The Effects of a Combined Goal Setting,Feedback and Incentive Intervention on Job Performance in a Manufacturing Environment

Abstract

Baked anodes are used in finished aluminum production. Employees of a large multinational aluminum smelter were responsible for the production of more than 3500 baked anodes per week. During a 74 week long baseline (A) condition, production of unusable anodes exceeded 300 per week or 8.6 percent of their nominal 3500 anode production requirement. A problem analysis suggested that this high rate of defective anodes might have been due to weak antecedents, inefficient work procedures and weak performance contingencies. An intervention package that included a combination of goal setting, performance feedback, and tangible rewards was designed to strengthen antecedents and consequences of job performance. A performance feedback system was introduced with and remained constant across the three types of performance contingent rewards and three successively higher goal levels. The three reward and goal combinations were introduced to “strengthen” antecedents and performance contingencies within an A-B1-B2-B3-A with reversal to baseline conditions design. Anode reject rates were lower (better performance) during the three intervention phases compared to both the pre- and post-intervention baseline phase data. A dramatic performance improvement (lowered rate of rejects) was observed during the B3 phase that included the highest performance goal. These data demonstrate that a treatment combination of specific goal setting, feedback and tangible rewards can “strengthen” antecedents and performance contingencies resulting in improved objective performance in a manufacturing environment.     

效忠主管与员工工作绩效的关系:反馈寻求行为和权力距离的影响

效忠主管一直是华人组织经久不衰的议题,尽管已有文献认为员工效忠主管有助于提升其工作绩效,然而关于效忠主管通过怎样的具体机制来影响员工工作绩效却并未得到系统的阐释。本文以14家企业的360名员工为样本,探讨了效忠主管对工作绩效的影响机制,尤其是研究员工反馈寻求行为在其中的中介作用及员工权力距离的调节作用。分析结果表明,效忠主管对员工工作绩效、反馈寻求行为都有显著的正向影响;反馈寻求行为在效忠主管与工作绩效关系中起完全中介作用。另外,员工的权力距离负向调节了效忠主管与反馈寻求行为的正相关关系,即员工的权力距离越低,两者的正向相关关系越强。     

Increasing Physical Therapy Equipment Preparation Using Task Clarification,Feedback and Environmental Manipulations

The purpose of this study was to increase completion of tasks related to morning preparation procedures among 2 full-time and 4 part-time employees at a physical therapy clinic. A functional assessment was conducted to aid in the development of the treatment package consisting of graphic feedback, task clarification, and equipment manipulations. Later, graphic feedback was replaced with verbal feedback from the manager to facilitate maintenance of the intervention by the manager. During baseline, the mean checklist completion percentage was 18.4% and 56.5% for the therapy area and the hygienic activity area, respectively. This improved to 82.1% and 90.3% during the first intervention phase and remained above baseline levels at 75.6% and 100% during the second intervention phase. The results of this study suggest that the package intervention derived from the assessment was effective at increasing preparation task completion. Performance maintained above baseline levels at a three-month follow-up observation for the therapy area (50%) and the hygienic activity area (83.3%). According to the treatment acceptability assessment, graphic and verbal feedback were viewed as favorable by employees.     

Increasing Staff Completion of Civil Commitment Forms Through Instructions and Graphed Group Performance Feedback

ABSTRACT

A three-leg multiple baseline design across behaviors was used to assess the effects of an instruction-andfeedback package on correct completion of three required civil commitment forms by psychiatric emergency room personnel. The forms were for notices of rights, imminent harm applications, and witness lists. The intervention program consisted of an individualized training component and weekly group feedback via graphs. The instruction-and-feedback package produced immediate and significant increases in correct completion of all three commitment forms; the effects were maintained across six months of follow-up data collection. Discussion addressed the effectiveness of the package, the effects of participant drop-out, the functions of the instruction and feedback components of the package, and ethical concerns.     

