Domestic abuse treatment perspective that builds client voice and skills in a court-ordered environment

Building client voice in men who abuse to reduce dropout and improve outcomes in domestic abuse treatment continues to challenge. This mixed-method study examined the implementation of the Outcome Rating Scale (ORS), a client feedback tool, as a component of an open-ended group domestic abuse program (N = 25). Additionally, the Social Empathy Index (SEI) was administered during pre- and posttreatment individual interviews. Further information about the treatment experience was gleaned from interviews of three treatment completers. More than three fourths of the participants (21 or 84%) completed the minimum of 18 weeks, more than one third (8 or 38%) of completers showed reliable or clinically significant change on the ORS, with a statistically significant increase on the SEI reflecting increases in empathy concurrent with their view of making progress in treatment. Building awareness of self and others’ points of view and applying relationship enhancement skills were key themes expressed during interviews.     

The role of individual and organizational characteristics in feedback seeking behaviour in the initial career stage

The present study investigates whether the frequency by which employees seek informal feedback and the quality of the self-initiated feedback influences perceived career development. Furthermore, we investigated goal orientation and perceived learning culture, as antecedents of feedback seeking behaviour. Data were collected from 116 financial experts from various multinational corporations worldwide. Results show that particularly the quality of self-initiated feedback from supervisors positively affects perceived career development. The quality of self-initiated feedback from supervisors mediates the relation between the perceived learning culture and perceived career development. Furthermore, learning goal orientation directly relates to perceived career development. Last, our results highlight the significance of creating a learning culture in which informal feedback is stimulated. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

A study of mediating variables of the relationship between 360° feedback and employee performance

The 360° feedback has been linked to several positive outcomes like improved performance, better interpersonal communication and smoother work relationships. Both academicians and practitioners would like more clarity regarding the link between 360° feedback and employee performance and the mediating factors in this relationship. This study empirically examines these mediating effects with a sample of executives (N = 198) working in four organizations in western part of India. The results show that interpersonal communication and quality of working life have a complete mediating effect. Leader–member exchange quality and perceived organizational support were found to have a partial but significant mediating effect. An elementary form of an integrated model, which includes all the four mediating variables and their interrelationships, has been developed conceptually. This model is examined and built up empirically using structural equation modelling.     

The Effects of Computerized Auditory Feedback on Electronic Article Surveillance Tag Placement in an Auto-Parts Distribution Center

In this report from the field, computerized auditory feedback was used to inform order selectors and order selector auditors in a distribution center to add an electronic article surveillance (EAS) adhesive tag. This was done by programming handheld computers to emit a loud beep for high-priced items upon scanning the item's bar-coded Universal Product Code (UPC). Adding the auditory component to the visual component of the handheld computer significantly decreased the number of untagged EAS items leaving the facility. The role of the organizational behavior management practitioner in applied settings in designing interventions—some of which can be quite simple and inexpensive, yet add tremendous value—was examined.     

A Comparison of Pyramidal Staff Training and Direct Staff Training in Community-Based Day Programs

This study evaluated two methods of training staff who were working with individuals with developmental disabilities: pyramidal training and consultant-led training. In the pyramidal training, supervisors were trained in the principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA) and in delivering feedback. The supervisors then trained their direct-care staff and, subsequently, provided ongoing performance feedback. In the consultant-led training, the direct-care staff was trained in the principles of ABA. Both groups learned similar amounts of knowledge of ABA principles, but pyramidal training was more effective in teaching staff to use correct teaching procedures with consumers. In addition, the pyramidal training group maintained the improvement in their teaching procedures at a 3-month follow up, while the consultant-led training group's performance declined.     

Swimming Pool Hygiene: Self-Monitoring,Task Clarification,and Performance Feedback Increase Lifeguard Cleaning Behaviors

The effects of task clarification, self-monitoring, and performance feedback on cleaning behaviors of 9 lifeguards in 3 performance areas (vacuuming, lobby tidying, and pool deck maintenance) were investigated using an ABA reversal design at a county swim complex. A specific task in each performance area was used as a behavioral control. Following a task clarification meeting, the percentage of closing tasks completed each night was self-monitored through ratings by lifeguards and managers. Researchers conducted independent ratings of these completed tasks after the staff had left the building. Feedback data were posted daily using line graphs that displayed the percentage of tasks completed correctly from both self-report and researchers' data. Overall performance increased from an average of 45.1% correct behaviors during baseline to an average of 76.9% during intervention then reversed to baseline during follow-up to an average performance of 45.05%.     

The Impact of a Task Clarification and Feedback Intervention on Restaurant Service Quality

Customer service is a key aspect of restaurant success, as performance has shown a reliable positive relationship with customer retention. However, waitstaff performance may deteriorate, as income from gratuities is often unrelated to service quality. The present study investigated the effectiveness of an intervention consisting of task clarification and task-specific feedback on restaurant service tasks and observed the relationship between task completion and gratuities. Three adult women servers participated during their regular working shifts at a local dine-in restaurant. Initially customer service task completion was low (36% on average across participants). Performance increased immediately following the introduction of the intervention, and all participants maintained 87.5%–100% task completion. Correlational analyses found that gratuities were unrelated to performance and may thus pose a problem for performance maintenance. Implications relating to feedback and payment schedules are discussed.     

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.     

When Knowing You Are Doing Well Hinders Performance

Summary

The effect of two types of verbal consequences, rule-following feedback and task performance feedback, on rule-induced insensitivity to programmed schedules of reinforcement were examined. Rule-following feedback could be either accurate or non-contingently positive. The task involved moving a sign through a grid using telegraph keys operating on a multiple DRL 6/FR 18 schedule of reinforcement in the presence of an initially accurate rule. After acquisition, the multiple schedule was changed without notice to a FR 1/FI Yoked schedule. Accurate rule-following feedback plus feedback on task performance produced striking insensitivity to the DRL 6 to FR 1 schedule change, the opposite of what might be expected by a common sense analysis of task performance feedback, even after controlling for contact with the changed contingency. It is argued that findings such as these can only be understood by considering the mutual verbal relations evoked by the combinations of rules and feedback, rather than treating feedback as a simple consequential event or as a verbal consequence whose effects do not depend on the relations sustained with other events.     

The Effects of Graphic Feedback,Goal Setting,and Manager Praise on Customer Service Behaviors

Abstract

The current study used a multiple baseline design to investigate the effects of graphic feedback, goal setting, and manager praise on customer service behaviors in a large retail setting. Direct observation of customer greeting, eye contact, and smiling was used to collect data. After baseline data were collected feedback graphs were posted twice each week in the employee break room. A second intervention phase included goal setting and manager praise. Goals were developed based on employees' prior performance and were posted on the graphs. Managers then delivered immediate, verbal praise to employees. Graphic feedback produced slight increases in the customer interaction variables in the front of stores 1 and 2. Another small increase in performance was seen in the back of store 1 and the front and back of store 2 with the implementation of the interventions.