A case study outlining a hypothetical performance issue, including an executive summary, assessments, interventions, and results, using performance management tools and behavioral science principles.
flaura
PMCaseStudyExample2.pdf
Case Study Conducted For:
Pensacola Handyman Services
Executive Summary
Performance issues can hinder the efficacy of how an organization functions. These
issues can lead to a decrease in productivity, revenue, staff/client satisfaction, and an increase
in expenses over time. The purpose of this report is to demonstrate how performance issues
can be resolved through the use of performance management. Performance management
analyzes performance issues by determining what environment variables may be contributing
to the issues and altering those variables to resolve the issues. Essentially, we can adjust the
environment to bring out the best performance in staff and therefore produce more long-term
success for business results.
The performance issue was identified as delayed work completion and the behavior
associated with the issue was identified as staff arriving to work late. We discovered
environmental variables that were contributing to this behavior both prior to the behavior and
after the behavior occurred by conducting assessments. We also conducted an assessment for
the staff to find out what is motivating for them and incorporated those motivators into our
solutions. We developed a few solutions to alter the identified environmental variables and
narrowed the solutions down to one intervention to implement prior to the behavior and one
intervention to implement after the behavior. The results of these interventions demonstrated
a significant increase in the amount of on-time arrivals and an increase in the amount of work
completed. This ultimately led to an increase in the company’s productivity and revenue.
Moving forward, I would recommend continuing the two interventions that have been
implemented. To ensure that staff remain motivated throughout these interventions, I would
advise that staff preferences be assessed every few weeks or sooner because staff preferences
tend to change over time. In addition, I recommend keeping the intervention we used to alter
the environmental variables that occur prior to the behavior attention-grabbing and
entertaining. To make sure that the interventions are still working effectively, I recommend
regularly collecting information on the behavior associated with the performance issue. Also,
analyzing productivity and revenue is critical to determine if the desired performance continues
to contribute to success in both of those areas.
Performance Issue
The company’s name is Pensacola Handyman Services, and it is located in Pensacola,
Florida. Pensacola Handyman Services provides general handyman services such as home
repair, maintenance, renovation, installation, and debris removal. This organization has been in
business for five years and has a total of ten handymen. The organization is performing well,
but not as well as it could be performing. While the company has grown and the yearly revenue
has increased slightly every year from the previous year, the business productivity and revenue
is not what the owner expected it to be at this point. The company does not have set “9-5” days
and the scheduled start times and end times vary by day for each employee, which adds a
uniqueness to how the company functions.
The performance issue to assess is delayed work completion. The behavior associated
with this issue is arriving to work (job sites) late (after the scheduled start time), and the result
of this behavior is having to stay at job sites longer to complete jobs/delay following jobs to
finish work that would have been finished if staff arrived to work on time. This ultimately
decreases the amount of work completed, decreases the number of clients served, and
decreases earning potential. When speaking with the owner of this organization, he described
this issue as the result of staff being unreliable and unprofessional. Once the owner was
finished explaining the issue at hand, I asked some follow-up questions to try and dissect those
generalities described by the owner. First, I asked what exactly the employees were doing that
made him feel as though they were unreliable and unprofessional. The owner stated that most
of his employees show up to work significantly later than the time they are scheduled to be at
the job sites. This frustrates the owner because he feels as though it reflects poorly on his
company and delays work completion. The owner discovered this issue after receiving feedback
from his clients and by observing the late arrivals himself sometimes.
Staff arriving to job sites habitually late is a major disruption to the efficacy of the
company’s work. The impacts of this effect the business, the staff themselves, the clients, and
society. The business is impacted by this performance issue because work completion is
delayed and beginning new assigned jobs are delayed as well, which decreases the amount of
work completed, decreases the number of clients served, and decreases earning potential. Staff
are impacted by arriving to job sites late because sometimes they try to rush finishing the job,
which can cause the work to be done incorrectly and can delay work completion even further
by having to fix their mistakes. In addition, clients are sometimes rude to staff when they arrive
late, which can affect the quality of their work. The clients are impacted by this performance
issue because they can become unhappy when staff arrive late and can become unhappy if the
work is completed poorly due to the handymen rushing to finish it. Society is impacted by
handymen arriving late to job sites because it can create stereotypes about the handyman
profession and other similar trades.
Performance management is a solution to the performance issue addressed.
Performance management is derived from the science of human behavior and focuses on
individual performer behavior. According to Daniels and Bailey (2014), the goal of performance
management is “To create a workplace that brings out the best in people while generating the
highest value for the organization”. Essentially, performance management is mutually
beneficial to the staff and the company. Behavior science is the best choice for helping resolve
the performance issue because by using it we can alter the environment to increase the
likelihood of desired behaviors occurring more often in the future by rewarding the behaviors
we want to see. This, in turn, will decrease the likelihood of undesired behaviors occurring that
are causing the performance issue and will lead to an increase in the amount of work
completed.
