"If you want to influence people who work for you, then the feedback they get from you should be constant and it should be overwhelmingly positive."

By R. Bruce Wright, CPCU

Not long ago, while visiting a contractor client of ours (not a Utilities Program member), I asked the owner what problems he had that we could help with. He quickly responded by saying his pet peeve was messy trucks, and that he just couldn't seem to make any headway in his efforts to get his workers who drove vehicles to keep them neat. He went on to say that every Friday he inspected each truck as the drivers returned. Every time he found them full of discarded food wrappers and soft drink cans, with materials and tools just tossed hastily in the back of the truck in a disorganized mess. He said that every Friday he found himself yelling at the drivers about the conditions in their trucks, but that week after week, nothing changed. He said "What can you do about that? Nothing I do seems to work!"

Our following conversation went like this:

Question- "You inspect the trucks every Friday?"
Answer- "Yes."
Question- "You find them a mess every week?"
Answer- "Yes."
Question- "So you yell at each driver every week?"
Answer- "Yes, yes!"
Question- "And nothing ever changes?"
Answer- "Yes, yes, you've got it!"

At that point, I suspect he thought I was pretty dense. Then I said, "Well, maybe you should try something else. After all, doing exactly the same thing over and over, while expecting a different result is a pretty good working definition of insanity!"

What insight does this experience give us about changing workers' behavior? What could this owner do differently to encourage his drivers to meet his expectations?

Basic behavioral observation tells us that people build on what they are good at. In fact, most successful people got where are today by building on what they did well, and not on things they were criticized for or told (or yelled at) to correct. Think about your own situation. Are you good at your job? If so, how did you get that way?

If you want to influence people who work for you, then the feedback they get from you should be constant and it should be overwhelmingly positive. Even a below average worker is probably doing more things right than wrong. If not, the worker shouldn't be in that job! So if a "poor" worker does 75% of the job right, and 25% of it wrong, the feedback given should be at least 75% positive, shouldn't it? Yet all too often, managers and supervisors don't do this. Instead they focus strictly on the 25% of the work that needs to be improved. This is inherently unfair to the worker, and even worse, it promotes poor morale and creates an "us vs. them" attitude between workers and supervisors. It leads to a game of "gotcha" where supervisors patrol work sites trying to catch workers doing things wrong so they can "correct" them. Eventually, these supervisors come to believe that workers take no pride at all in their work and will only do a good job if the supervisor constantly rides them. This is not true! Unfortunately, these poor attitudes are in fact being created by management, created by the supervisory style being used.

So what should a supervisor do instead? Let's go back to the contractor with the messy trucks. Here's what we suggested he try. Accepting the fact that clean, neat, well organized trucks are a benefit to the business, then he should keep looking at them each week. But instead of yelling at every driver, he should look for the one truck that is the best kept of the fleet. Maybe it's not in good shape; in fact, maybe it's just "less bad" than the rest. Even so, it can be used as an example for positive feedback. He should make a point of saying to that driver something like "Thanks for making an effort to keep your truck cleaner." And then he should just walk away, resisting the temptation to add comments like "but it's still pretty bad," or "but you could really do better you know," or any other veiled criticism, no matter how mild. Just walk away! (For a further discussion of this, see Part Two of this discussion next issue.)

Will this work? If so, why?

We say the answer is an unequivocal "yes." This will work, although maybe not overnight. Why? Because praise from "the boss" is the most powerful motivator you have to shape worker behavior. It is more powerful than yelling, more powerful than fear or intimidation, even more powerful than offering higher pay. Even better, it doesn't cost you anything, other than a moment of your time. If you are diligent and consistent about offering praise, strive always to offer your thanks for good work, and turn your efforts from playing "gotcha" into a new game, a game of "catching workers doing things right," then over time the atmosphere in your company will change. Workers won't dread your visits, they will welcome them. Workers won't hide from you, they will seek you out. Workers won't try to cover up poor work, they will try to highlight good work. In the end, you will better motivate your workers by praising them, your company will become a place workers want to be employed, and the work done for you will be performed well. Doesn't that sound like a winning formula for your success?

Don't be mislead, this isn't easy! It is hard work, but almost nothing of value is easy to accomplish. You will have to make a forceful effort to change your own (and your supervisors') behavior, to be consistent in these efforts, and then be patient, be willing to wait for your efforts to take effect. You may have to start by writing in your planner, or on your "to do list," reminders to yourself each day to "catch a worker doing something right" and thank him for it. But if you do this every day, at the end of a month you won't need the reminders anymore, and you will have begun to build a habit that will serve you and your business well.