The reinforcement strategies applied in team members’ organizations.
Introduction:
In almost every organization today, employees are often organized in teams. It is also a common observation that team members and leaders will always want to be appreciated for the work they do. Teams generally comprise of members with unique skill sets, competencies and management skills working under a team leader, and their combined effort is expected to lead to organizational growth. However, teams do not always work as expected even if all members are qualified for the task and thus, there is a need to reinforce their behavior and actions.
The reinforcement theory was first proposed by a psychologist from Harvard, B.F Skinner emphasizing the importance of reward or punishment as motivation. The term reinforcement is mostly used in a behavioral analysis context, and intentional behavioral change referred to as operant conditioning (voluntary behavior applied when operating in a certain environment). In this case, reinforcement is defined as the process of raising the incidence of some measurable behavior such as arriving to work punctually or meeting deadlines. According to Skinner’s theory, managers can use environmental consequences as powerful tools for shaping employee behavior. Skinner also observed that reinforcement theory can target both negative and positive behavior i.e. punishment and reward as ways of motivation respectively (Omomia & Omomia, 2014).
Skinner based his operant conditioning on four main mechanisms which include positive, negative, non-reinforcement (extinction), and punishment. Positive reinforcement involves improving the rate of target behavior by giving a reward while negative reinforcement involves sparing the target from some unpleasant consequence. In this case, bonuses are a result of hard work while excusing employees who meet their weekly targets from working on weekends is a form of negative reinforcement. Extinction/Non-reinforcement involves not reinforcing at all, hoping that the behavior will not be repeated. For example, ignoring late employees is likely to encourage them to stop being late. Continuous reinforcement is where rewards are offered to employees constantly for continued improvement. Finally, punishment as reinforcement involves using undesirable consequences to improve behavior. For example, when team members are late, withdrawing certain privileges such as break times (Mergel, 1999).
Reinforcement as a management tool for motivating teams in organizations:
In most organizations, effective reinforcement tactics include salary raises, promotions, bonuses, paid sabbaticals and flexible working hours. Since human resource management plays a major role in leading organizations to success, it becomes equally important to motivate all team members to ensure they complete their duties within the set time limits. Team managers/leaders are often tasked with the role of ensuring all members are well motivated so that they deliver since well-motivated employee feel valued and will work with more determination and confidence.
As earlier stated, the reinforcement theory is a collection of rewards and punishments use to motivate employee behavior. However, in a business setting, placing emphasis on rewarding desired behavior is more likely to help employees and teams to develop positive habits, and again, it is bound to create less resentment than if punitive approaches such as punishment were applied (Glass, 2016). In this case, team managers are responsible for identifying the behaviors to be promoted or discouraged, and most importantly, they should consider the organizational objectives in the process. In this case, the rewards and punishments implemented should run in parallel to the organization’s objectives to help create a work environment and culture that embrace those objectives and goals.
One of the ways team member organizations can motivate employees is by making their employees a number one priority using positive reinforcement. One particular positive reinforcement strategy for teams is to involve them in decision making by giving each member a chance to give suggestions on various issues. This makes the team members feel important and valued since each member is able to contribute equally and be heard. Team managers should also be able to recognize hardworking members and reward them appropriately. A common reinforcement strategy used to reward employees is simply thanking and praising them for their work. Another positive reinforcement strategy is to keep team members well informed on matters pertaining to the organization such that they do not feel left out on important matters. According to Moran (2005), training can also be used as a reinforcement strategy for teams since it will help employees better their skills and learn new things. Open communication between team members and leaders is also bound to make all members feel sufficiently appreciated.
