Reflection Paper 7

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Performance Management With Shannon Biagi, MS, BCBA (she/her)

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Objectives

The goals of this lesson are to: • Identify common errors made by leaders when

selecting potential reinforcers for staff

• Determine the role of non-contingent reinforcement in business and the issues associated with it

• Identify issues related to asking staff about their potential reinforcers and strategies for overcoming those issues

• Determine what CARE (Daniels & Bailey, 2014) stands for when selecting potential reinforcers

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Objectives

The goals of this lesson are to: • Identify the number and outcomes of current non-monetary reinforcer studies in

ABA/OBM literature

• Select reasons that leaders should consider using non-monetary reinforcers in the workplace

• Differentiate between examples of social, tangible, work-related, engineered, and monetary reinforcers

• Determine appropriate preference assessment strategies, including how and how often preferences should be assessed

• Select the steps of the Task Enjoyment Motivation Protocol and other strategies for increasing enjoyment of work beyond contrived reinforcers

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Preference Assessments & Creating Reinforcement

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

What Employees Want

And How to Figure it Out

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Reinforcers at Work Determining strategies for motivating staff is absolutely essential for any business to succeed.

Environmental changes that increase staff behavior are key to creating a workplace of “______________” vs. “_______________”, but many organizations struggle with determining how to find and integrate

reinforcement strategies into their operations.

We’re going to explore the challenges associated with figuring out what staff want, explore best-practices in assessing preference from the organizational behavior management literature, discuss different potential

reinforcers in depth, and encourage you to think beyond contrived reinforcement strategies altogether.

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Individualization • Every person in interested in and willing to work for different things in

an organization.

• This is based upon their own _____, their history of ___________, their goals wants, and needs, and much more.

• Many times, leaders choose reinforcement for their staff based upon: • What the leader would want if they were the staff member • What a ____________ would indicate a staff member would be

interested (think “generational differences”)

• Neither of these strategies is effective in determining reinforcers for employees!

• Additionally, many organizations make the same reinforcers available to all staff, without individualizing, because it’s easier.

• Easier, though, does not mean ‘___________’.

Challenge 1:

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

• Reinforcers, by definition, MUST ____________ behavior! • Many organizations provide “reinforcement” without

pinpointing and measuring staff performance, and tying the distributions of preferred items/experiences to those data.

• This is _________________ reinforcement (or ______) • Major issues with NCR is that:

• It’s costly • It doesn’t result in behavior change • It’s very difficult to ______ once it’s been given

• If you aren’t willing to pinpoint and measure specific performance, you will be unable to create a quality reinforcement system

Challenge 2: Reinforcement MUST BE Contingent!

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Challenge 3:

“They Never Tell Me What They Want!” • Many leaders say they have asked what their

staff want to work for, and the staff members don’t respond (especially when this occurs using an open-ended digitally-distributed survey)

• Daniels & Bailey (2014) say this is likely due to the fact that:

• People don’t know ____________________ • People don’t ________________ what their

reinforcers are

• This happens very frequently (in my experience) when the solicitation for preferred items is done “______________” style, with little guidance or structure.

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

• This also occurs often when using “free-operant” style surveys.

• “I want an island vacation.” • “I want a week off from work.” • “I want a company car.”

• Reinforcers in the workplace need to be under the “CARE” (Daniels & Bailey, 2014) of those providing the reinforcement:

• ________________ • ________________ • ________________ • ________________

Challenge 4:

“They Want Things I Can’t Give Them!”

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

When leaders select potential reinforcers, a common error they make

is:

Checking in:

A. They select things that they would enjoy

B. They select things based upon stereotypes of their staff

C. They use the same reinforcers across all staff members

D. All of these are common errors when leaders pick potential reinforcers

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

A leader brings in bagels on Tuesday, donuts on Wednesday, and takes everyone out for dinner on Friday, and complains they don’t have resources

for “other reinforcers”. This leader is using:

Checking in:

A. Positive reinforcement

B. Non-contingent reinforcement

C. Negative reinforcement

D. Differential reinforcement

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

True or false: Employees are often open about what they are interested in

working for.

Checking in:

A. True

B. False

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

What does Daniels & Bailey (2014)’s CARE criteria stand for?

