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Challenges to Developing a Reinforcing Culture

Written by: Robert Whipple

Article Overview: A reinforcing culture is not only more fun for people, it is also much more productive for the organization. In other articles I have addressed the importance of a reinforcing culture and how to get it. Good reinforcement can be a minefield, yet it is extremely powerful. This article deals with the challenges of doing it correctly.

Challenges to Developing a Reinforcing Culture

People react positively to effective reinforcement. It is easier to move someone toward improved performance by reinforcing what they do right than punishing them for mistakes. This is well documented in hundreds of books. Though all leaders know the theory, few practice it well. Ken Blanchard's book, "Whale Done" is a simple but powerful book that demonstrates this. In it, Dr. Blanchard provides a simple formula for improving performance:

1. Build trust,

2. Accentuate the positive, and

3. When mistakes occur, redirect the energy.

Determine what motivates people so they don't develop a dependency on having someone notice and comment on everything they do. "The point of good management is to influence people to do the right things when you're not around...Instead of building dependency on others for a reward, you want people to do the right thing because they themselves enjoy it." Dr. Blanchard has demonstrated that reinforcement, if done well, produces spectacular results.

It is sad that many attempts at positive reinforcement actually produce the opposite result. You have probably experienced this yourself, either on the sending or receiving end, and it is very frustrating. Let's examine some of the reasons why positive reinforcement can have a negative impact. I will use personal examples here, but you will recognize the phenomena because you have undoubtedly experienced them too.

Overdone Reinforcement

Ironically, the first example is from a weeklong class on Performance Management. We were studying the power of positive reinforcement and how to achieve it. We were given little buttons or trinkets whenever we did something right or said something profound. At first, it was a unique and refreshing feeling to get something, like a sticker or a pin, for simply contributing to the class. After a few days, the newness wore off and the trinkets lost significance. At the end of the week they became a distraction. They were not reinforcing and the junk was piling up in a bag next to my chair.

At the end, we were given a signed diploma. I have been to many courses and have the diplomas framed in my office, along with academic degrees and awards. This diploma is notably absent. It meant nothing to me and left a bad taste in my mouth. It was put in a drawer somewhere and discarded along the way.

Incredibly, a course to teach the benefits of positive reinforcement had a negative outcome for me. People bristle at the insignificant trinkets spread around in an overdone attempt at positive reinforcement. For some it works, but for many it backfires. Kouzes and Posner write, "You can also trivialize recognition to the point that it is taken for granted and so becomes meaningless or less of a benefit than a right. People lose interest and really never get into the game if a rally cry goes up every time the team simply gets the ball."

Test to see if the tangible R+ mechanisms (positive reinforcements) are perceived as positive or just piling up in a desk drawer. Use a variety of intangible reinforcing techniques, along with the tangible ones, and vary the trinkets you give out. If you always give out stickers, they will quickly lose their meaning to everyone but the die-hard sticker collector. (I have yet to meet one.)

Insincere Reinforcing

Martha was reviewing the performance of her team with her supervisor. Things were going well in some areas, but there were challenges in others. They had a frank discussion, and she got up to leave with several action items. On her way out the door, the supervisor said, "Oh, wait, I forgot. This is for you." He handed her a box and shook her hand. Back at her office she opened the box. It was a clock inscribed, "Thank you for 30 years of dedicated service." Martha told me, "I honestly did not feel anger or pain. It was a kind of a non-event. I still have the clock, but I never look at it and the batteries have gone dead." There is probably a Dilbert cartoon about this somewhere.

I don't mean to tear down the boss. We all have probably done similar things to others unknowingly. We get side-tracked and miss the opportunity for sincere reinforcement. The message here is, look for the opportunities to reinforce and do it with sincerity. A mechanical reinforcement triggered by an HR policy is well intended, but it requires careful execution to have much value.

Not Perceived as Reinforcing

What people find reinforcing is a matter of individual taste. When leaders reinforce using their own frame of reference rather than that of the recipient, it often ends in frustration. For example, many managers instinctively revert to the pizza party as a way to reinforce workers. Never assume you know what will be reinforcing to another person. Always find a way to test. Your own ideas will often miss the mark.

