Six Factors For Change

Talent managers are used to having to provide feedback – but what if that isn’t enough? Helping your employees achieve their full potential won’t be achieved through reviews and feedback. According to a recent article from Talent Management.com authors Joseph Grenny and Chase McMillan, there are six sources of influence managers need to master to help their employees overcome habits that are limiting their career success.

We all know that no one’s perfect, but research shows that over 95 percent polled in one study know that they have at least one habit that is limiting their career. This one habit could be what is keeping your good employee from being a great employee. The most common of these ‘career limiting habits’ (CLH’s) include unreliability, an “it’s not my job” attitude, procrastination, resistance to change, negativity and cynicism.

The problem isn’t that employees have CLH’s, it’s that everyone has at least one and organizations aren’t doing anything to help their employees break or improve these habits. Performance reviews are an attempt at helping but results aren’t impressive. What’s the point of keeping the performance review if it isn’t helping? Isn’t there something better?

Changing behavior isn’t as easy as it sounds. It’s even cyclical. You know you need to change, there’s a consequence for not changing, so a temporary change is made, followed by a relapse. A difficult cycle of unchanged behavior continues. There are six sources of influence that shape human behavior. These factors effect everyone all the time. Recognizing these factors can help guide positive change in your employees. Here are three of the six sources:

1. Personal motivation: Personal motivation is the influence of the pain or pleasure of an action. These impulses shape one’s choices.

2. Personal ability: New habits almost always require new skills. Sometimes the skills are surprising and may seem unconnected with the immediate problem.

3. Social motivation: Leaders often send employees off for training assuming they’ll come back changed. They might behave differently in a training environment, but when they return to the same boss, peers, customers and suppliers, they revert to the norms shaped by that social system.

There are three more factors that shape behavior. For you to encourage change in your employees’ habits, these factors need to become a part of the organization’s performance management practices. Changing behavior isn’t as easy as giving employees an ultimatum. Guiding your employees to change their behaviors is a positive ambition, but employees must self-direct change. To read more about the six sources of influence to help your employees change their habits and behaviors, click here to read the full article.

 

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