Using Behavior-Based Observation Process to promote MANAGEMENT BEHAVIORS

Earlier, I outlined the six (6) stages of a Behavior Modification Intervention. Now, I want to discuss how the same six-step process used to change the behaviors of hourly workers can be used to promote critical health and safety behaviors amongst management personnel.  Management behavior will heavily influence the success or failure of a Behavior-Based Observation Process, and safety leadership behavior has been directly linked to team accident rates.  Here are how we use the six-step process to promote critical health and safety behaviors amongst management personnel:

Step One: DEFINE the Desired Result of the Management Activity

The desired result of effective safety leadership is a positive safety climate. For the purposes of this example, this is indicated by at least 70% of employees perceiving that senior managers are committed to safety.

 

Step Two: Specify the Critical Behaviors

The first activity specifying the critical behaviors required for effective safety leadership involved reviewing the existing literature on safety leadership. The literature review identified two behaviors that were consistently associated with effective safety leadership. The two (2) critical behaviors are:

1. Meeting with employees frequently to discuss safety issues
2. 
   Responding quickly to safety suggestions and concerns raised by employees

Identifying company-specific leadership behaviors could be established by holding discussion groups with employees and interviews with managers who are committed to safety.

 

Step Three: Establish that the Managers can Perform the Behaviors

Managers have control over their time and meet frequently with subordinates, so they can meet frequently with employees to discuss safety issues. However, pressures from other commitments sometimes make it difficult for managers to meet with staff frequently. Although managers cannot implement all safety suggestions or resolve all the concerns raised, they can respond to employees about their actions and future steps.

 

Step Four: Conduct ABC Analysis on the Two Desired Behaviors

The two (2) critical behaviors mentioned above were analyzed using the ABC process.

Initially, ABC analysis is conducted for the current behavior to understand why people display this behavior.  Then, an ABC analysis is conducted on the desired behavior.

This analysis identified changes to the antecedents and consequences required to promote the desired behavior.

The first critical management behavior concerned meeting with employees to discuss safety issues.  The current behavior is not meeting with employees to discuss safety issues.

The ABC analysis of this behavior is presented below.

ABC Analysis of NOT meeting with employees frequently to Discuss Safety
Antecedents	Behavior	Consequences	R/P	T	P	S
Other managers do not meet with staff to discuss safety Uncertain about how to hold safety conversations with staff Do not perceive that senior managers consider it important to have safety conversations with staff No time to have safety conversations …etc.	Not meeting with employees frequently to discuss safety issues	Continue working uninterrupted	R	S	C	I
		Avoid negative interactions with subordinates	R	S	C	I
		Praised by managers for having time available to devote to production	R	S	C	I
		Perceived by staff as not committed to safety …etc.	P	D	U	I
Other managers do not meet with staff to discuss safety Uncertain about how to hold safety conversations with staff Do not perceive that senior managers consider it important to have safety conversations with staff No time to have safety conversations …etc.	Meeting with employees frequently to discuss safety issues	Perceived by subordinates as committed to safety	R	D	U	U
		Increased workload	P	S	C	I
		Receive a list of problems to resolve …etc.	P	S	C	I
R/P =Reinforcement/ Punishment T= Timeframe (Soon / Distant) P= Predictability (Certain/ Uncertain) S= Significance (Important/ Unimportant)

 

The ABC analysis in the above table reveals that managers do not meet with employees frequently to discuss safety issues because they do not have the skills,
it is not seen as necessary, other managers do not do it, and they do not believe they have the time.

In addition, managers are positively reinforced for not having safety conversations with staff. In addition, the reinforcing consequences for not meeting with employees are soon, certain, and unimportant, while the punishment is distant and uncertain. It is, therefore, not surprising that managers do not meet with staff frequently to discuss safety.

The analysis of consequences indicates that the reinforcing consequences of meeting with staff to discuss safety issues are distant, uncertain, and unimportant, while the punishments are soon, certain, and important.

An ABC analysis was then conducted to identify the antecedents and consequences that will promote the desired behavior.

