Policies and Procedures that are not always followed

[Eric Tordjman]

Human nature is very interesting at a fundamental level. Water being what it is, without any sense of obligation or thought process, will always and without fault, find a path of least resistance and end up at its lowest point. This occurs becasue of natural forces and nothing more, scientific forces that are beyond control. Why is it then that human forces and nature, after millenia of thought, education, and understanding really has not developed any further for a larger part of the population. Can we really chalk it up to laziness? I can make up as many policies and procedures within my company and still will find certain people will, if there is a reduced risk of being uncovered, will go to the path of ease eventhough the policy is different and has been reiterated several times. Do we really need to bait certain people with compensation for following orders or is it beyond that?

[thecompoundmind]

Interesting point. I doubt there is a manager out there who doesn’t have to deal with this problem and others like it almost daily. Our motivation seems to be linked to a combination of priorities and expectations.

As the person writing the procedure you set out something that is of importance to you. As a set procedure you would certainly expect that this would show someone who is working for you that this is a priority for them, as implied by the fact that they want to continue employment.

If this were effective motivation for everyone there would be no grounded children, prisons, obesity, etc. People are motivated by a strange combination of risk and reward which is further adjusted by the time the risk or reward takes to occur.

Negative motivation, the threat of being fired in this case, is only valuable if the offender perceives that this is likely to happen and they are likely to get caught. If the risk increases because of higher supervision and another employee they knew was doing the same thing was fired, then the effectiveness of this is increased, at least temporarily. Once things become laxer again then this balance changes back. What this really shows us is that negative reinforcement is not really that useful with humans.

It is interesting that you used the idea of baiting people with compensation. I think you are close but don’t have to use compensation as bait. If money were the only drive for most folks we would live in a society where savings occurred rather than rampant credit spending. People are driven by want. The core of what they want is to feel good. Your challenge could now be shifted from “How do I make people follow this procedure” to “How can I make this procedure attractive and exciting so that they want to do it?” Yes, I agree that you should be able to just ask an employee to do something a certain way and they should be motivated to do it, unfortunately employees that function in that way are rare and in demand.

[Eric Tordjman]

I was reading a history book with my 13 year old daughter over the weekend that spoke about the Carrot and Stick approach that the colonial powers used to keep control over the new found colonies across the globe. Hundreds of years ago with little else to lose, these people were at the mercy of a King or Queen and their rulers to make a new life for themselves in what we term squalor by todays standards. And yet they lived by rules and obligations for fear of losing everything on a whim of the chosen enforcers.
Those days are long gone and yet human nature has not changed. Motivation has not changed. Fight or flight reactions are exactly that, reactions and not necessarily based on rational thought. Preservation of self has become all encompassing and has extended into all aspects of daily activities and has given people a justification for their needs and wants.

[thecompoundmind]

As you saw during your recent history review, colonialism did not last, and the use of force only made it fail that much quicker. Eventually the people under the thumb wanted some share of what they were producing and some improvement in their lives. In any case motivation through fear still leaves you with a person who wants to get away. Motivation through positive means leads to a longer term relationship in which there is little or no reason for "insurrection".

So what will incent your folks to do things the way you want them done? Fear of job loss is the proverbial whip or sword you can hold over them but there have to be things that would draw them to follow the directives.

Often a clear explanation of the purpose behind a directive can help. Telling a child "no" doesn't work as well as explaining why what they are doing is undesirable. This can be made more powerful by explaining how it affects a co-worker than how it affects the boss. If you have a meeting and explain how the new directive helps accounting to save time and effort by having an order coded correctly while both groups are present then you take advantage of our innate desire to maintain social bonds.