Checking in:

A. Cost, Accurate, Replicable, Effective

B. Contingent, Assessed, Reinforcing, Ethical

C. Controllable, Available, Repeatable, Efficient

D. Cats Are Really Energetic

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Determining Potential Reinforcers

What to Include in the Array

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

(Potential) Reinforcers A leader should determine what potential reinforcers they can offer staff, based upon Daniels & Bailey

(2014)’s CARE criteria. Keeping a list of different items and experiences that may motivate staff (and, of course, what is required to access them) allow you to overcome many of the challenges with reinforcement

that we discussed in the previous section.

However, potential reinforcers come in, quite literally, countless forms.

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Categories of Potential Reinforcers

• Interaction with people

_________ • Job characteristics

that can be altered

Work-related • Cash

Monetary • Any ___________

_____________ object or activity

Tangible • Natural reinforcers

built into a machine or process

__________

… that, when delivered contingent upon a response, __________ the future probability of that response.

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Daniels & Bailey (2014)

Money as a “Reinforcer” A paycheck is not a reinforcer – even BF Skinner made this observation in the 1970s. Money is difficult to use as a reinforcer because: • Usually cannot be given contingent on

improved performance • Amounts we can give are usually ________ • Money is used on _________, rather than

reinforcers

It is also often not tied to performance in any way. For a detailed examination of this issue, see William B. Abernathy’s seminal text, The Sin of Wages.

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

_________ Value – Easier to recall why they earned

Why Non-Monetary R+? McAdams and Hawk (1994), Consortium for Alternative Reward Strategies Research (CARS)

Cash Awards Cost _____

Flexibility – Can be shaped to meet ___________

_________ Value – Proud to display or brag about

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

• Socially mediated consequences • Can be ________ – praise, feedback,

acknowledgement, listening to them talk about a favorite topic

• Can be _________ – thank you card, trophies, plaques

• Only have value to the recipient, so no ______________ value

Daniels & Bailey (2014)

Social Reinforcement

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Tangible Reinforcers • Material goods, items, objects • Could potentially be valuable to someone

else, if _____ for example • Company swag, gift cards, toasters, food

• A mix of both is best practice, and MUST contain some kind of ________ reinforcement to be most effective

Daniels & Bailey (2014)

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Gravina, et al. (2018)

Current Research (1990-2016) What does the field of Behavior Analysis know about Non-Monetary R+?

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Multi-component intervention including pizza party for two months of criterion performance on RBT performance scorecard

Evaluation of the service review model with performance scorecards. (Szabo, Williams, Rafacz, Newsome & Lydon, 2012)

• 23 parties earned, only ___ were attended, even though they were indicated as preferred!

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Multi-component intervention – included Certificate of Merit for 100% submission of session notes with 90% accuracy “Everything AND the kitchen sink” intervention

Improving therapist and patient performance in chronic psychiatric group homes through goal-setting, feedback, and positive reinforcement. (Huberman & O’Brien, 1999)

• Saw gains during intervention, but _________________

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Wait… That’s it?

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Thinking Outside the Box

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Volunteers' Motivations: Findings from a National Survey

Clary, Snyder, & Stukas (1996) in Non- profit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly Interviews with 2,671 volunteers using the Volunteer Function Inventory

Outside of the ABA Literature Using the Non-profit Sector as a Model

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers BiagiClary, Snyder, & Stukas (1996) Categories of Motivation for Volunteers

Self-EsteemValues

Skills and Knowledge

ExperienceSocial

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

• Pass-it-on style awards

• Day of appreciation

• Team outing based on interests

• Choice of team lunch

• Lunch with the boss

• Dinner at boss’ house with family

• Recognition in a meeting

Category 1: Social Work to fit in and engage with other people (Clary et al. 1996)

• Announcement in the newsletter/ online

• Photo in company calendar • Photo featured in lobby • Create a company club based on

hobby • Social media takeover • Virtual paint party • Virtual escape room

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

• Business cards, headshots, resume help

• Opportunities to train others

• Roles on committees

• Titles

• Shadowing opportunities

• Personalized professional development planning session/"dream day”

• Mentorship

• Increased job responsibilities

• Representing company at an event

Category 2: Experiences Work to build their careers in the future (Clary et al. 1996)

• Follow through on their ideas and suggestions

• Special projects • Increased autonomy • Allowing them to be a model for peers • Role in hiring the next employee • Project assistance • Increase preferred job tasks • Attend meetings in boss’ place • Presentations to company

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

• “Pick the bosses brain”

• Choosing the next team training topic

• Cross-training

• Conference funding

• Extra training on difficult work tasks

• Increased feedback

Category 3: Skills and Knowledge Work to increase understanding and opportunities for practice (Clary et al. 1996)

• Copy of a book related to their work • Training allowance • Participation in leadership training • Membership in a professional

development organization • Tuition assistance/book funding

Note: For this to work, training cannot be used as a punisher for poor performance!