Improving the Quality of Hotel Banquet Staff Performance

The banquet staff at a north Texas hotel were responsible for setting up 11 different functions for conferences and meetings. The functions were often set up late and items were often omitted. An analysis suggested that performance problems were Ihe result of weak antecedents, inefficient work procedures, inadequate training, and weak performance contingencies. A treatment package consisting of task checklists, feedback, goal setting, monetary bonuses for quality performance, training and job aids was designed to enhance the accuracy and timeliness of function setups. Performance increased from an average of 68.8% on a quality measure (accuracy plus timeliness of setups) in baseline to 99.7% during the treatment phase. Performance decreased to 82.3% during a second baseline phase in which the intervention was discontinued by hotel management. Performance increased to 99.3% with the reintroduction of the treatment package. Customer satisfaction ratings of banquet setups and service were high during the interventions. Treatment effects are discussed with respect to rule-governed behavior.     

Performance Feedback to Improve the Planning and Evaluation of Instructional Programs

Federal and State regulations regarding education for handicapped children require that teachers document plans and evaluate instructional programs on a regular basis. This study investigated the performance of teachers on their documentation of services provided their students. The study employed a multiple baseline across schools designed to assess a performance feedback intervention. Following the initiation of feedback, large increases over baseline were observed for teachers in both schools on two performance measures: Percentage of instructional programs (IPs) planned: and percentage of teachers recording evaluation information on IPs. Results of the study are discussed with respect to the usefulness of performance feedback ss a practical, cost-effective intervention procedure for supervisors and administrators in organizational settings.     

Expansion-oriented job crafting and employee performance: A self-empowerment perspective

Taking a self-empowerment perspective, we investigated the mediating impact of psychological empowerment on the relationship between expansion-oriented job crafting behaviors (seeking resources and seeking challenges) and job performance. We also examined the moderating role of perceived overqualification on the proposed mediation model. Data were collected from 519 employees and their direct supervisors who work in 69 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Turkey. As the data had a nested structure, we used hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to analyze the multi-level data. The results show that psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between expansion-oriented job crafting behaviors and job performance. The analyses also provide support for the moderating impact of perceived overqualification. The conditional indirect effect of seeking challenges on job performance is stronger for those employees who feel overqualified for their jobs.     

Effectiveness of Job Aids and Post Performance Review on Staff Implementation of Discrete Trial Instruction

Discrete-trial instruction (DTI) is a well-established instructional method for teaching children with autism. Accurate implementation of DTI procedures requires that staff be well trained. This study examined the effectiveness of job aids followed by post performance review of strengths, errors, and accuracy on discrete trial instructional accuracy in three participants who conducted DTI within their current job positions. Additionally, primary training procedures were embedded within a meta-shaping procedure, which involved the gradual and systematic introduction of three levels of behavioral components required for accurate implementation of the DTI sequence with mastery criteria set at 90% accuracy across all three levels. As demonstrated in a changing criterion within a multiple baseline design, staff demonstrated increases in DTI accuracy following the initiation of the job aid condition; however, some degree of performance-based feedback was required to establish high levels of procedural fidelity across the DTI sequence. Performance accuracy on maintenance probes remained at high levels. These findings provide support that job aids followed by performance-based feedback may be an effective and efficient method for shaping high levels of DTI procedural fidelity in staff. Additionally, gradual shaping of the DTI accuracy may scaffold performance, minimize errors, and increase social validity.     

Evaluation of the Service Review Model With Performance Scorecards

The current study combined a management technique termed “Service Review” with performance scorecards to enhance staff and consumer behavior in a human service setting consisting of 11 supervisors and 56 front-line staff working with 9 adult consumers with challenging behaviors. Results of our intervention showed that service review and scorecards produced significant staff behavior changes that were maintained over time. Positive consumer outcomes were also correlated with staff performance changes. The behavioral package of training, clinical consultation, service review, biweekly manager meetings, scorecards, and public posting has the potential to reduce the need for monetary staff incentives.     

