Improving Performance with Feedback Rewards and Positive Reinforcement

Improving Performance with Feedback, Rewards, and Positive Reinforcement Chapter Eight Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin © 2012 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2012 by The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

After reading the material in this chapter, you should be able to: LO 8. 1 Specify the two basic functions of feedback and three sources of feedback. LO 8. 2 Define upward feedback and 360 degree feedback, and summarize the general tips for giving good feedback. LO 8. 3 Distinguish between extrinsic and intrinsic rewards, and give a job-related example of each 8 -2

After reading the material in this chapter, you should be able to: LO 8. 4 Summarize the research lessons about pay for performance, and explain why rewards often fail to motivate employees. LO 8. 5 State Thorndike’s “law of effect” and explain Skinner’s distinction between respondent and operant behavior. LO 8. 6 Demonstrate your knowledge of positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, and extinction and explain behavior shaping 8 -3

Improving Individual Job Performance 8 -4

Providing Effective Feedback 9 information about individual or collective performance shared with those in a position to improve the situation 8 -5

Two Functions of Feedback Instructional 9 clarifies roles or teaches new behaviors Motivational 9 serves as a reward or promise of a reward Feedback enhances the effect of specific, difficult goals 8 -6

Question? Grant is responsible for training new employees. He wants to make sure everyone knows their role in making the firm successful. This is _____ feedback. A. B. C. D. Persistent Motivational Tutorial Instructional 8 -7

Sources of Feedback Others 9 peers, supervisors, lower-level employees, and outsiders Task Oneself 9 Self-serving bias and other perceptual problems can contaminate this source 8 -8

Behavioral Outcomes of Feedback Direction Effort Persistence Resistance 8 -9

Popularity of Nontraditional Feedback 1. Traditional performance appraisal systems have created widespread dissatisfaction. 2. Team-based organization structures are replacing traditional hierarchies. 3. Multiple-rater systems are said to make feedback more valid than single-source feedback. 8 -10

Popularity of Nontraditional Feedback 4. Advanced computer network technology greatly facilitates multiple-rater systems. 5. Bottom-up feedback meshes nicely with the trend toward participative management and employee empowerment. 6. Co-workers and lower-level employees are said to know more about a manager’s strengths and limitations. 8 -11

Nontraditional Feedback Upward feedback 9 lower-level employees provide feedback on a manager’s style and performance 360 -Degree feedback 9 Letting individuals compare their own perceived performance with behaviorally specific (and usually anonymous) performance information from their manager, subordinates, and peers 8 -12

Question? When Janine evaluates her supervisor, she is providing _____ feedback. A. B. C. D. Upward Downward Horizontal Diagonal 8 -13

Upward Feedback Managers resist upward feedbacks programs because they believe it erodes their authority Anonymous upward feedback can become little more than a personality contest 8 -14

Feedback Do’s and Don’ts Do not: 1. Use feedback is used to punish, embarrass, or put down employees. 2. Provide feedback that is irrelevant to the person’s work. 3. Provide feedback that is too late to do any good. 8 -15

Feedback Do’s and Don’ts 4. Provide feedback about something that is beyond the individual’s control. 5. Provide feedback that is overly complex or difficult to understand. 8 -16

Feedback Do’s and Don’ts Do: 1. Keep feedback relevant by relating it to existing goals. 2. Deliver feedback as soon as possible to the time the behavior was displayed. 3. Provide specific and descriptive feedback. 8 -17

Feedback Do’s and Don’ts 4. Focus the feedback on things employees can control. 5. Be honest, developmental, and constructive. 6. Facilitate two-way communication—give the other person the opportunity to clarify and respond 8 -18

Key Factors in Organizational Reward Systems 8 -19

Types of Rewards Extrinsic rewards 9 financial, material, or social rewards from the environment Intrinsic rewards 9 self-granted, psychic rewards 8 -20

Question? Angelo derives pleasure from the task of book writing itself. He can be described as _____ motivated. A. B. C. D. Extrinsically Financially Materially Intrinsically 8 -21

Distribution Criteria Performance: results 9 tangible outcomes Performance: actions and behaviors 9 teamwork, cooperation, risk-taking Non-performance considerations 9 contractual 8 -22

Pay for Performance Pay for performance 9 monetary incentives linking at least some portion of the paycheck directly to results or accomplishments 8 -23

Why Rewards Fail to Motivate 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Too much emphasis on monetary rewards Rewards lack an “appreciation effect” Extensive benefits become entitlements Counterproductive behavior is rewarded Too long a delay between performance and rewards 8 -24

Why Rewards Fail to Motivate 6. Too many one-size-fits-all rewards 7. Use of one-shot rewards with a shortlived motivational impact 8. Continued use of demotivating practices such as layoffs, across-the-board raises and cuts, and excessive executive compensation 8 -25

Question? Kim’s company has given all employees a “performance bonus” each year for the past 17 years. Employees have come to expect it no matter what the company’s profitability. Why would this “pay for performance” system fail to motivate employees? A. B. C. D. Too much emphasis on monetary rewards Rewards lack an “appreciation effect” Extensive benefits become entitlements Counterproductive behavior is rewarded 8 -26

Thorndike’s Law of Effect Law of effect 9 Behavior with favorable consequences tends to be repeated; behavior with unfavorable consequences tends to disappear 8 -27

Question? When Grant is praised for a work behavior, he will try hard to repeat it. This follows the law of ______. A. Affect B. Effect C. Effectiveness D. Efficiency 8 -28

Positive Reinforcement Respondent behavior 9 Skinner’s term for unlearned reflexes or stimulus-response connections Operant behavior 9 behavior that is learned when one “operates on” the environment to produce desired consequences. 8 -29

Contingent Consequences in Operant Conditioning Figure 8 -30

Contingent Consequences Positive reinforcement 9 process of strengthening a behavior by contingently presenting something pleasing Negative reinforcement 9 strengthens a desired behavior by contingently withdrawing something displeasing 8 -31

Contingent Consequences Punishment 9 process of weakening behavior through either the contingent presentation of something displeasing or the contingent withdrawal of something positive Extinction 9 Weakening a behavior by ignoring it or making sure it is not reinforced 8 -32

Schedules of Reinforcement Continuous reinforcement 9 reinforcing every instance of a target behavior Intermittent reinforcement 9 reinforcing some but not all instances of a target behavior 8 -33

Reinforcement Schedules 8 -34

Reinforcement Schedules and Performance Figure 8 -4 8 -35

Shaping Behavior with Positive Reinforcement Shaping 9 reinforcing closer and closer approximations to a target behavior 8 -36

Shaping Behavior with Positive Reinforcement Shaping works very well with people, especially in training and quality programs involving continuous improvement. Praise, recognition, and instructive and credible feedback cost managers little more than moments of their time 8 -37

Shaping Behavior with Positive Reinforcement The key to successful behavior shaping lies in reducing a complex target behavior to easily learned steps and then faithfully (and patiently) reinforcing any improvement. 8 -38

Question? Employees at ABC Manufacturing strive to operate at a zero-defect level because each gets publicly recognized for their individual and team accomplishments. This is an example of A. B. C. D. Extinction. Positive reinforcement. Respondent behavior. Punishment. 8 -39

Video Case: Slacking Off Are workers from today’s generations exhibiting a “slacker” attitude at work? Do you think more is being expected of workers today than there was in the past? Are workers today less productive as a result of having “slacker” attitudes? Is the nature of work different today than it was in the past? Could this be part of the issue? 8 -40