Organizational Psychology

For MHROD-III Sem Students By Prof. Amit Verma Year: 2012

The word counseling doesnt mean psychological therapy. It means confronting and correcting people whose performance is below standard. When you deal with people who are not performing at an acceptable level, you must counsel them. As with the other approaches, this does not imply a total effort; poor performance can relate to one action or one task, a part of the persons overall performance.

The answer will vary, but substandard performance generally means: Ongoing attitudes or actions that willfully or ignorantly fall short of stated, written or modeled duties. Not meeting performance measures or goals. Negatively affecting others performance goals.

Questions to ask yourself to determine if counseling is appropriate include: Have the employees duties been clearly communicated with reasonable frequency? Is the employees behavior willfully or ignorantly inadequate toward these duties? Is the behavior ongoing? If you answer yes to these questions (and assuming your criteria for standard performance are achievable by most people), the employee in question is probably operating at a substandard level.

Fear of failure, not being sure what to do or say. Thinking that, given time, the employee will snap out of whatever is causing substandard performance. Rationalizing that performance isnt that bad. People get defensive, I get defensive, and nothing good happens. I didnt set the initial goals with this employee. I will terrorize the employee he will think something is seriously wrong. Giving people time will enable them to figure it out on their own.

Add to the list its not my job and thats why we have HR. You can see why so many small performance issues can explode over time into real performance problems. Discipline and confrontation are not favorites of many people. In todays more supportive and employeecentered environments, many equate counseling or correction with the old autocratic, me boss, you do as I say way of running a business.

Knowing when to counsel is as important as knowing when to move to a coaching or mentoring approach. Many times, it is a first step in the coaching process, and will evolve to a motivating and instructing approach. When you can identify situations that require your expertise for immediate behavior change and you can act swiftly, you become more effective. Counseling doesnt only address behavior that is beyond bad. It is not the precursor of discipline and termination. Counseling can sometimes eliminate the need for formal discipline, and certainly it is a form of disciplining or correcting performance.

Notice the variety of situations where your choice of counseling, over that of coaching or mentoring, is more advantageous.

Reorganization, restructuring of the organization, department, or work Layoffs, both for those who leave and those who stay Demotions or job reassignments Salary freezes, salary decreases or lowered responsibilities Associate unhappy with you as the boss Associate unhappy with a work assignment Associate who has a conflict with a peer Associate who feels stressed or burned out Associate who is insecure with his abilities to do the job Associate who has personal problems that he has shared with you Associate with personal problems that are affecting others work
Performance problems that persist Associate who is failing or experiencing failure

1. Get and Give Information In this phase, the counselor gathers relevant information from the team member and, in return, responds to the persons need to receive information. 2. Agree on Performance Standards Obviously, to perform at a standard level for a specified task, each team member must understand and agree with the organizational definition of standard. The counselors job is to communicate that standard in a way that the team member can understand and explain. How can you get valid agreement? Ask questions. Do you fully understand the demands of this job? Is there any aspect of your job duties that could use some clarification? Do these activities seem doable to you? Is there anything you feel you might lack in order to do this task properly? How would you explain this task and the reason for it to a new employee?

3. Correct The counselor implements the measures discussed, to correct the performance and raise it to an acceptable standard and above. Focus on the positive nature of counseling: to help associates become more productive more fulfilled. 4. Refer The counselor refers the employee to the resources needed to improve his performance. Referral is crucial to performance change. Counselors dont just tell people their faults and leave it at that. They point employees to the tools (people or processes) that offer real opportunities to change and win. A positive outcome is that the associate takes responsibility for his own corrections and changes. In some instances, effective referral may mean enrollment in a class or seminar, inside or outside the organization. It may mean asking another employee to mentor the team member in question with special emphasis on the performance issue at hand. It does not mean disposing of the team member by pushing him off on someone else. The counselors responsibility for the members growth is furthered not finished by referral. To better equip themselves as counselors, some leaders listen regularly to training tapes or CDs. Some read one or two books a month on subjects relevant to the managerial challenges they face. They do these things to stay ahead of the potential needs of the people on their teams to be able to offer timely solutions to team member challenges.

