Skinners operant theory, contingent consequences control behavior in four ways: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment and extinction. Contingent means there is a systematic if-then linkage between the target behavior and the consequences.

Recipient Perception of Feedback

Feedback itself is simply information, neither positive or negative, but becomes pos. or neg, when it is compared to a goal, standard or expectation. This comparison provides the basis for improvement. People tend to perceive and recall positive feedback more accurately rather than negative feedback. Negative feedback can be a good motivator though --upon receiving feedback, people cognitively evaluate the factors such as its accuracy, the credibility of the source, the fairness of the system, their performance reward expectancies and the reasonablness of the standards-- if feedback fails to clear one or more of these cognitive hurdles then it will be rejected or downplayed.

Extrinsic rewards

Financial material and social rewards. An employee who works to obtain extrinsic rewards such as money or praise is said to be extrinsically motivated.

Sources of Feedback

Include others (peers, supervisors, lower-level employees), the task itself (a ready source of feedback ex: landing a jet plane, driving a golf ball provide a steady stream of feedback about how well or poorly one is doing) and oneself 9self-serving biases and other perceptual problems can contaminate this source)

Alternative to money and promotions

Include quality of work, career development, organization climate and work-life balance as rewards--create a higher level of employee engagement then financial rewards.

Feedback

Information about individual or collective performance shared with those in a position to improve the situation. it is only information and not an evaluation. Include hard data such as units sold, days absent, dollars saved etc. It is the exchange of information about status and quality of work products and provides a road map to success. It is used to motivate, support, direct, correct and regulate work efforts and outcomes. Ensures that managers and employees are in sync and agree on the standards and expectations of the work to be performed.

Instructional Feedback

Instructs when it clarifies roles or teaches new behavior.

Intermittent Reinforcement

Involves reinforcement of some but not instances of a target behavior. There are four subcategories of fixed ratio (piece-rate pay, bonuses tied to sales of a fixed number of units), variable ratio (slot machines that pay off after a certain amount of pulls), fixed interval (paychecks every two weeks) and variable interval (random supervisory praise)

Behavioral Outcomes of Feedback

Involves the behavioral outcomes of direction, effort, persistence and resistance. Feedback that does not meet one of the cognitive evaluation tests breeds resistance, same with evaluative feedback. Feedback is more accepted when it is positive, specific, timely, and given by a credible source.

6 reason for Nontraditional Feedback

New feedback is coming from sources such as superiors, lower-level employees, peers and even outside customers, compared to the traditional feedback from your boss. 1. traditional feedback systems have created widespread satisfaction 2. team-based organization structures are replacing traditional hierarchies. 3. multiple-rater systems are said to make feedback more valid than single-source feedback 4. advanced computer network technology greatly facilitate multiple-rater systems 5. bottom up feedback meshes nicely with the trend toward participative management and employee empowerment. 6. Coworkers and lower-level employees are said to know more about a managers strengths and limitations than the boss.

Negative reinforcement

One way to increase desired behavior, contingently withdrawing something displeasing. For example when a sergeant has stopped yelling when a recruit jumps out of bed, he has negatively reinforced that behavior (the desired behavior is getting up on time and the displeasing consequence is yelling to get out of bed)

Positive reinforcement

One way to increase desired behavior, it is the process of strengthening behavior by contingently presenting something pleasing. A behavior is strengthened when it increases in frequency and weakened when it decreases in frequency.

Practical Recommendations

Research of upward feedback and 360 feedback leads us to favor anonymity and discourage use for pay and promotion decisions, otherwise managerial resistance and self-serving manipulation might prevail.

Pay for Performance programs

The term for monetary incentives linking at least some portion of the paycheck directly to results or accomplishments. This is compensation above and beyond basic wages and salary and it use is consistent with recommendations derived from expectancy theory of motivation. Referred to as incentive or variable pay--it is used to motivate employees to work harder and smarter. --there are positive and negative outcomes to pay for performance, sometime it only increased the quantity of work done but not the quality.

Scheduling of Reinforcement

The timing of consequences can be important, there are distinct patterns of responding for various different schedule of reinforcement. It is best to think of positive reinforcement when thinking of schedules. Scheduling of reinforcement can more powerfully influence behavior than the reinforcement itself. --generally variable ratio and variable interval schedules of reinforcement produce the strongest behavior that is most resistant to extinction --fixed and continuous schedules are least likely to have the desired effects over time.

Respondent Behavior

Unlearned reflexes or stimulus response connections. This category describes a very small portion of adult human behavior such as crying while cutting onions.

Instrinsic rewards

psychic rewards. Usually a person who derives pleasure from from the task itself, feels their work is meaningful or has a sense of responsibility will likely become engaged with his or her work will want these types of rewards.

Performance: actions and behaviors

such as teamwork, cooperation, risk taking and creativity