Positive reinforcement as a means to achieve organizational vision

A newly hired C.E.O is in quandary on how he would be able to achieve the five years vision of profitability in his new organization.  Considering that his new organization had been losing money for the last three years of its operation. He was asking himself: “How would I achieve this difficult task given to me by the board of directors?”

He therefore studied the current environment of his new organization most specifically the human resource. He found out that the HR has low morale which is understandable considering that the organization had always been losing money for the past three years.

Thinking that a motivated HR could be the main catalyst for the organization’s turnaround he offered the current human resource a generous early retirement package. Seventy percent of the current HR availed of the generous financial package. To replenish the void created by those who retired the CEO instructed the HR manager to recruit young and motivated workforce.

After the strict recruitment program was through the CEO through the HR manager crafted a motivational method called positive reinforcement that would specifically be used for the new crop of human resource. This method of motivation is used to strengthen a good work behavior so that it could repeatedly occur. 

They applied this to all deserving employees by giving them inexpensive but very effective rewards scheme such as: well publicized written citations, tickets that would be used as a permit for free lunch in the canteen and so forth. Those who were average workers took notice of this and they were motivated to work hard as well for the simple reason that they too would want to avail of this motivational incentive.

After five years of using positive reinforcement as a motivational tool the organization was back on its feet again. The financial statements were healthy again and most importantly the entire human resource was working to the best of their abilities.  

What does this tell us being executives or owners of organization? It simply tells us that it pays great dividends to motivate our human resource for the simple reason that they are the most important asset of the organization. 

If you are a leader, manager or someone who handles people in your organization. Think of an inexpensive yet effective motivational technique that you could harness to help your organization achieve its long term vision/s.

Perhaps you could consider positive reinforcement. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Input first before desired output

A company president was evaluating the yearend output of his medical transcription business. He found out that the outputs of his medical transcriptionists were not meeting the required quality standards. So he organized an online forum amongst his employees to thresh out the issues and problems that was bugging them.    

In the forum the medical transcriptionists were complaining about the poor technological and technical support of the organization. Such as online training to upgrade the skills of the transcriptionists, also mentioned was the need for swift technical support.

Many organizational leaders and managers’ today desire quality and sizable output, nothing is wrong with this. But you also have to ask yourself this question: Am I providing my employees their desired inputs?

 Inputs could come in many ways primordial amongst these are: reasonable salary next is good working condition, efficient technological and technical support, effective but not expensive motivational techniques that will help increase their motivation and productivity.

Appropriate human behavior in organization is always contingent upon the inputs or support that we give our human resource. If the inputs that we give them are less desirable we should never expect quality and sizeable output from our human resource.

However, the moment we give our human resource the needed inputs for them to productively behave in the organization. We now have the moral high ground to demand and expect desirable output from them; which they must comply.

Otherwise there should be parting of ways between human resource and the organization. -  Marino J. Dasmarinas 

The fallacy of superiority mindset

Have you encountered a person with a mindset of superiority? She/he is a person who thinks that he is above everyone else. When you talk to him he would always try to impress upon you that what he is saying is always right. That he knows more that what you know and that he is far more superior than you.

In an organizational setting many managers and leaders have this mindset of superiority. They deluge themselves that they are far more superior than their subordinates because they occupy a higher position than they are. Managers and leaders often times think that because of the position and authority that they hold they are automatically above everyone else in his organization.

Can authority, power and position automatically give a manager/leader sweeping superiority over everyone else in an organization? No, it doesn’t give a manager/leader sweeping superiority over everyone else in the organization.

For example in terms of job knowledge. A lower ranked employee who does his job everyday or who is a specialist in his field can easily have superiority over his manager/leader. Therefore it is not healthy for a manager/leader to have a sweeping superiority mindset over his subordinates.

However, where does this feeling and behavior of superiority comes from?  It emanates from the leader/manager’s exaggerated sense of self-importance and arrogance. It originates also from the leader/manager’s lack of humility and it’s his behavioral defense mechanism to conceal his feeling of inferiority.      

A wisdom filled manager/leader should discard whatever trace of superiority in his behavioral system. And he should never put himself in a pedestal for the simple reason that it will never help him effectively manage his office.

In hindsight, it has been proven again and again that great and wisdom filled leaders/managers are those who are humble and those who do not have any sign of superiority mindset. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Building team spirit in your organization

How do you build team spirit in your organization? Many leaders/managers are leaders and managers that lack the ability to build effective and cohesive organization that works as a team. But how does a manager/leader build team spirit in his organization?

The first action that he should do is to ask himself these three questions: “Am I an effective communicator, do I lead by example  and the last is, do I prioritize the needs of my subordinates over my own needs?

On the aspect of being an effective communicator, what does this mean? This simply means that the leader/manager should allocate time to communicate with his people and what should he communicate? Every communication that is not prohibited for his subordinates to know.