Assessments Conducted
Historical Assessment
A historical assessment was conducted with the purpose of reviewing information on
past productivity, revenue, employee performance, and client feedback. Analyzing all the
relevant data such as planning documents, organizational charts, service standards, workplace
conditions, client lists, handbooks, and job descriptions are critical in this type of assessment
(Rodriguez et al., 2017). We obtained productivity charts, revenue charts, strategic plans, client
feedback documentation, the employee handbook, job descriptions, and documentation of late
arrival occurrences for each handyman. There was data available for past performance in the
productivity charts, revenue charts, strategic plans, client feedback documentation, job
descriptions, and documentation of late arrival occurrences for each handyman. We compared
the productivity charts to the revenue charts to see any trends and correlations between work
completed and money earned. We then compared the productivity charts with the strategic
plans to see the company’s productivity compared to the projected productivity. We also
compared the revenue charts with the strategic plans to see the company’s revenue compared
to the projected revenue. The client feedback documentation included the type of work
completed, the duration of the work including start and end times, and the satisfaction rating of
the completed work. The job descriptions we reviewed included the estimated duration of work
projects from start time to end time, all necessary steps to complete the project, all materials
needed, and the location of the job. The documentation of employee late arrivals was gathered
by both the client feedback and the owner’s documentation which included the frequency of
late arrivals and on time arrivals per employee along with the dates.
Indirect Assessment 1 (Performance Diagnostic Checklist)
The Performance Diagnostic Checklist is an assessment used to identify potential
performance barriers and to provide effective solutions for organizational performance issues
(Gravina et al., 2021). The process of conducting this assessment involves interviewing
performers individually by asking pre-determined questions derived from the Performance
Diagnostic Checklist and sometimes asking follow-up questions. Research by Pampino et al.
(2003) supports that information gathered by using the Performance Diagnostic Checklist can
be valuable when attempting to design an intervention and can provide the consultant with a
specific direction for intervention. Therefore, after conducting the interviews, the results were
analyzed, and effective interventions were determined based on the results. Since the
organization consists of only ten handymen, I conducted an interview with each of them. Below
is a completed assessment that displays information consistent with other interviews.
Indirect Assessment 2 (PIC/NIC™ Analysis)
The PIC/NIC™ Analysis is a formal way of using the performer’s perspective to analyze
behavior and examine the antecedents and consequences associated with the behavior
(Daniels & Bailey, 2014). To conduct this analysis, we started by pinpointing the problem
behavior, then interviewing staff to identify the antecedents occurring prior to the behavior
and to identify the consequences following the behavior. Once the consequences were
identified, we categorized them in terms of whether they were Positive/Negative,
Immediate/Future, and Certain/Uncertain. A critical piece of information related to the
PIC/NIC™ Analysis is that Positive Immediate Certain consequences are the most powerful for
increasing behavior and Negative Immediate Certain are the most powerful for decreasing
behavior. These factors are what make up the PIC/NIC™ acronym. Since the organization
consists of only ten handymen, I conducted an interview with each of them. Below is a
completed PIC/NIC™ Analysis that displays information consistent with other interviews.
Antecedent Desired behavior Consequence P/N I/F C/U
1. Wanted to sleep in longer due to late evening at work 2. Unsure of start time, the schedule is in their email somewhere 3. Needs to eat breakfast before going to work
Arriving to work on time
1. Not able to sleep in longer 2. Might have to skip breakfast 3. Satisfied client 4. The boss probably won’t be there to notice 5. Work completion
N I C N I U P I U N I U P F C
Direct Assessment
Direct observation of the performance was conducted to obtain reliable information
related to performance barriers and to confirm information gathered during the indirect
assessments. Data collection was taken during direct observation of behavior to correlate
environmental variables and to help gather information that could lead to effective solutions
(Gravina et al., 2021). I conducted direct observation by arriving to each job site prior to the
start time and took data using a fundamental measure in the form of frequency to record the
number of late arrivals per handyman. Reid et al. (2012) suggests using an unpredictable
schedule for formal observation to control for reactivity. Hence, we controlled for reactivity of
staff by not making it known when exactly my presence would be at the job sites. Some
motivating factors for employee late arrivals could include hunger and sleep deprivation.
Deprivation in behavior science is an establishing operation. An establishing operation, as
defined by Agnew (1998), is a motivating variable that alters the reinforcing effectiveness of
certain stimuli and increases the likelihood of engaging in behavior that has a history of being
reinforced by those stimuli.
