The corporate world is full of courses, seminars and workshops purporting to improve employee skills, increase productivity, boost morale, and enhance employee retention, and ultimately to increase organizational performance. It is the hope that the investment of time and money into these ‘perks’ will have enough influence to bring about employee change. Make them better thinkers, better decision makers. Make them happier, more resilient.
Also in abundance are employee management plans, attendance management programs, retentions plans, and even wellness plans that are intended to lead to more productive, engaged, results-driven, and long-term employees.
Unfortunately, imposing outward controls to change individual behaviour provides only a short-term “quick fix” that is not linked to how the brains of people actually function. Once the force of the external constraint, whether negative consequence or positive incentive, loses its effectiveness, individuals will automatically revert back to behaviour driven by the assumptions of their internal drivers, their existing mental models, focus frames, cognitive confirmation biases, and the hard-wiring of pre-existing neuronal pathways.
Consequently, to positively effect organizational performance as a leader, and be truly effective in your responsibility to those you lead, you must:
1. clearly establish the standards and desired results expected in performance and behaviour;
2. identify clearly, especially for struggling employees, why their performance/behaviour does not meet those standards and expectations;
3. hold these employees accountable and get them to acknowledge their need to change; and
4. if they fail to change, remove them from the organization.
This is the most challenging aspect of the coaching and counseling process of leadership. The person must adequately acknowledge the need to change behaviour. The employee must be compelled to search for, examine and question those unconscious assumptions that are buried deep in the recesses of their mind. They must challenge the prevailing patterns they have acquired and formed over time and life experiences – their ‘thought habits’, if you will, and replace them with more positive, effective and productive neuronal connections, also referred to as “habit loop” patterns.
Organizational performance is the cumulative sum of every individual employee’s performance. The most recent neuroscience research is informing us how the human brain functions, and explains why so many programs and plans, and even coaching and counseling, is ineffective in bringing about internal and lasting change.
Catherine is the President and CEO of CORPORATE HARMONY, providing virtual solutions for leadership development and organizational culture change. Her leadership and coaching experience as a Project Manager in an ever-changing, fast moving technological organization with unrelenting demands drove her to the realization that a positive mindset and strength-building behaviors are essential for today’s complex and chaotic organizational systems. CORPORATE HARMONY’s virtual platform of programs, coaching and performance measurement, is an innovative online technology of tested proprietary content. The world-class content of CORPORATE HARMONY’s Positive Presence Program develops the skill of ‘Positive Presence’ and the necessary ‘Positive Presence Behaviour Competencies’ for maintaining a positive and energized mindset and increased performance in today’s complex work environment, and leading to a culture of collaboration and connection. Catherine’s vision for Corporate Harmony is to bring the skill of “Positive Presence” to the corporate world as it becomes more complex, ambiguous and chaotic. Catherine is uniquely positioned to impact organizations’ productivity and long term success, with her powerful vision of eliminating bad stress from every workplace around the globe, bringing purpose into the people equation to promote healthy, productive and meaningful work cultures and turn the tide on the neglect of mental health on a global scale. Catherine is author of the book: “CORPORATE HARMONY – The Performance Link for Today’s Modern Organization” Catherine can be reached at: Catherine.Osborne@corporateharmony.ca or go to ‘contact us’ on our website www.corporateharmony.ca. Catherine is available for consultation, and can be reached by 519-695-3407.