 For example the mission and vision of the organization, the policies, objectives and the discipline of the organization, aside from that the leader/manager should also be able to communicate the targets and goals that he wants to achieve for his own department.

On a personal level, if his subordinate would allow it the leader should know about the family of his subordinates. Thus, the leader will not find it hard to empathize with his people when the situation calls for it.   When you do this you develop the I belong  mentality in the minds of your subordinates. 

On the aspect of leading by example, do you always lead the way for your subordinates and do you walk your talk? For example when you say that your subordinates need to render overtime work, are you there to render overtime work as well? Or you simply let them render overtime without you joining them.

On the aspect of prioritizing the needs of your subordinates over your own needs. For example during office parties or office gatherings/meetings wherein there’s a food to be shared/served. Who gets to eat first? It’s always the boss! He gets the first crack at the food and the subordinates and the lower ranked employees would normally come-in next after the boss.

The boss should reverse this kind of culture if he wants to develop team spirit in his organization. Therefore instead of him having the first crack at the food it should now be the subordinates and the other lower ranked employees who will eat first.

What message are you sending to your subordinates by doing this?  You simply are indirectly telling them that you value them dearly and that their need is more important for you than your own need.  So you can just imagine the team spirit and commitment that you’ll be creating in the minds and hearts of your subordinates. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

Do you have a credit conscious leader/manager?

One of the failings of a leader/manager is to grab or take credit whenever it presents itself. For example a leader who has been tasked to lead a taskforce would always take credit for whatever accomplishment that his team would achieve. Thus he would always attribute to himself any achievement that they accomplish.   

For example, in the presentation of his task force’s accomplishment he would shamelessly say: “I discovered that something was wrong in the organization’s procurement process that’s why I decided to discontinue it.” He would always use the subjective I to prop-up himself so that he would always be in the starring role. And the members of his taskforce remain faceless individuals as if they did not contribute anything for the team.     

This kind of leader/manager is an ego tripper or somebody who is so full of himself. He purposely omits the fact that it is the task force that he leads that made the achievement. Therefore the credit should be to the task force and not exclusively to himself.

There are many managers/leaders who thinks and acts that way, they think that it is a plus factor if they would always be in the limelight. What they don’t know is the more they grab credit or hunger for prominence the more that they are being silently ostracized by their subordinates and peers.  The credit conscious manager/leader may not immediately notice it but there are already rumblings in the organizational hallway about his selfish and arrogant behavior.

So what is the cure? The cure is lots and lots of humility and to realize that whatever accomplishment that a taskforce or a department achieves must always be credited to the team and not to oneself alone.

Subjective word such as I should never be used when a leader/person is a member of a team or taskforce or when referring to the achievement of his department.  Instead of I the inclusive word We should be used for the simple reason that all of the members should be given credit. 

An egotistical and self-centered leader/manager has no place in an organization for the simple reason that when we speak of an organization it means membership or grouping of people.  Thus self-centered and egotistical people should not be there!  – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Bullies in the workplace

Bullies are an ever present fixture in an organization we may not immediately recognize them because they quietly blend with the majority. But there would be times that they will create a noticeable scene for everyone to know that they exist in the workplace.

Bullies are arrogant people who push their weight around, they exist because there is no one who dares to stand before them. The more that nobody dares to face up to them the more that they are emboldened to continue their bullying.  Therefore, the problem of bullying exists because there are people who allow themselves to be bullied. 

How can we solve this irrational behavior? We can stop bullying by asserting our rights  and by standing-up to them. We must be firm with anyone who would dare to bully us because if we will not face them the more that they will bully us.

This is of course easier said than done. Can we face someone who occupies a very powerful position in our organization? Can we face-up to somebody who occupies a higher position than us? These are very valid questions that we need to consider, nevertheless if we want to stop workplace bullying we must be courageous enough to face these bullies.

Let us not be afraid with these organizational bullies they exist for the simple reason that we allow them to exist. But the moment we face them and assert our rights before them they would quickly fade away into oblivion. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

The greedy business owner

Once upon a time there was a greedy business owner who always want to corner whatever profit that his business earns. He would often be urged by his wife to give back a sizable percentage of their earnings to the welfare of their employees. But the greedy business owner simply ignored the suggestion he continued to pamper himself while his employees were wallowing from their inhuman working conditions.    

A few months had passed by the greedy owner noticed an increase in absences and also in resignation. There was also a huge decline in the output and quality of their products. After a year his company was forced to stop its operation and the greedy owner was left with nothing except for the huge bank debts.

It’s always a must for managers or business owners to equitably treat their employees for the simple reason that they are the lifeblood of their organization. In this day and age an organization can still exist even without the help of computerized operation. But can it survive without human resource? Of course not! This is therefore the primary reason why we must treat our people humanely.

It doesn't pay to be greedy in any arena of life most especially in an organizational arena. We must always learn to give back to our people: By increasing their pay, by improving and humanizing their work life and by always being accessible and transparent. - Marino J. Dasmarinas