Some incentive programs can also be considered as continuous reinforcement strategies as well as positive reinforcement. Incentive programs are formal schemes designed to encourage certain behavior, results and actions from employees over a certain time period. These incentive programs can boost loyalty and morale, reduce employee turnover, improve retention and wellness, and generally boost daily performance and coordination among teams. For example, consider an IT sales team whose goal is to sell their newly developed software to various enterprises. The team manager may want to encourage more sales to large enterprises who will take up large contracts and thus to motivate his team he can offer 5% commission on overall sales to team members who gain clients with more than 1000 employees. The notion of a 5% commission reinforces the team members to close big contracts and motivates them to work towards that goal thus raising the number of such large contracts. On one hand, the offer of a reward is positive reinforcement, and if large contracts are closed repetitively, then it can also be considered as continuous motivation. Continuous reinforcement thus strives to motivate team members by giving them the constant will to work hard and push their limits. Another example is where teams are taken for a retreat event after doing great work, or when employers send surprise compliments to hardworking team members via email. In this case, the desire of employees to finish some assigned work is well sustained.
Negative reinforcement has been defined as rewarding employees by eliminating some negative consequences. In most cases, it involves subtracting a possible punishment. For example, a perennially late who has received several warnings and is about to get fired for the same may be let off the hook thus encouraging him/her to strive to get to work on time without excuse. The same might apply to a sales team member who has not met the sales target on time, and the team manager grants them an opportunity to work harder and meet their target the next time instead of punishing them. Often, negative reinforcement has been misconstrued to mean punishment, but it only serves the purpose of increasing desired behavior by withholding undesired consequences.
Summary and Conclusion:
Positive reinforcement has been cited as being highly effective and is thus quite popular since it is the most powerful and versatile reinforcement technique that provides a sense of direction. It answers why people do what they do, and that is because they are reinforced to work harder. While positive reinforcement is used by many companies to improve the productivity of teams, one of the major limitations of this strategy is that employees may work to get rewards and not for organizational objectives. In as much as it the most preferred as it makes employees work hard by raising their salaries and promoting them, it may nurture employees who value gifts over output (Maag, 2016).
The example given in negative reinforcement where a sales person having not met the target sales is given time to deliver on the target sales shows how team members get chances to redeem themselves especially if they feel they could have done better on an assignment and needed to retry it. The example in continuous reinforcement serves to make employees more hardworking by giving them more commissions for big contracts, and this leads to increased output. However, this can also make employees work for perceived rewards and not for the good of the company.
In conclusion, team members should always be motivated whenever they do a challenging task efficiently and effectively. The reinforcement strategies discussed in this paper only serve to help on how to handle teams in organizations for better results and are not an exact blueprint for success. For example, applying negative reinforcement can lead to continuous slackening since employees might feel they will always be given other chances. In this case, prior to incorporating any of the above-mentioned strategies, team managers should understand how each strategy works, and whether the particular strategy could apply to their organization based on the known organizational culture. However, what matters most is the trust levels, respect, communication and cooperation among team members, and the relationship with team leaders/managers. If a healthy relationship exists among all these entities, then success will be achieved regardless of the chosen strategy.
References:
Alberto, P., & Troutman, A. (2009). Applied behavior analysis for teachers (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education, Inc.
Boundless,. (2015). Reinforcement as a Management Tool. Boundless. Retrieved 2 April 2016, from https://www.boundless.com/management/textbooks/boundless-management- textbook/organizational-behavior-5/reinforcement-and-motivation-48/reinforcement-as-a- management-tool-245-3538/
Glass, M. (2016). How Can Managers Use Reinforcement Theory to Motivate Employees?. Smallbusiness.chron.com. Retrieved 3 April 2016, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/can- managers-use-reinforcement-theory-motivate- employees-18559.html
Maag, J. (2016). Rewarded by Punishment: Reflections on the Disuse of Positive Reinforcement in Schools. The Council for Exceptional Children, 67(2), 173-186. Retrieved from http://opi.mt.gov/pdf/MBI/14SessionIV/AR/PositiveReinforcement.pdf
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Omomia, O., & Omomia, T. (2014). Relevance of Skinner’s Theory of Reinforcement on Effective School Evaluation and Management. European Journal of Psychological Studies (EJPS), 4(4), 174-180. http://dx.doi.org/10.13187/ejps.2014.4.174
