Win As Much As You Can (Part 2)
Goal setting has long been linked to success. But Wharton professor Maurice Schweitze says there is a strong connection between goal setting and unethical conduct by workers afraid of falling short of expectations. In a research paper written by Schweitzer and colleagues Lisa Ordonez and Bambi Douma, the authors write, "We expect people with unmet goals to be more likely to misrepresent their performances than people without specific goals."
Schweitzer and his colleagues believe that individuals with goals, who fail to meet them, are more likely to act unethically than workers who are just giving their best. In fact, experiments by the authors proved that people with unmet goals are more likely to misrepresent their performance than people in a do-your-best environment.
Schweitzer's group expected to find people whose goals were tied to personal financial rewards more likely to cheat than those with general goals. However, because employees "incur psychological costs from admitting goal failure," the authors found that goal setting, even without the influence of financial incentives, can cause employees to act unethically.
This behavior is exhibited in the Win As Much As You Can Game. During the rounds in which teams are allowed to communicate, it's common for groups to reach consensus on how to proceed. They may all agree to hold up a Y and allow each team to win $1.00. But the game rewards deceit with the highest possible payout going to the team presenting an X while all others are displaying Ys. Inevitably, at least one team violates the agreement, holding up an X in order to win $3.00. Hey, the goal is to win as much as you can.
How can you realize the known benefits of goals without breeding unethical behavior? First, make certain that results are easily and accurately measurable. Incentive plans allowing employees to self-report results are vulnerable to abuse.
Next, avoid all-or-nothing reward systems. Schweitzer found that people who fail to reach their goals by a small margin are more likely to cheat than people who miss by a large margin. Says Schweitzer, when promising salespeople "if they sell 30 cars over a set period they will get a trip to Hawaii, you should also have something that is pretty good for the person who sells 29."
Finally, choose what you reward carefully. Organizations often promote values like teamwork and cooperation, but build compensation plans around individual efforts. When rewards are based on behavior matching the organization's core values, leaders and employees can Live By The Values They Profess.
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Schweitzer and his colleagues believe that individuals with goals, who fail to meet them, are more likely to act unethically than workers who are just giving their best. In fact, experiments by the authors proved that people with unmet goals are more likely to misrepresent their performance than people in a do-your-best environment.
Schweitzer's group expected to find people whose goals were tied to personal financial rewards more likely to cheat than those with general goals. However, because employees "incur psychological costs from admitting goal failure," the authors found that goal setting, even without the influence of financial incentives, can cause employees to act unethically.
This behavior is exhibited in the Win As Much As You Can Game. During the rounds in which teams are allowed to communicate, it's common for groups to reach consensus on how to proceed. They may all agree to hold up a Y and allow each team to win $1.00. But the game rewards deceit with the highest possible payout going to the team presenting an X while all others are displaying Ys. Inevitably, at least one team violates the agreement, holding up an X in order to win $3.00. Hey, the goal is to win as much as you can.
How can you realize the known benefits of goals without breeding unethical behavior? First, make certain that results are easily and accurately measurable. Incentive plans allowing employees to self-report results are vulnerable to abuse.
Next, avoid all-or-nothing reward systems. Schweitzer found that people who fail to reach their goals by a small margin are more likely to cheat than people who miss by a large margin. Says Schweitzer, when promising salespeople "if they sell 30 cars over a set period they will get a trip to Hawaii, you should also have something that is pretty good for the person who sells 29."
Finally, choose what you reward carefully. Organizations often promote values like teamwork and cooperation, but build compensation plans around individual efforts. When rewards are based on behavior matching the organization's core values, leaders and employees can Live By The Values They Profess.
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What’s Inside Your Message?
Seth Godin's latest best-seller Free Prize Inside! is subtitled The Next Big Marketing Idea. Initial copies of the book were packaged in cereal boxes, illustrating the marketing concept we all learned as kids: it's not the delicious taste, it's the plastic toy at the bottom of the box that makes us want--and beg for--the cereal. As Seth puts it, "It's a marketing book for an era where the real marketing happens inside the product, not in the ad pages of a magazine." The book is full of real-life success stories and thought-provoking ideas of how to make your work remarkable. Reading the book reminded me of the contrasting leadership styles of two former bosses. One used to walk through the office on random Friday afternoons passing out $100 bills to salespeople who had sold something that day. His idea of a free prize was $100 just for doing your job.
