In an article on TD.org, Golnaz Sadri (2015) states that behavior modification can be very easily implemented in a business or organizational setting to encourage employees to engage in desirable behaviors and to discourage them from engaging in behaviors or activities that are considered undesirable. Sadri continues to state that performance can best be improved by completing the following:

Conduct training sessions to inform employees of the antecedents, behaviors, and consequences of the program.

Identify a time frame and feedback methods.

Give employees regular and helpful feedback as they embark on the process of behavior change.

At the time specified, measure the target behaviors again and implement the program of rewards.

For example, if excellent customer service has been established as the desirable outcome or goal, then the manager needs define and train the employees on what “excellent customer service” looks like. Furthermore, they need to explain how the employees will be measured on their performance. Does “excellent customer service” mean that they do not receive any negative responses on customer surveys? Does it mean that they have an extremely fast mean time to resolution rate? The manager should take care to carefully design, outline, and implement their performance indicators.

Reinforcement Methods

When beginning to implement a behavior modification program, it is critical to decide upon the correct reinforcement method. There are four different types of reinforcers (Scott, Swan, Wilson, and Roberts, 1988). Some of these reinforcers encourage behavior, while others discourage behavior. The first reinforcer is positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is when an act is followed by a pleasurable reward. An example of this is when a child does something right and their father praises them. The second type of reinforcement is negative reinforcement. This occurs when an act is followed by the absence of an aversive consequence. For example, a child does something correctly and their father does not criticize them. The third type of reinforcer is extinction. The principle of extinction states that if, in a given situation, an individual emits a previously reinforced response and that response is not followed by a reinforcing consequence, then that person is less likely to do the same thing again when he or she encounters a similar situation. An example of this is when a child does something wrong and their father does not praise them as he often does. The final type of reinforcer is punishment. Punishment occurs when an aversive consequence is given in response to an unwanted behavior. For example, a child does something wrong and their father criticizes them.

Reinforcement Schedule

In addition to the reinforcement method, a schedule must be chosen. Schedules can either be Continuous or Partial (Scott, Swan, Wilson, and Roberts, 1988). A continuous schedule is reinforcing the desired behavior every time it occurs, while a partial schedule is reinforcing the behavior on either a ratio or interval. It is easy to see that a continuous schedule is difficult, if not impossible, to implement and maintain. For that reason, partial or intermittent schedules are more widely used and considered to work best in an organizational setting. Sadri (2015) provides the following explanation and example:

Intermittent schedules of reinforcement (or punishment) can be based on a fixed or variable number of responses (ratio) or on a time period (interval). Fixed-ratio and fixed-interval schedules of rewards and punishment are important when employees rely on the consequence—a great example is an employee's base pay. Eric is paid $2 for each unit he produces (ratio); Sarah is paid a salary for every two weeks of work (interval). When they were newly hired, these pay schemes motivated both Eric and Sarah to perform at their highest level. However, three years into their employment, they have each become accustomed to performing at a certain level and receiving a set amount of pay. Their manager notices that for each, performance is at a plateau. At this time, it is necessary to layer in a system of intermittent rewards to boost performance to a higher level. The manager could set a challenging goal for Eric's department, with each employee who meets the production goal in that quarter receiving a bonus. For Sarah, the manager could praise her for her punctuality in getting things completed and give her movie tickets as a fun reward.

Components of an Organizational Behavior Modification Program