Jim inherited a technical group. The previous supervisor had a habit of reinforcing perfect attendance by taking people to lunch. Early on, Jim approached a couple technicians who had perfect attendance and congratulated them, asking where they wanted to go for lunch. Sensing by their body language that something was amiss, he discussed the policy. One of them leveled with him. "We never liked those luncheons. They make us feel uncomfortable." After further discussion, they were delighted to enjoy a day off with their families. If Jim had forced the free lunch, he would have felt good, believing they had been reinforced, but he would have missed the mark.

One year during the holiday season, a business unit servicing the Motion Picture area wanted to reinforce employees for a fantastic year. I got a call from the person organizing the celebration. He had lined up a showing of a first run movie, free for all employees and their families. That sounded great until he said the movie was "Schindler's List." I suggested a lighter fare might go better, especially in December with a family. He was resolute and had already obtained a copy of the movie.

I remember feeling physically sick about 1/3 of the way through the movie because of the violence. I whispered to my wife, "I'm not sure I can take this. Maybe we should go." She was in shock too, but whispered, "Shut up and take your reinforcement!" I'll never forget how glad we were when the ordeal was over. Driving home, we both had that "deer in the headlight" look on our faces. I said, "I don't know what we did to deserve that reinforcement, but I hope we never do it again." Feedback from that fiasco provided the obvious: a family event requires a family theme. The next year, when a similar event was booked, they used "Miracle on 34th Street" and it was much more reinforcing.

A group wanted to reinforce five administrative assistants for completing a Herculean task in record time. They discussed getting flowers or a Mall gift certificate. Someone finally had the bright idea to ask the secretaries what would be reinforcing. They wanted the whole group to take them to a small bistro called "The Crem-de-la-Crem" for high tea. What were the chances of guessing that without asking?

Try giving a couple choices with an open-ended offer to negotiate. For example, as reinforcement for an outstanding year you might offer key people either a family portrait or a weekend away for two. If neither of these ring their chimes, ask if they could suggest another, more appropriate gift. The relative size of what was already offered establishes a framework for choice. People will not try to ante-up the value. If anything, the opposite occurs. They request a more modest gift. The size of the gift has little consequence. You don't need to give someone a Buick for them to feel reinforced.

One supervisor got pretty creative with major gifts. Rather than giving a $200 gift certificate, he would give a DVD Player or a super-putter. Find out something personal and unique about the person, and give something they will use and treasure. Contacting the spouse is a great way to accomplish this. They always know something the person would appreciate, but wouldn't purchase for himself. I found one individual was a woodworker and gave him a couple upscale, engraved, brass and rosewood tools. I know he will never forget the occasion and will think of it often while working in his shop.

Reinforcement Perceived as Unfair

Of all the excuses for not reinforcing well, the issue of fairness spreads out like a nuclear cloud after a bomb blast. Leaders get burnt on this issue once, and it colors reinforcing patterns from then on. If they reinforce Sally publicly, it makes her feel good, but tends to turn off Joe and Mark, who believe they did more than she did. That is why the "employee of the month" concept often backfires. It sets up a kind of implied competition where one person is singled out for attention. That person is perceived to "win" at the expense of others who think they "lose." How do you fight this?

Create a win-win atmosphere rather than win-lose. Focus more on group performance, where the whole group is reinforced with special mention to some key players. Have the employees themselves nominate people singled out for attention. That at least feels better than having the boss "play God," trying to figure out who made the biggest contribution. It's a tricky area. While I mentioned above that you can easily overdo the trinkets, you can never overdo sincere reinforcement. I found the best method is to make reinforcement ubiquitous and continuous.

Developing a Reinforcing Culture

Thus far I have discussed personal reinforcements for a job well done. This is important, but it pales compared with the power of developing a reinforcing culture. That is a social norm that encourages everyone to honestly appreciate each other and say so as often as possible.

Many groups struggle in a kind of hell where people hate and try to undermine one another at every turn. They snipe at each other and "blow people in," just to see them suffer or to get even for some perceived sin done to them. What an awful environment to live and work in, yet it is far too common.

Contrast this with a group that builds each other up and delights in each other's successes. These groups have much more fun. They enjoy interfacing with their comrades at work. They are also about twice as productive! You see them together outside work for social events and there are close family-type relationships in evidence. Hugging is spontaneous.