 

ABC Analysis of meeting with employees frequently to Discuss Safety
Antecedents	Consequences	R/P	T	P	S
Awareness of the benefits of discussing safety with subordinates Holding safety discussions is a part of the job Prioritized by senior management by raising the issue at management meetings, etc Comprehensive training provided Awareness that a proportion of annual bonus is linked to safety discussions Specific time allocated for holding conversations Frequency of discussions discussed at annual appraisal Knowledge that staff will be asked about the frequency and quality of safety discussions Effective system in place to deal with problems raised …etc.	Receive positive feedback	R	S	C	I
	Recognition by management	R	S	C	I
	Avoid loss of bonus	R	S	C	I
	Achieve goals	R	S	C	I
	Receive positive appraisal	R	S	C	I
	Perceived by subordinates as committed to safety …etc.	R	D	U	U
R/P =Reinforcement/ Punishment T= Timeframe (Soon / Distant) P= Predictability (Certain/ Uncertain). S= Significance (Important/ Unimportant)

 

Alter the Antecedents

The ABC analysis revealed that the antecedents required for the desired behavior are not currently in place. Therefore, these need to be addressed first. The antecedents would be addressed by requiring all managers to receive training to have safety conversations with staff members.

These meetings must be opened and attended by at least one senior manager.

This senior manager clearly explains the expectation that managers would have frequent constructive conversations about safety with their teams.

The training consists of information about

1. behavior modification,
2. motivation, and
3. role-play to provide skills practice

The training concludes with each participant pledging to conduct a specified number of monthly conversations.

Within one (1) month of the initial training, an internal coach will meet with each participant and accompany him or her when they are having safety conversations with their team.

In addition, a new system will be put in place to assist managers in dealing with safety issues raised by staff during safety conversations. This system involves the manager writing down a brief description of the issue raised by the employee(s) at the time of the conversation in a specially designed, uniquely numbered form. The employee receives a copy. The form is submitted to the safety and health department, recorded in a database, and tracked to closure. Employees and management can track the progress of any action and raise a query if the issue is not dealt with within three (3) months.  These queries are brought to the attention of senior managers. The desired behavior is now more likely to occur by altering the antecedents. The frequency of the desired behavior will also be increased by reinforcing consequences that are soon, certain, and important and removing the punishments for the desired behavior.

 

The second critical management behavior concerns responding quickly to safety suggestions and concerns raised by employees.

Initially, ABC analysis is conducted to understand why people are not displaying this behavior. The ABC analysis for responding quickly and not responding to safety suggestions and concerns raised by employees is presented in the table below.

ABC Analysis for NOT responding to Safety Issues raised by staff
Antecedents	Behavior	Consequences	R/P	T	P	S
No system in place to deal with safety suggestions Employees raising safety issues or making safety suggestions Unclear if it is part of job Lack of resources for health and safety The perception that health and safety is not a senior management priority …etc.	Responding quickly to safety suggestion and concerns raised by employees	Perceived by subordinates as committed to safety	R	D	U	U
		Increased workload	P	S	C
		Conflict with peers in order to get issues raised resolved …etc.	P	S	C	I
No system in place to deal with safety suggestions Employees raising safety issues or making safety suggestion Unclear if it is part of job Lack of resources for health and safety Perception that health and safety is not a senior management priority …etc.	Not responding to safety suggestion and concerns raised by employees	Avoid dealing with issues raised	R	S	C	I
		Avoid negative interactions with peers to progress the issues	R	S	C	I
		Perceived as not committed to safety …etc.	P	D	U	I
R/P =Reinforcement/ Punishment T= Timeframe (Soon / Distant) P= Predictability (Certain/ Uncertain) S= Significance (Important/ Unimportant)

 

An ABC analysis was also conducted to identify the antecedents and consequences promoting the desired behavior. This is displayed in the table below.

