Do you have retention issues and/or a lack of engagement and productivity in your team?
Do you want a team that is motivated, positive, and driven to succeed within your business?
By utilising the research of world-renowned American Psychologist, Behaviorist and Social Philosopher B. F. Skinner; you can put initiatives in place to reduce attrition and increase engagement and productivity in the workplace.
How?
By utilising Skinner’s findings through the ‘Skinner Box’ experiment, to condition your employees to perform well at work. Sounds a bit ominous, doesn’t it?
What is the Skinner Box?
The ‘Skinner Box’ or otherwise known as the ‘Operant Conditioning Chamber’ is a contraption created by Skinner in the 1930’s to analyse the behaviour in animals.
The ‘Skinner Box’ contained a lever, and as the rat moved about the box, it would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately, a food pellet would drop into a container next to the lever, which positively reinforced the behaviour.
The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box and would repeat this action over and over.
Skinner also showed how negative reinforcement worked by subjecting the rat to an unpleasant electric current via an electric floor. As the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever, as it did so, the electric current would be switched off.
The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box. Thus, the rat was now conditioned to push the lever for a positive reinforcement and escape from negative reinforcement.
Using the device, researchers carefully studied behaviour of different animals, using different triggers and time intervals between the positive and negative reinforcers.
Researchers used the ‘Skinner Box’ to determine which schedule of reinforcement led to the highest rate of response in the study subjects. Using these findings, we were able to establish that using the variable ratio schedule with animals, was the best way to ensure they kept repeating the same behaviour consistently.
What is the Variable-Ratio Schedule?
- “In operant conditioning, a variable-ratio schedule is a schedule of reinforcement where a response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses.”
- This schedule creates a steady, high rate of responding, i.e., a strong, consistent performance.
For example: slot machines are reward based on a variable ratio schedule. This delivery schedule is unpredictable, which encourages the wanted behaviour to stay consistent, reducing the chances of ‘extinction’.
When people play on slot machines, they have no way of knowing how many times they have to play before they win. All they know is, eventually they will win if they keep repeating the same behaviour. This is why slot machines are so effective, and why players are often reluctant to quit.
This is the reason this schedule may work best when attempting to reduce staff turnover, because your staff may be reluctant to quit their job, if they believe that they are likely to receive a reward for their good performance at any point in the near future.
What is extinction in operant conditioning?
In operant conditioning, extinction occurs when a response is no longer reinforced.
Workplaces that don’t utilise positive and negative reinforcement frequently, may eventually find that their employees underperform and lose motivation because there is not enough of an incentive to keep working at the level expected.
For example, in the Skinner Box experiment, the animals would eventually give up pressing levers once the reinforcers were removed.
How can I use Operant Conditioning in the Workplace?
Try these 3 Simple Steps:
1. Listen to your employees.
People are unique and thus reinforced by different things, make sure the reward you are using is meaningful to the specific employee.
I.e., your employee is a consistently good performer but suffers to manage a work life balance with the amount of travel associated with their job. You can reward tis employee with the flexibility to “work from anywhere”.
Alternatively, you might have an employee that is motivated by money, and they have just exceeded their target by 43% this month. You might reward this employee’s performance with a monetary bonus.
2. Establish the level of performance you expect to see, based on your employee’s capabilities, and inform your employees the consequences for high and low performance.
You can do this by attaching a figure to the level of performance required. I.e., each month, the employee must invoice between $40,000 and $50,000. Anything lower than $40,000 would result in a negative enforcer, such as a performance review, or simply not receiving any reward for missing their target.
For employees that achieve higher than $50,000 per month, you can reinforce this good performance with free tickets to the employees’ favourite game or monetary rewards such as commission based on the figure they achieved.
3. For consistent performers, introduce the Variable Ratio Schedule to increase engagement and improve retention.
At varied, frequent points in time, reward consistent performers with a positive reinforcer that motivates them individually.
Employees will continue to perform at a high level with the anticipation that “any day now” they could receive a reward from their employer.
It is important to do this frequent enough so that your employees do not lose interest and start to under perform or only perform at a satisfactory level.
Examples of positive reinforcement:
- Verbal acknowledgement
- Opportunities for advancement, i.e. a promotion
- Tuition assistance (which increases employee confidence and overall job satisfaction)
- Regular recognition meetings (this can also introduce competition, which may also increase employee performance)
- Performance bonuses
- Added vacation days
- Staff celebrations/parties
Tips!
- Apply reinforcers immediately: As we are all subject to the laws of learning, it is only when a behaviour occurs close to the reward, that the two will be connected.
- Have regular feedback meetings (weekly is ideal). To ensure you are both on the same page and your employees feel appreciated and listened to.
- Use various types of reinforcers: Just as people respond well to immediate gratification, they also require variety in terms of rewards.
- Avoid linking positive reinforcement with punishment, or the two will individually lose their impact. (e.g., if a manager holds weekly performance meetings as a way of rewarding productivity; but they also use the time to punish employees who are unproductive, it reduces the value of the positive reinforcement.
And that’s that, how to use behavioural science on your employees to improve retention, morale, productivity in the workplace.
For more information or to speak with a consultant about other ways to manage your employees, contact a specialist at Optimum Consulting Group today.
CASSIE GRAHAM
Senior Consultant
Sources:
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-skinner-box-2795875
https://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html
08/02/22