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

• Select one of the employee’s favorite things about themselves/causes and name an annual award after them

• Allowing employee to create the next recognition award

• Time off to engage in a hobby/ meaningful cause

• Show the outcomes of their work framed in their “why”

Category 4: Values Work to express values that are important to them (Clary et al. 1996)

• Contribution to their favorite cause or charity in their name

• Create a company club around their value/cause

• Dedicate one day to the employee's cause of choice to have other staff members volunteer

• Promote their cause on social media

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

• Recognition meeting 1:1

• Personalized thank you

• Call from the owner/CEO

• Authorship/give credit

• Name a room of your facility after them

• Bravo card

• Personal workspace

Category 5: Self-Esteem Work to feel good about themselves (Clary et al. 1996)

• OTHER ideas: • Take over the employee’s least preferred job

task • Wash/detail the employee’s car • Parking spot • Childcare for a date night • Extra break/"joybreak” • House cleaning/chore assistance • Bring pets to work day • Trade clients/tasks with another staff

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Varieties of potential reinforcers are endless.

Think outside the pizza box. Or the cash box.

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Between 1990 and 2016, how many studies had been published examining the use of non-monetary reinforcers in

the ABA/OBM literature?

Checking in:

A. None

B. 15

C. 3

D. 35

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Why should leaders consider using non- monetary reinforcers?

Checking in:

A. They cost less than cash awards

B. They can be bragged about

C. People will remember earning them

D. All of these

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Which is the following is considered a tangible reinforcer?

Checking in:

A. Thank you card

B. A company coffee mug

C. A commendment plaque

D. A training experience

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Conducting Preference Assessments

What is the best way to assess staff preference?

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Strategies for Determining What Staff Want (Daniels & Bailey, 2014)

As ki

ng • Ask staff directly what they are interested in working for

• May look like interviews, surveys

• Use the opportunity to ______________

O bs

er vi

ng • Watch what your staff gravitate toward, what they choose to work on or engage with

• Try using the ___________ principle

Te st

in g • Try something and

see what sticks • Can be influenced by

asking and observing • Monitor the ______

and see which strategies increase performance

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Preferences in OBM Assessment of preference is common in _____________ Can be used to:

Increase performance Maintain desired behavior Develop rapport Increase quality of life

Shouldn’t we do this with employees as well?

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Wilder, Therrien, & Wine (2006) Preferences commonly assessed via survey tools

Alternative: Verbal choice ”Would you rather work for X or Y?”

Study compared the two methods in assessing reinforcement for 4 admins in an office setting

Takeaway: __________ are more accurate for determining reinforcers than _____________ methods in typical verbal adults.

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Wilder, Rost, McMahon (2007) Can managers accurately predict employee preference?

Could eliminate the need for formal preference assessments

Well…

Good news: ___ out of 27 managers could predict the top preferred item Not-so-good news: Beyond the top item, prediction was poor

Can you always deliver the top preferred item? Will they ________ on the top item if that is the only accurate selection?

Takeaway: Assessment is ____________.

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Waldvogel & Dixon (2008) But what about ______?

Higher response effort, but if more effective…

Takeaway: Less response effort may be just as effective for determining preference.

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Wine, Gilroy, & Hantula (2012) How often should we assess preferences of employees?

How durable are preferences over time?

Takeaway: Preferences are _________.

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

OBM Preference Assessment Takeaways

_________ are more accurate for determining reinforcers than ______________ methods in typical verbal adults. Assessment is __________. Less response effort may be just as effective for determining preference. Preferences are ______________.

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Likert-based Survey Method Daniels & Bailey (2014, pg. 175)

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Likert-based Survey Method (Biagi, 2018)

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

• Offer multiple choices when possible

• ____ can be better accounted for (because they choose in the moment after reinforcement has been earned, rather than being given something months after completing their survey)

• Allows for flexibility Changes in their ____________ Changes in ________ Changes in item/opportunity _________

Using an Array/”Menu”

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

A leader offers a new potential reinforcer to staff, collects data, and determines whether it was effective.

According to Daniels and Bailey (2014), this assessment strategy is:

Checking in:

A. Testing

B. Observing

C. Asking

D. None of these

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

According to Wine, Gilroy, & Hantula, how often should we assess staff

preference?