ABC Analysis for responding quickly to Safety Issues raised by Staff
Antecedents	Consequences	T/P	T	P	S
Employees raising safety issues or making safety suggestions Responding to safety suggestions is part of job Prioritized by senior management by raising the issue at management meetings, etc. Specific meetings held to discuss safety suggestions Awareness that responding quickly is important Effective system in place to deal with issues and safety suggestions Response time to suggestions tracked and discussed at appraisal …etc.	Receive positive feedback	R	S	C	I
	Recognition by management	R	S	C	I
	Achieve goals	R	S	C	I
	Receive positive appraisal	R	S	C	I
	Perceived by subordinates as committed to safety …etc.	R	D	U	U
R/P =Reinforcement/ Punishment T= Timeframe (Soon / Distant) P= Predictability (Certain/ Uncertain) S= Significance (Important/ Unimportant)

 

Alter the Antecedents

The analysis reveals that the antecedents required for the desired behavior are not currently in place; therefore, these need to be addressed first.

The antecedents are addressed by introducing a system to track safety suggestions and highlighting the importance senior managers place on responding to safety suggestions and issues raised by staff. In addition, dedicated resources were made available to implement safety suggestions.

The analysis of consequences indicates that the reinforcing consequences for responding quickly to safety suggestions and concerns raised by employees are DISTANT, UNCERTAIN, AND UNIMPORTANT, while the punishments are SOON, CERTAIN, AND IMPORTANT.

In addition, the reinforcing consequences for NOT responding are soon, certain, and unimportant, while the punishment is distant and uncertain. The frequency of the desired behavior will be increased by introducing consequences that reinforce the behavior and are soon certain, and important and by removing the punishments for the desired behavior.

 

Step Five: Alter the consequences

The ABC analysis for both critical behaviors revealed that, in addition to altering the antecedents, these behaviors could be promoted by introducing additional consequences to reinforce the desired behavior. An effective way of doing this is to introduce an observation and feedback program to promote these behaviors.

Designing an observation and feedback program for managers, professionals, and technical staff presents several difficulties. The relatively low number of managers within an organization means less opportunity to observe managers displaying these behaviors. Therefore, even if managers meet with subordinates frequently to discuss safety issues, they may not be observed. Observing managers’ behavior can also be challenging as they can be conducted behind closed doors. It is unlikely that a random observation program would be able to collect meaningful data on this behavior, and therefore, it is unlikely to work. This suggests that a self-observation of critical behaviors would be more effective.

Before introducing a self-observation and feedback program, the target group of managers must be consulted. The consultation must explain the rationale behind observation and feedback, the theory underpinning behavior modification, and how the information collected will be used. Managers will also require training to conduct the observations and record their data.

Observation and feedback programs require a list of clearly defined behavioral measures. The list of behavioral measures is drawn up in consultation with the target group of managers. The following is the list of behavioral measures to promote the two (2) critical behaviors:

• The number of interactions per week with frontline staff where safety is the main topic of conversation and the member of staff rates as positive. (Employee to complete card evaluating the quality of interaction and submit it anonymously)
• The number of safety concerns raised by employees per week that are responded to, actions agreed and a completion date mutually agreed within 12 working hours
• The percentage of actions completed within the mutually agreed completion date per week
• The number of safety suggestions raised by employees per week that are responded to, the next steps identified, and a completion date mutually agreed upon within 12 working hours
• The percentage of safety suggestions progressed each week within the mutually agreed timescale.

Once the behavioral measure is agreed upon, initial observations provide a baseline measure of current performance. The management team sets a group target for each behavioral measure using the baseline results.

Individual managers conduct self-observations, with confirmatory information drawn from frontline staff through their evaluation of discussions, safety concerns raised, and suggestions made. Managers use an individual behavioral matrix to record their performance. The results are shared with the manager’s team, and the results for the management group are presented graphically to the entire workforce.

The managers also identify the consequences of the desired behavior to ensure that they find them reinforcing. The consequences for performing the desired behaviors for the managers include praise from colleagues and superiors, positive feedback, and success at reaching the target.

 

Step Six: Evaluate the impact of the intervention

The effectiveness of the process in changing behavior is evaluated by comparing results with the baseline measure to establish the degree of behavioral change. The effectiveness of the process in improving the safety climate is measured by repeating the safety climate survey to identify the degree of change in employee perceptions.