Confidence Matters: Self‐efficacy Moderates the Credit that Supervisors Give to Adaptive and Proactive Role Behaviours

In complex and uncertain work environments, employees need to not only be proficient in carrying out their core duties, but also to be adaptive (able to cope and respond to unpredictable events) and proactive (able to anticipate the situation and act in a self‐directed way) in their work roles. In this study we investigate the extent to which supervisors actually give credit to adaptive and proactive role behaviours when they judge employees’ overall job performance. Drawing on attribution theory, we propose that the extent to which these role behaviours are valued by supervisors will be enhanced by employees’ confidence for relevant role behaviours. Support for these ideas is provided using data from junior doctors and their supervisors in a hospital emergency department. Adaptive role behaviours positively influenced supervisors’ judgements of overall job performance. This relationship was stronger for employees with high self‐efficacy for achieving outcomes. Engaging in proactive role behaviours while also lacking role‐breadth self‐efficacy resulted in supervisors’ giving employees less credit for their proactive role behaviours. Findings support the argument that employees’ self‐efficacy for specific role behaviours provides attributional cues about capability that modify how adaptive and proactive role behaviours are interpreted and valued.     

Preliminary Validation and Training of Supervisory Interactional Skills

Employee job satisfaction and performance are critical to the effectiveness of an organization. Although satisfaction and performance are not determined in total by a supervisor's interactional skills, it appears that interactional skills can significantly influence employee satisfaction and productivity. This research was conducted to further validate the types of interpersonal skills important in supervisory interactions, and then to evaluate the effectiveness of a supervisory training workshop in improving these aspects of managers' repertoires. In the first study social validation and survey procedures were used to identify supervisory behavior that employees judge to either facilitate or inhibit their job satisfaction and performance. Based on these results, the workshop training program was developed and tested in a second study which revealed a significant improvement in the group of supervisors who underwent training versus a no-training control group. This study provided a preliminary demonstration of the efficacy of using a behavioral training program to improve supervisors' interactional skills judged to be related to an organization's level of satisfaction and performance.     

Customer Feedback to the Main Office

Graphic feedback of the percentages of well-stocked vendor boxes was presented to circulation directors of newspapers. Feedback and state-administered lottery tickets were also presented to the delivery agents responsible for stocking the vendor boxes. This intervention package was presented in a multiple baseline design, and it was found effective in improving the availability of these newspapers to potential customers. Implications for customer service and customer feedback mechanisms are discussed.     

Keeping an Uphill Edge

Abstract

Several behaviors in a ski shop were identified as being deficient using Austin's Performance Diagnostic Checklist (2000) and Daniels and Daniels' PIC/NIC Analysis (2004). During a 4-week baseline, 7 cleaning behaviors were monitored and 5 were subsequently targeted in an intervention package using an ABC design. The intervention included: a task clarification session, a posted behavioral checklist, graphic feedback of the group's performance for the previous week, and daily task-specific feedback. Immediately after the checklist was posted, the frequency of employee cleaning behaviors increased 52%. Cleaning behaviors increased an additional 12% after the implementation of daily task-specific feedback. Results suggest the interventions generalized to the 2 cleaning behaviors not mentioned in the task-clarification session.     

An empirical study on the relationship between perceived employability and employee performance

Despite the growing attention to employability in the era of job insecurity, there have been a limited number of empirical studies regarding the positive effect of employees’ perceived employability (PE) on performance. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between PE and three domains of employee performance: in-role, adaptive, and extra-role. This study also tests the moderating effect of the perceived quality of employment on these relationships. To test our hypotheses, we surveyed 334 employees and their 37 immediate supervisors working for an organization in South Korea. We utilized official performance ratings and supervisors’ ratings to measure the three domains of performance. The results show that PE is positively related to in-role, adaptive, and extra-role performance. An interaction between PE and the perceived quality of employment on extra-role performance is also evident. Implications for research and human resource development practices will be provided.     

Support or evaluate? The multifaceted role of supervisors during the newcomer socialization process

This study develops theory related to how the socialization process occurs from the supervisor's perspective. Using interview data from 102 supervisors, we find that most supervisors simultaneously evaluate (using monitor behaviors) and promote (using inform and support behaviors) newcomers' fits. Supervisors do so by switching their focus three times: first, from general employability to person–group fit; second, from person–group fit to person–job fit; and third, from person–job fit to person–organization fit. We observed variations in the order in which supervisors evaluated and promoted newcomers' types of fits. However, we found that supervisors evaluated and promoted newcomers' fits consistently following the same order in terms of fit paradigms: first adopting a demands–abilities fit paradigm, then a needs–supplies fit paradigm, and finally a value congruence fit paradigm. We contribute to the socialization and fit literatures.     