3. Correct The counselor implements the measures discussed, to correct the performance and raise it to an acceptable standard and above. Focus on the positive nature of counseling: to help associates become more productive more fulfilled. 4. Refer The counselor refers the employee to the resources needed to improve his performance. Referral is crucial to performance change. Counselors dont just tell people their faults and leave it at that. They point employees to the tools (people or processes) that offer real opportunities to change and win. A positive outcome is that the associate takes responsibility for his own corrections and changes. In some instances, effective referral may mean enrollment in a class or seminar, inside or outside the organization. It may mean asking another employee to mentor the team member in question with special emphasis on the performance issue at hand. It does not mean disposing of the team member by pushing him off on someone else. The counselors responsibility for the members growth is furthered not finished by referral. To better equip themselves as counselors, some leaders listen regularly to training tapes or CDs. Some read one or two books a month on subjects relevant to the managerial challenges they face. They do these things to stay ahead of the potential needs of the people on their teams to be able to offer timely solutions to team member challenges.

Behavior modification was a big phrase during the 70s and 80s. It remains a valuable management tool. Modifying behavior perfectly describes what a team does in order to win. You coach a team to avoid defeat, and you modify behaviors by the way you adapt each persons behavior and that of the teams. Behavior mod (as it is nicknamed) techniques add to an effective counseling session. Here are five approaches to modifying behavior yours and your employees that will produce dramatic victories if practiced faithfully.

1. Gain Agreement That a Problem Exists The very first thing that must happen in any counseling session is to sit down with the person concerned and agree that weve got a problem. That may not be as easy as it sounds but without it, the rest of behavior modification doesnt mean anything. If you cant get agreement that a problem exists, a resolution is impossible. Your first goal, therefore, is to gain that agreement. You want commitment, not compliance, long term.

2. Mutually Agree on the Action to Be Taken This requires employee participation in the improvement process. One way to help ensure this is to ask the employee how he thinks the problem might be solved. Chances are, at least some aspect of the team members solution can become part of a plan that youve already thought through. Results? The team member has some ownership in the solution.

3. Identify the Consequences of Action and Inaction This point is a must in any improvement process. Not only should you not sidestep it, but you should ideally formalize agreement on consequences by asking, Do we have an agreement on expectations and consequences? You can document the counseling session and ask for signature affirmation from the team member concerning expectations and consequences; this is useful for serious infractions. The approach you take will vary with the organization and your own style. The important thing to remember is to end every counseling session by recapping decisions and focusing on action to be taken. Talking about substandard behavior is good, but behavior that isnt targeted for specific action will never change.
And, of course, consequences must be specific: If we cant see at least a 5 percent increase by this time next month, Roy, I feel we must (consequences). Does that seem right to you? Plan ahead to figure out what consequences are right for the needs of the employee in question. Its not something you can do on the spot. Cover positive as well as negative consequences. Point to the benefits of following through on the proper behavior you have targeted.

4. Make Sure the Consequences Affect Basic Needs Tie any consequences of poor performance to basic needs. The employee will continue to perform unsatisfactorily unless there is a meaningful consequence to his actions. Examples Consequence (Negative) Closer supervision No promotion Reduced responsibilities Reduced income
Basic Employee Need Increasing independence Growth and affirmation Pride in achievement Consistent lifestyle

No consequences will motivate any two people exactly the same way but motivating consequences can be found for any team member. Human beings change negative behavior only when consequences encourage even force positive behavior.

5. Reward Achievement Changing any negative behavior for long demands external motivation. As research and job interviews increasingly point out, the best motivation isnt always money. For instance, showing that new behavior will benefit the employees leisure time, health, safety or status (through promotion or increased autonomy, etc.) often provides the needed incentive to change behavior.