Preference Assessment
A reinforcer survey was given to each handyman to determine what kind of reinforcers
could be used for intervention and to create a reinforcer array for them to choose from.
According to Catania (2013), a reinforcer is a consequence that will make responding more
likely to occur in the future when immediately delivered following a desired behavior. This
preference assessment was conducted by giving each handyman a Likert-based reinforcer
survey to fill out to identify reinforcer preferences. Once these preferences were identified, we
created a reinforcer array that could offer the handymen multiple options to choose from so
that motivating variables and flexibility could be accounted for. There were 10 reinforcers
chosen for the array and each of them had a value of $10 dollars or less.
Antecedent Undesired behavior Consequence P/N I/F C/U
1. Wanted to sleep in longer due to late evening at work 2. Unsure of start time, the schedule is in their email 3. Needs to eat breakfast before going to work
Arriving to work (job sites) late
1. Slept for longer 2. Ate breakfast 3. The boss probably won’t be there to notice 4. Might have to rush to try and complete work on time 5. Work is delayed
P I C P I C P I U N I U N F C
The reinforcer array included:
1. Gift card to favorite fast food restaurant
2. A new tool for their personal handyman tool collection
3. A ticket to a local sports game
4. Photo feature on the company social media page or calendar
5. Lunch with the boss (paid for by the boss)
6. Personalized employee business cards
7. Opportunity to represent the company at a local event
8. Fishing day with the team (almost every handyman highly rated fishing as a preferred hobby)
9. A unique professional title according to the employee’s skillset
10. Wash/detail their assigned work vehicle
The reinforcer survey and reinforcer array were created to be a simple and quick way of finding
out what the handymen prefer and providing options according to those preferences. Simonian
et al. (2020) suggests that creating preference assessment methods that can be easily and
repeatedly administered by supervisors is important because employee preferences do not
tend to remain stable over time. Therefore, assessment of staff preference should occur within
weeks or shorter from prior assessment (Wine et al., 2012).
Proposed Solutions
Antecedents
The information gathered from the assessments allowed me to identify antecedent
factors that could potentially be contributing to the performance issue. After conducting the
assessments, the results showed that there were no job or task aids in the employees’
immediate environments, the boss is rarely present during task completion, and the handymen
are often deprived of sleep due to prior late work evenings. Therefore, the existing antecedents
are non-effective in encouraging the desired behavior. For this intervention, recommended
changes to these antecedents included adding job aids to the handymen’s immediate
environments, changing the environment to include having the boss present during the
beginning of each job, and changing job end times to promote adequate sleep. To add the job
aids, we would print out each handyman’s weekly schedule and place it in a visible area in their
home and in a visible area in their work vehicle. To change the environment to include having
the boss present during the beginning of each job, we would create a schedule for the boss to
be at each job site at the beginning of each job to observe when the handymen arrive to work.
To alter sleep deprivation of employees, we could create a pre-determined end-time for the
daily jobs so that the handymen could get off work at a decent hour and get enough rest for the
following day. Antecedent interventions implemented in performance management are
described by Daniels and Bailey (2014) as “…any deliberate attempt to change or maintain
behavior by presenting some sort of stimulus before the behavior occurs”. In this case study,
the deliberate implementations would be the inclusion of job aids, inclusion of the boss’s
presence at the beginning of the jobs, and inclusion of adequate sleep prior to arriving to work.
Consequences
The information gathered from the assessments allowed me to identify consequences
that could potentially be contributing to the performance issue. After conducting the
assessments, the results showed that there are no Premack reinforcers, there is no feedback
given by the boss, and there are other behaviors competing with the desired performance.
Therefore, the existing consequences are non-effective in encouraging the desired behavior.
For this intervention, recommended changes to these consequences included adding Premack
reinforcers to be given contingent on the desired behavior, adding feedback given by the boss
about the behavior, and by making the desired behavior more reinforcing than competing
behaviors. A reinforcer strengthens the behavior that precedes it, so if work-related behavior is
reinforced, that behavior will be strengthened (Hantula, 2015). To add Premack reinforcers, we
would utilize our reinforcer array and inform the handymen that if they arrived to work on time
each day for a week, they would have access to one reinforcer of their choice from the
reinforcer array. To add feedback given by the boss, the boss would provide feedback daily on
the job sites and weekly based on the permanent products of the work completed. To make the
desired behavior more reinforcing than competing behaviors, we would use positive
reinforcement to be given immediately following the desired behavior. Positive reinforcement
is defined by Daniels and Bailey (2014) as strengthening a behavior by providing a positive
reinforcer following that behavior. In this intervention, the positive reinforcer would be praise
from the boss upon arriving to work on time along with the boss’s help with getting the job
started.
