© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Chapter 6 Learning and Performance Management Learning Outcomes

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.6-2 Definition of Learning Learning – the development of experience, insights, knowledge, and understanding that eventually leads to a change in behavior.

Information, Understanding, Knowledge Information deals with the what questions: What do my employees do? Knowledge deals with the how questions: How do my employees do what they do? How do I get them to do things differently? Understanding deals with the why questions: Why do my employees do the things they do? This is the double loop question. IKUIKU

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Conditioning Classical Conditioning – Modifying behavior so that a conditioned stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus and elicits an unconditioned response Operant Conditioning – Modifying behavior through the use of positive or negative consequences following specific behaviors

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Positive and Negative Consequences Positive Consequences Results of a behavior that a person finds attractive or pleasurable Negative Consequences Results of a behavior that a person finds unattractive or aversive

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.6-6 Reinforcement, Punishment & Extinction Reinforcement - the attempt to develop or strengthen desirable behavior by either bestowing positive consequences or withholding negative consequences Punishment - the attempt to eliminate or weaken undesirable behavior by either bestowing negative consequences or withholding positive consequences Extinction - the attempt to weaken a behavior by attaching no consequences to it

Reinforcement and Punishment Strategies © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

6-8 Examples of Negative Reinforcement Focused on desirable behaviors that occur more frequently: If a clerical worker feels that being ahead is a favorable condition, the worker will be motivated to work hard in order to avoid the unpleasant state of being behind. An instructor deducts 10 points from a student’s grade for each observed absence but there is no effect on a student’s grade for attendance. Example of an alarm in a child’s room.

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.6-9 Examples of Punishment Focused on undesirable behaviors that should occur very infrequently: If you exhibit unprofessional behavior in this class, you will lose a letter grades If you are caught cheating on an exam, you could fail the course If you steal something at work, you will be terminated.

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Bandura’s Social Learning Theory Task-Specific Self-Efficacy – an individual’s internal expectancy to perform a specific task effectively. Prior experiences Behavior models Persuasion from others Assessment of physical and emotional capabilities

Learning and Personality Differences © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Goal Setting at Work the process of establishing desired results that guide and direct behavior Goals help crystallize the sense of purpose and mission essential to success at work.

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Characteristics of Effective Goals Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Time-bound

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Goal-Setting Functions Increase work motivation and task performance Reduce role stress associated with conflicting or confusing situations Improve accuracy and validity of performance evaluation

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Employee Participation Goal acceptance Goal commitment Goal accomplishment

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Increase Work Motivation and Task Performance The higher the goal, the better the performance. Need to ensure: –employee participation –supervisory commitment –useful performance feedback

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Reduce Role Stress Goals clarify task-role expectations communicated to employees Improves communication between managers and employees

Problems with Goal Setting? © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Performance Management a process of defining, measuring, appraising, providing feedback on, and improving performance

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Performance Management Process Define performance in behavioral terms Improved Performance Measure and assess performance Feedback for goal setting and planning

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Performance Appraisal the evaluation of a person’s performance.

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Performance Appraisal Provides feedback to employees Identifies employees’ developmental needs Decides promotions and rewards Decides demotions and terminations Develops information about the organization’s selection and placement decisions

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Actual and Measured Performance

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Communicating Performance Feedback Refer to specific verbatim statements and observable behaviors Focus on changeable behaviors Both supervisor and employee should plan and organize before the session Begin with something positive

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. It is more effective to ask employees to do something differently than it is to ask them to be different

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Your employees are not responsible for fixing their systems. That is YOUR responsibility as a manager, and it is the abdication of management to blame employees for problems when there are almost always systemic variables that need continuous improvement. PA Exercise WSJ articles

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved WSJ: Get Rid of the Performance Review! Why does the author dislike performance reviews? What does he suggest as an alternative?

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 360 o Feedback Self Evaluation Customer Evaluation Reports Peer Evaluation Manager Evaluation Feedback

© 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Organizations get the performance they reward, not the performance they say they want. © 2011 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.