Deploy the Structural LEVERS
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Describe strategies to use rewards and extrinsic incentives
- Explain how using nonhuman factors can make change easier.
Nothing tips the balance in a change initiative quite like extrinsic rewards—for good and for bad. If not carefully implemented, rewards can create undesirable behaviors, cement old ways of working, and result in unintended consequences.
Here are some structural and reward-based strategies to consider for reinforcing change within your organization. These involve adjusting processes, measures, and incentives, and offering small, meaningful rewards. Review the following structural approaches and determine which align with your company’s goals. You might also find that combining elements of both reward and structural strategies are most effective for your change initiative.
Conduct an Incentive Scan
Change is difficult to implement if legacy incentive systems entice people to behave in the wrong way. Identify existing rewards that might unintentionally be working against you, then begin to replace them with ones that bolster adoption of desired behavior.
Review existing rewards and incentives. | Take stock, by role, of all current rewards and incentive programs. These might include pay, perks, promotional criteria, performance management, spot rewards, and other extrinsic incentives. |
Eliminate misaligned incentives. | From the list of existing rewards and incentives, identify those that are in conflict with the desired new behaviors. Take steps to bring those incentives into alignment, replace them, or remove them altogether. |
Link rewards to desired behaviors | As you replace misaligned incentives with new ones, focus on tying new incentives directly to specific behaviors, rather than outcomes, which can lead to unintended behaviors or encourage people to “game the system.” |
Keep rewards small and symbolic. | Keep your rewards strategy simple, and use extrinsic rewards in moderation. Overly relying on them erodes intrinsic motivation. |
Adjust the Environment
“Fish discover water last,” is an Ethiopian proverb. People are often unaware of the influence the nonhuman world around them has on their behavior. Ask yourself if your organization’s technologies, tools, infrastructure, processes, policies, and business rules are designed to make the change easier.
Consider these strategies to help the physical world enable change and make it stick.
Establish communication channels and feedback loops. | Ensure that there are plenty of mechanisms in place for impacted teams and individuals to ask questions, voice concerns, and share feedback. |
Set up Slack. | Slack is a great tool for establishing and maintaining a continuous feedback loop. Set up a Slack channel dedicated to sharing and receiving information about the change effort; use it to communicate updates, allow users to share feedback, and ask questions. |
Bring cross-functional teams together. | When possible, work together in a shared space. Doing so enables organic, real-time interaction and problem-solving that can be more challenging in a virtual environment. |
Create physical space reminders. | Use desk drops, tip sheets, and posters as physical reminders of things to do or keep in mind throughout the change effort. |
Create virtual collaboration spaces. | For virtual teams, set up virtual spaces to collaborate (for example, Google Hangouts, Slack, Webex Teams, and so on). Make sure the right tools are in place to remove friction from remote interactions. |
We rarely see how deeply our surroundings influence us. The elements described here are constantly nudging our behavior—both for good or otherwise. Pull the Rewards and Structure levers to capture the power of the nonhuman world to increase your likelihood of successful and long-lasting change.