The other boss relied on his message to inspire the sales force. I remember an annual sales managers meeting where a hired motivational speaker used an analogy to encourage us to reach our full potential. He explained that if you place fleas in a jar, they will initially jump as high as they can. But after hitting the lid, the fleas will become conditioned to jump only as high as the lid. When the cap is removed, the fleas will continue to hop only to the height where the lid once was. It seemed like a good metaphor and we all got the point. But when our boss got up to speak, he declared the analogy inappropriate. He said, "When the people in this room bump up against the lid, they don't limit how high they jump. They just push through the lid."
I forget if I ever received $100 on a Friday afternoon, but I will always be inspired by the second leader's flea story comment. We expect managers to tell us what to do, and how to do it. But finding a leader who can tell us why--and make us want--to do something is like discovering a free prize in our cereal.
Values-based leaders Have a Vision and Convince Others To Share It. Surprise your employees with a free prize of your own.
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Watching Productivity Tick By?
On a sunny summer Friday, with the long Fourth of July weekend just on the other side of the time clock, it would be hard to criticize anyone for watching the clock today. But, if some of your employees are chronic clock watchers, it's possible they're under challenged at work. So, while giving the impression you're working hard the remainder of the day, look busy by reading how clock watching could be affecting the productivity of your organization.
In their book Now, Discover Your Strengths, Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton report on an analysis done by The Gallup Organization. Over the years, Gallop asked 1.7 million people in 101 companies from 63 countries the question, "At work do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?" Only 20 percent said they strongly agreed that they did. Furthermore, Gallup found that employees who feel they are doing what they are best at are 38 percent more likely to work in business units with higher productivity.
According to Geoff Godbey, professor of leisure studies at Pennsylvania State University, clock watching is often an indicator of being over qualified for the job. An article in the June 30, 2004 Wall Street Journal quotes Professor Godbey: "When you're doing something and your skill and the challenge are closely aligned, you lose your sense of time."
Employees want to feel important and useful. And they want to contribute their best talents to the success of a worthwhile endeavor. "A chief complaint of workers isn't pay," says Dr. Godbey. "It's that they can't use their skills."
Values-based leaders Recognize the Best in Others. They encourage employees to shift their focus to their strengths, help them refine and fortify those unique abilities, and allow them to utilize their talents to bring success to themselves and the organization.
There are other benefits to matching workers with what they do best. Gallop showed that employees are 50 percent more likely to work in business units with lower turnover, and 44 percent more likely to work in business units with high customer satisfaction scores, when they feel their best skills are being used.
So strive to match employees with jobs in which they can succeed and excel. Identify each person's talents and provide everyone the chance to do what they do best. Then you'll also capitalize on the best in others.
It must be time to go home by now!
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In their book Now, Discover Your Strengths, Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton report on an analysis done by The Gallup Organization. Over the years, Gallop asked 1.7 million people in 101 companies from 63 countries the question, "At work do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?" Only 20 percent said they strongly agreed that they did. Furthermore, Gallup found that employees who feel they are doing what they are best at are 38 percent more likely to work in business units with higher productivity.
According to Geoff Godbey, professor of leisure studies at Pennsylvania State University, clock watching is often an indicator of being over qualified for the job. An article in the June 30, 2004 Wall Street Journal quotes Professor Godbey: "When you're doing something and your skill and the challenge are closely aligned, you lose your sense of time."
Employees want to feel important and useful. And they want to contribute their best talents to the success of a worthwhile endeavor. "A chief complaint of workers isn't pay," says Dr. Godbey. "It's that they can't use their skills."
Values-based leaders Recognize the Best in Others. They encourage employees to shift their focus to their strengths, help them refine and fortify those unique abilities, and allow them to utilize their talents to bring success to themselves and the organization.
There are other benefits to matching workers with what they do best. Gallop showed that employees are 50 percent more likely to work in business units with lower turnover, and 44 percent more likely to work in business units with high customer satisfaction scores, when they feel their best skills are being used.
So strive to match employees with jobs in which they can succeed and excel. Identify each person's talents and provide everyone the chance to do what they do best. Then you'll also capitalize on the best in others.
It must be time to go home by now!
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Author George Brymer's comments about the leaders who get it, and those who never will.