As a leader, you want to develop this second kind of atmosphere, but how? A good place to start is with yourself. Make sure you are practicing positive reinforcement in a way that others see and recognize. Create an atmosphere where everyone understands and places high value on effective reinforcement. Become a model of reinforcement and praise those in your organization who excel at it. Ken Blanchard has a seminar called "The Power of One" where he emphasizes the incredible leverage of a well-focused individual. As a leader, you invoke that power when you train everyone how to reinforce others by reinforcing them when they do it. It sounds convoluted, but it's really just common sense.

A technique used in my organization was the reinforcement note. Whenever anyone wanted to express appreciation for another, they were encouraged to write a short e-mail about it. The person would address the note to the one that they wanted to praise. I asked for a copy of each one and printed them out. In many cases an "atta-boy" note from me would go back to the person being reinforced. More frequently, I sent a "thank you" note to the person who originated the R+ note praising them for taking the time to write it. During my weekly staff meeting, I would read a selection of the R+ notes from the past week, highlighting any themes. The meeting notes would show every meeting started with these reinforcing activities. This was critical because it sent a signal to everyone in the organization that the culture was more important than the crisis of the day. When you have a winning culture, groups can handle any crisis with grace.

Too often leaders become distracted with the immediate crisis and dive right in with the urgent problems of the day. Each problem becomes a stumbling block to trip over. They forget that every day there will be a new dragon to slay and that the culture is what allows elegant resolution to these issues. Spending a few minutes at the start of each meeting reflecting on what is going right makes sure everyone is in top shape with a winning attitude and gives the group the ability to tackle any problem.

We started keeping track of the number of reinforcing notes. The first year we got about 70 notes. By consistently reinforcing this behavior, we got more than 200 notes the second year, and more than 1200 notes the third year. After that, there was no need to keep counting, but each year I was delighted to clean a large stack out of my desk for year-end cleanup. Normally, the stack was more than a foot tall! People at all levels knew their good works were documented and appreciated, often with a public acknowledgement. Further, they felt reinforced for praising others, so the process fed itself, and a culture was developed.

At the same time, we encouraged verbal reinforcement that was not documented. Any time someone saw another person doing something right, they were encouraged to offer praise. Especially important were the "thank you's" any time a person went out of their way to help someone. This caught on like the reinforcing notes and had a powerful impact on the work environment. Making this a reality required that supervisors (and others) reinforce people when they praised their co-workers. As they felt good about doing it, they did it more often.

The key is to create the culture at all levels. It isn't enough for just the boss or a few supervisors to reinforce people. Teach everyone to do it. That multiplies the impact by however many people you have. As the culture develops, you'll see it spreading to other parts of the organization. People will begin to notice your area is much more positive and productive than before. It will sparkle and upper management will start asking how you did it.

Reinforcement builds confidence in people. Jack Stack, in his book "The Great Game of Business," put it this way:

"One of a manager's main responsibilities is to build confidence in the organization. To do that, you have to accentuate the positive. If you accentuate the negative, it eats away at the organization. It becomes a demotivator, and management is all about getting people motivated. A manager who doesn't motivate isn't doing his job. You can't motivate if you are continually focusing on the negative."

A reinforcing culture transforms an organization from a "what's wrong" mindset to one of "what's right." The positive energy benefits everyone as the quality of work life is significantly enhanced. In addition, the quality and quantity of work increases dramatically because you have harnessed energy previously lost in bickering and put it into positive work toward the vision. What an uplifting way to increase productivity! Instead of beating on people and constantly dwelling on the negative, you'll be generating good feelings and loyalty while you drive productivity to unimaginable heights. That is worth doing and easy to accomplish!

Don't get discouraged if you make a mistake in reinforcing. Sometimes you will. It is an area of significant peril, but its power is immense. Continually monitor your success level with reinforcement. Talk about it openly and work to improve the culture. Consider every mistake a learning event for everyone, especially yourself. Often these are comical in nature.

Let your reinforcement be joyous and spontaneous. Let people help you make it special. Reinforcement is the most powerful elixir available to a leader. Don't shy away from it because it's difficult or you've made mistakes in the past; embrace and make love to it.

A hallmark of a true reinforcing culture is that the good feelings are race, age, and gender neutral. As the harmony created by proper reinforcement blossoms, demographic tensions seem to fade.

Related Articles
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  Creating a Culture and Brand That Makes and Actually Keeps Brand Promises
  Ubiquitous Reinforcement

Article Tags: Culture, favoritism, leadership trust, reinforce



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