The Effects of a Combined Task Clarification,Goal Setting,Feedback, and Performance Contingent Consequence Intervention Package on Telephone Customer Service in a Medical Clinic Environment

Abstract

Appointment coordinators at a mid-western medical clinic were to provide exceptional telephone customer service. This included using a standard greeting, speaking in an appropriate tone of voice during the conversation, and using a standard closing to end the call. An analysis suggested performance deficiencies resulted from weak antecedents, poor knowledge and skills, and weak performance contingencies. An intervention package consisting of task clarification, goal setting, feedback, and performance contingent consequences was designed to improve customer service behaviors of four participating appointment coordinators. An ABAB reversal design was used, and overall performances of all four participants increased during intervention phases. This study indicates that a multi-component intervention may be an effective strategy to increase telephone customer service behavior in medical clinic settings.     

Reducing Electricity Use on Campus: The Use of Prompts,Feedback, and Goal Setting to Decrease Excessive Classroom Lighting

Energy conservation is an important factor in both sustainability programs and operating costs faced by organizations. The current study used visual prompts, performance feedback, and goals setting to reduce unnecessary classroom lighting on a college campus. A package intervention was applied weekly over a semester using a multiple baseline design across three units, with one unit serving as a baseline-only control. Signs were hung in classrooms and updated weekly. The signs asked users to conserve energy by turning off the lights when the room is not in use, and indicated progress toward a goal for the current room as well as the building overall. The combined treatment successfully reduced unnecessary classroom lighting and generated interest in campus sustainability programs.     

The role of self-regulation in developing leaders: A longitudinal field experiment

A longitudinal field experiment examined a leader self-regulation intervention in teams engaged in a Business Strategy Module (BSM) of a University course. The BSM, which is an integral part of the degree programme, involved teams of four or five individuals, under the direction of a leader, working on a (simulated) car manufacturing task over a period of 24 weeks. Various aspects of team performance contributed towards module assessment. All leaders received multi-source feedback of leader task-relevant capabilities (from the leader, followers and module tutor). Leaders were randomly allocated into a self-regulation intervention (15 leaders, 46 followers) or control (25 leaders, 109 followers) conditions. The intervention, which was run by an independent coach, was designed to improve leaders' use of self-regulatory processes to aid the development of task-relevant leadership competencies. Survey data was collected from the leaders and followers (on three occasions: pre- and two post-test intervention), team financial performance (three occasions: post-test) and a final team report (post-test). The leader self-regulation intervention led to increased followers' ratings of leader's effectiveness, higher team financial performance and higher final team grade compared to the control (non-intervention) condition. Furthermore, the benefits of the self-regulation intervention were mediated by leaders' attaining task-relevant competencies.     

Increasing Following Headway in a Driving Simulator and Transfer to Real World Driving

ABSTRACT

The effects of a package intervention including prompts, goal setting, feedback, education, and behavioral self-monitoring to increase following headway (decrease tailgating) of three young drivers were evaluated in a simulated driving environment. Another objective of the present study was to determine if the effects of the package intervention would maintain in the simulator and transfer to real-world driving by assessing driving behavior recorded using a black box video camera in the participants’ vehicles. During intervention, drivers were prompted to increase following headway and were provided a specific target for following headway. The participants were asked to estimate following headway after each session and when the session ended were given feedback on actual following headway. The introduction of the treatment package in the simulator was associated with an increase in following headway for all participants. During the reversal phase maintenance occurred for all participants. The effects transferred to real-world driving for all participants. Teaching young drivers in a simulator to increase following headway may be one strategy to decrease the risk of crashes.     

A Review of Public Posting of Performance Feedback in Work Settings

Public posting of employee performance data has been utilized in many work settings to affect a variety of work-related behaviors. Business applications of performance posting, including studies using goal setting and intangible incentives in combination with the performance posting interventions are reviewed. The review indicates that performance posting is an effective feedback intervention for improving employee performance. It was also found that many possible confounds such as training, instructions, self-recording, threats of dismtssal, and increases in social/coworker interaction may contribute to the overall positive effects of public posting on employee performance.