Selected Interventions
One antecedent intervention and one consequence intervention was selected for
implementation based on the results of the assessments. The chosen antecedent intervention
was adding job aids to the handymen’s immediate environments. To add the job aids, we would
print out each handyman’s weekly schedule and place it in a visible area in their home and in a
visible area in their work vehicle. We would include a weekly “dad joke” on these job aids to
make them more entertaining and make them colorful to draw attention. The resources
required for implementation include paper, plastic paper sleeves, colored printer ink, and
Velcro mounting strips. The estimated cost of materials would be $100. The chosen
consequence intervention was adding Premack reinforcers to be given contingent on the
desired behavior. To add Premack reinforcers, we would utilize our reinforcer array and inform
the handymen that if they arrived to work on time each day for a week, they would have access
to one reinforcer of their choice from the reinforcer array. To implement this, the boss would
be at the job sites when the handymen arrived at work. If they arrived to work on time, the
boss would praise them and inform them that they would be documenting this on-time arrival
for that day. At the end of the week, any handyman who showed up to work on time would
receive a reinforcer of their choice. Emergency situations to cause late arrivals would not be
held against any handyman. The resources and cost to implement this would vary by week. The
maximum weekly cost to reinforce all 10 handymen would be $100. Although weeks where
everyone choses a $10 value reinforcer would be likely, we would keep in mind that 4/10 of the
reinforcers do not cost anything, so sometimes the weekly cost could be less than $100. The
resources associated with each reinforcer would be:
1. Gift card to favorite fast food restaurant – Internet access to purchase an e-gift card and $10
2. A new tool for their personal handyman tool collection – Internet access to order the tool
and $10
3. A ticket to a local sports game – Internet access to purchase an e-ticket and $10
4. Photo feature on the company social media page or calendar – Internet access and a photo
of the employee
5. Lunch with the boss (paid for by the boss) – A restaurant and $10
6. Personalized employee business cards – Internet access to order the business cards and $10
7. Opportunity to represent the company at a local event – A local event
8. Fishing day with the team (almost every handyman highly rated fishing as a preferred hobby)
– A body of water
9. A unique professional title according to the employee’s skillset – Employee’s past
achievements
10. Wash/detail their assigned work vehicle – A local car wash and $10
Solution Implementation Results
Performance Result
Data from one employee’s performance was selected and graphed to display a visual
analysis of the results. The behavior associated with the performance is what was analyzed and
the behavior was defined as arriving to work on time. Frequency was used to record data on
the behavior. Baseline data was taken daily for a full work week. The following week, the
antecedent intervention was implemented and data was taken on the employee’s behavior
daily. The week after that, the consequence intervention was also implemented and data was
taken on the employee’s behavior daily. Based on the results, I believe that the interventions
would work. There is a significant increase in the frequency of on-time arrivals after the
implementation of both the antecedent intervention and the consequence intervention. The
graphed data on the employee’s behavior is listed below.
Business Result
The data for work completion was obtained by reviewing the permanent products of
jobs completed and graphed to display a visual analysis of the results. The number of jobs
completed was recorded daily throughout the baseline period, the implementation of the
antecedent intervention, and the implementation of the consequence intervention. Based on
the results, we can see that there was a significant increase in the number of jobs completed
upon implementation of the antecedent intervention and the consequence intervention. The
business result changes were apparent immediately after staff performance changed. The
graphed data on the amount of work completed is listed below.
Intervention Result
The interventions resulted in an increase in the frequency of on-time arrivals and an
increase in the number of jobs completed. The antecedent intervention did help to increase the
amount of on-time arrivals and to increase the number of jobs completed, but once the
consequence intervention was implemented, there was a significant increase in the frequency
of on-time arrivals and number of jobs completed. The company has benefited from this
intervention because it resulted in an increase in productivity which also increases revevnue.
The performance issue has decreased significantly and the handymen are now arriving to work
on time and completing more jobs.
Project Summary
This project really opened my eyes to the process of utilizing performance management.
While I actually had a lot of fun doing this, I was amazed to see how tricky making decisions for
interventions can become based off of various factors such as resources, time constraints, and
other random factors. There were times where I would go down the rabbit hole from
brainstorming different ideas and solutions. Doing this project gave me a chance to do hands-
on work with pinpointing, conducting all of the assessments we learned about, and strategizing
a solution based off of what I learned in the course. I learn best through doing, so this project
was very beneficial in gaining a teeny bit of experience in the OBM world!
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