TOPIC: AREAS OF APPLICATION - BUSSINESS,

INDUSTRY, SELF MANAGEMENT & COMMUNITY

BUSSINESS AND INDUSTRY

Improving Employee Productivity

Performance and organisational effectiveness in the ultimate goal of all organisations and
behavioural management can help them achieve this goal. Besides, performance can be
quantified and managed; therefore OB Mod can be used extensively in improving employee
productivity.

Increasing Employee Discipline

OB Modification interventions have also been used in dealing with employee discipline
issues such as absenteeism and tardiness. Most managers have to contend with discipline
issues at one time or another. It has also been observed that managers generally use
punishment techniques to deal with indiscipline. As we have discussed in this chapter,
punishment is not the best way to deal with dysfunctional behaviours. By using these
techniques organisations can develop a model based on the punishment-positive
reinforcement theory to deal with discipline issues.

Enhancing Safety

Safety is a critical issue in many organisations, especially in manufacturing concerns. OB

Mod can be used to identify safety hazards and encourage employees to adopt safe
behaviours. For instance, employees in the construction industry need to wear hard hats
during work. This behaviour can be encouraged by setting up a reinforcement mechanism.
For instance, some companies give out cash awards to employees who remain accident free
in hazardous occupations. Companies can also set up safety goals for a specific period and
reward employees for working towards achieving those goals.

Developing Training Programmes

OB Modification lends itself well to the development of training programmes. Because
performance and other critical variables are measured in the process, it becomes easy for
managers to identify shortcomings and develop programmes to help employees reach the
required skill level. By using Behaviour Modification techniques, managers can identify the
behaviours needed to optimize performance, provide employees with the opportunities to
practice the new behaviours and reinforce achievements.

Managers have many ways of reinforcing good employee performance. Examples of

behavior modification rewards include incentive plans, wages, bonuses. Unproductive
behavior is reduced or extinguished through disciplinary procedures, and at last resort the
threat of termination, as examples of behavior modification techniques.

Most employees feel they are performing as well as possible, but if their work is not
achieving company goals or their work efforts must change to meet new company goals, it
is vital to inform the employee of the discrepancy. Feedback is key in changing employee
behavior, particularly if it is explicit and non-threatening.

However, the consequences of behavior also affect behavior change. Incentive rewards and
recognition have been shown to promote positive behavior change, while disciplinary
actions and threats of termination tend to cause their own problems.

Effects of Positive Reinforcement

The best way to improve performance is to reward the employee. First, you must discover
how the employee reacts to different types of rewards. An employee who arrives late to
work may be taking children to school on the way to work. If it is possible to adjust her
schedule to provide a later start hour, she will likely be grateful and the atmosphere in the
office will improve with removal of the reason for antagonism over tardiness. If the
employee is sleeping late because she has a second job to make ends meet, a modest raise
may solve the problem.

Often, during periods of corporate change, employees feel vulnerable. They worry about
losing their jobs as needs in the company shift to different goals. Career counseling and
training are helpful in maintaining good morale by showing employees they are valued.

Behavior Change Process

Modifying the behavior of the entire organization involves gathering information from the
front-line managers and employees. They are the first to discover external forces that
require corporate change. Information must flow from the front-line to top management.

The reward for excellent information gathering and exchange might be greater decision-
making authority given to the line managers. Recognition in the form of promotion, awards
and specialized training can keep the front-line people enthusiastic about their key role in
helping the company maintain competitive edge.

SELF MANAGEMENT

There are three steps to behavioral self-management

1. Self-monitoring
2. Self-evaluation
3. Self-reinforcement

Self-monitoring involves having the student determine what the problem is in terms of their
behavior. For example, a teacher may ask the student if being disruptive in class is
problematic for the other students. Most students will agree to this, and thus this form of
questioning allows the student to identify where the problem is in terms of their actions.

Self-evaluation deals with the question of what the student should be doing. As the teacher,
you would explain acceptable behavior in contrast to what the student does typically. For
example, if the student is disruptive examples of non-disruptive behavior, communicate what
the expected behavior is.

Self-reinforcement is the final step in behavioral self-management. This step involves

making sure that the new behavior is continuously practiced. For example, if a student stops
being disruptive, self-reinforcement makes sure that the student does not return to being
disruptive again. To be successful, the student must have control over what kind of
reinforcement they get beyond verbal ones. For many teachers, this may not be attractive, but
this idea of autonomy is a critical aspect of behavioral self-management.

COMMUNITY

In School and Educational setting

 All behavior is maintained, changed, or shaped by the consequences of that behavior.
Although there are certain limits, such as temperamental or emotional influences related to
ADHD or depression, all children function more effectively under the right set of
consequences. Reinforcers are consequences that strengthen behavior. Punishments are
consequences that weaken behavior. Students’ behaviors are managed and changed by the
consequences of classroom behavior. To manage behavior through consequences, multi-step
process is used :

1. The problem must be defined, usually by count or description.

2. Design a way to change the behavior.

3. Identify an effective reinforcer.

4. Apply the reinforcer consistently to shape or change behavior.

Although reinforcement and punishment can be equally effective in reducing specific target
behaviors in the classroom, reinforcement is by far more effective in helping children develop
alternative, more functional behaviors.

In Rehabilitation setting

Behavioral modification can help people learn to reduce and manage unhealthy impulses,
compulsive behaviors, and emotional outbursts. It can help improve upon current coping
skills and adopt new ones. In addition, it can also teach people how to function better in
social settings.

In behavioral modification, it is emphasized that just as people learn maladaptive, undesirable

behaviors; they can unlearn these behaviors as well. This method of treatment has proven
highly effective in the treatment of substance use, as well as with personality disorders, as
these disorders are often characterized by maladaptive inner experiences and behaviors.
Aversive Conditioning pairs the undesirable behavior (e.g. not following treatment
guidelines) with an unpleasant stimulus (writing guidelines multiple times), with the goal
being for the unpleasant stimulus to decrease or eliminate the undesirable behavior.

REFERENES

Contributor, C. (2021, July 19). Examples of behavior modification in organization. Small

 Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-

behavior-modification-organization-13411.html

Cooper, John O., Heron, Timothy E.Heward, William L.. (2014) Applied behavior analysis.

Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Pearson/Merrill-Prentice Hall

J. Stewart Black, David S. Bright (2019), Organizational Behavior, Open Stax, Houston,
Texas