Checking in:

A. Weeks or shorter

B. Quarterly

C. Yearly

D. Upon hire only

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Beyond Contrived Reinforcers

Making the Work Environment Reinforcing

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Rewards and Recognition Aren’t Enough Many leaders assume that adding more __________ reinforcement opportunities will lead to

reduced turnover, increased staff satisfaction, and greater performance on the job.

However, there is an emerging literature examining how working conditions play a greater role than ______ or reinforcement opportunities in whether employees report enjoying their jobs.

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi Green, Reid, Passante, & Canipe (2008)

Task Enjoyment Motivation Protocol 2 components:

1. _______________ management process • Employees rank and rate their job tasks • Leaders meet with the employees to

discuss the least-preferred job tasks, why they were least-preferred, and how they could become more acceptable

2. Alter the ______________ task • Remove aversive aspects of tasks • Add reportedly preferred stimuli to task

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

• Participants: 4 supervisors in a human service company

• Each supervisor had different non-preferred tasks – completing progress notes, reviewing timesheets, completing monthly staff observations

• During interviews, it was discovered that frequent ____________ made the desk tasks (progress notes and timesheet reviews) take significantly longer than expected

• Staff observations were nonpreferred because staff _____________________

Green, Reid, Passante, & Canipe (2008)

Implementing the TEMP • Interventions:

• Removed… • Interruptions, by scheduling

uninterrupted desk time • Staff resistance to

observation, by increasing the reinforcement for staff associated with the observations (lottery)

• Added… • Snacks and water while

completing desk tasks

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi R

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PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Job Satisfaction

Hantula (2015)

Job ___________

High __________

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Frequent Assumptions of Job Satisfaction Hantula (2015)

The causal link between job satisfaction and high performance is questionable, because it involves a number of assumptions:

1. Job satisfaction (of lack thereof) involves a ___________ between employee expectations and the realities of work, which assumes…

2. Work is inherently ___________ – the worker is “estranged” (Skinner, 1986) from the positive reinforcement associated with the product of their work,

which leads to more aversive control being used by leaders

3. _____________ act as reinforcers – to make happy employees, you need to provide lots of rewards, and all rewards will act as reinforcers

4. ____________ control is normal and necessary in organizations

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Food for Thought: Rather than focusing on adding a bunch of

___________ reinforcers to improve employee satisfaction, look at how you can make the

work ___________ and the work _______ less aversive and increase the reinforcing nature of

leadership and management.

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

Which of the following is NOT a step in conducting the TEMP protocol?

Checking in:

A. Interviewing staff about their least-preferred tasks

B. Removing un-preferred conditions from the work environment

C. Asking staff about preferred items/experiences via survey

D. Adding preferred stimuli to the work environment

PM – Preferences and Reinforcers Biagi

In Closing…

1. Environmental changes that increase staff behavior are key to creating a workplace of:
2. vs:
3. their history of:
4. their:
5. would indicate a staff member would be:
6. undefined:
7. behavior:
8. reinforcement or:
9. undefined_2:
10. once its been given:
11. People dont know:
12. People dont:
13. undefined_3:
14. undefined_4:
15. undefined_5:
16. undefined_6:
17. undefined_7:
18. undefined_8:
19. Tangible:
20. Any 1:
21. Any 2:
22. the future probability of that response:
23. Amounts we can give are usually:
24. Money is used on:
25. Value:
26. to meet:
27. Value_2:
28. Cash Awards Cost:
29. praise feedback:
30. thank you card:
31. value:
32. else if:
33. contain some kind of:
34. even though they were:
35. but:
36. Try using the:
37. Use the opportunity:
38. asking and observing:
39. in:
40. Takeaway:
41. reinforcers than:
42. out of 27 managers:
43. on the top item if that:
44. undefined_9:
45. undefined_10:
46. undefined_11:
47. are more accurate for determining reinforcers:
48. methods in typical verbal adults:
49. undefined_12:
50. undefined_13:
51. undefined_18:
52. Changes in their:
53. Changes in:
54. Changes in itemopportunity:
55. Many leaders assume that adding more:
56. than:
57. management process:
58. task:
59. During interviews it was discovered that frequent:
60. Staff observations were nonpreferred because staff:
61. High:
62. Job:
63. between employee:
64. the worker is estranged Skinner 1986:
65. act as reinforcers to make happy employees you need to:
66. control is normal and necessary in organizations:
67. satisfaction look at how you can make the:
68. aversive and increase the reinforcing nature of:
69. and the work: