Embedding new behaviours
It is inevitable that as businesses re-open their workplaces, employees will be required to work differently; there will be new business priorities, new processes, changes to team configurations and different ways to navigate around workspaces – to name just a few.
To successfully embed these new ways of working will require leaders to encourage people to think, and subsequently act, differently; to shift mindsets and as a consequence behaviour. In our experience, the key to successfully translating the intention to change into sustainable action is to incorporate principles of social and behavioural science into the change programme. So let’s look at nudge, sludge and oil…
the key to successfully translating the intention to change into sustainable action is to incorporate principles of social and behavioural science into the change programme.
Changing the Narrative
In some cases, when implementing a change, the narrative needs to be changed in order for behaviours to be changed.
A good illustration is a case study from Charles Hampden-Turner, a leading management philosopher (1). Western Oil, based in California had a ‘patchy’ record with safety – for them , safety conflicted with other cultural values such as productivity and upholding a ‘macho’ truck driver reputation. They needed to change attitudes to safety in their oil company workers – particularly with their truck drivers.
Charles Hampden-Turner first looked at the truck drivers’ current attitude to their role on the roads. He described this attitude as a cross between “the Incredible Hulk and Smokey and the Bandit”. These “King of Road” attitude had been set and preserved over a long period of time, so simply telling the workers to be safer on the roads was not going to change their behaviour. Instead, it was clear that their mindset had to be rewired.
One approach included involving the drivers as safety experts, asking for their input on how to make journeys safer and even got them involved in recording safety videos. Their involvement in this process made safety a “noble cause owed to the general public” and empowered the drivers to take responsibility for their own safety and the safety of others. In doing this they were changing the narrative from ‘Kings of the Road’ to ‘Knights of the Road’ and worked with employees to identify relevant behaviours that would support this new narrative.
The Western Oil case shows that to successfully change behaviour, the narrative needs to be changed so that the frame of thinking or lens with which individuals view their organisation, their role and their work activities can also change. The new mindset will allow employees the freedom to work in ways effective for both them and the organisation. They will be able to create new and innovative ideas/processes that align with the narrative, and carry effective behaviours forward.
Maintaining the change in mindset – all about nudge
An important aspect of successful change management is ensuring that these new ways of working are embedded. If new ways of working aren’t relevant and referred to regularly, then the likelihood of individuals adopting and maintaining the new behaviour is low.
To sustain behaviour change, the new actions/behaviours can be ‘nudged’ into becoming longer-term habits (2). These nudges help keep learning at the forefront of our minds and indirectly encourage individuals to act in a more effective way.
So, what are some examples of nudges in the workplace?
Taking workplace safety and the current advice for physical distancing as an example, organisations could nudge their employees to consider the 2 metre social distancing guidelines by placing cue markers between individual workspaces and around communal areas.
Another example of an effective nudge is displaying organisational values in key areas such as workplace entrances, at office desks and even in meeting rooms in order to remind employees to lead with value-driven behaviour.
Reminders are a very simple nudge that organisations can implement. Consider a development programme process. As part of the outcomes of a development programme, individuals could take their development areas, turn them into specific actions and then set a reminder every other to day to complete that action. This could include asking for more feedback on projects, checking in with colleagues more frequently in order to stay connected or being encouraged to share more positive work stories. The nudges could be an email reminder, a visual cue or even a tent card on a desk.
Nudging is a powerful technique to embed new positive behaviour change. However, leaders also need to consider the factors that disable behaviour change…
Nudging is a powerful technique to embed new positive behaviour change. However, leaders also need to consider the factors that disable behaviour change…
Avoiding sludge
In a recent webinar, Professor Cass Sunstein talked about disablers as ‘sludges’ (3); the burdens that separate people from where they want to go and what they want to do.
Sludges can be seen as inconveniences that hinder people from making a decision that is in their best interest. Administrative burdens are common sludge we might experience. For example, a time consuming process to sign off a decision from four different departments which will require you, as the project owner to invest time to chase them up. Knowing this, you might feel less enthusiastic about taking responsibility for this decision – potentially prolonging how long it takes to make a final decision – a sludge.
Therefore, when implementing a change, organisations need to ensure that adopting the new behaviours is as simple and transparent as possible – avoiding the sludge and supporting the nudge; steering individuals to make better choices.
organisations need to ensure that adopting the new behaviours is as simple and transparent as possible – avoiding the sludge and supporting the nudge; steering individuals to make better choices.
Using habits to embed behaviours
A habit is an action or behaviour that you do so regularly and often that you do not consciously know you are doing it (4).
The psychology behind habits is broken down into three steps to form the habit loop (5):
1. Cue: to trigger you to carry out the action, also seen as the nudge
2. Routine: the action itself
3. Reward: positive outcome of completing that action
In order to embed new behaviours, Managers could make use of this loop by working with their teams to define and agree what the cue, routine and reward should be. Once this has been defined, managers can begin to implement and encourage the habit within their organisation. I explore habits in more detail in my article for the OE journal on rewiring mindsets here.
Conclusion
Changing mindset is often the aspect of behavioural change that can be overlooked or not facilitated successfully, which is why some change management programmes fail the longevity test.
Just as we are seeing in this current climate, the way business operates is subject to change. There will be new priorities that will all require new behaviours which may require a change in mindset. Therefore, organisations should be encouraged to consider their narrative and the new required behaviours. They can use nudges and habits to implement and sustain the change in a way that is simple, relevant and will last.
Original article by Mariam Mirza. For more information about embedding new habits and behaviours, please contact Mike Thackray, Felicity Wolfenden or Alexandra Shoobert.
References
- Charles Hampden-Turner – Corporate Culture; from vicious to virtuous circles, 1990, The Economist Book Limited
- Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth and Happiness, Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, 2009, Penguin Books
- Sludge audits (2019) Cass Sunstein, Behavioural Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, 1-20
- Winfred Arthur Jr., Winston Bennett Jr., Pamela L. Stanush & Theresa L. McNelly (1998) Factors That Influence Skill Decay and Retention: A Quantitative Review and Analysis, Human Performance, 11:1, 57-10
- “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg (2013)