“A servant cannot be corrected by mere words; though he understands, he will not respond.” Proverbs 29:19

Surveys of business leaders continue to indicate that the vast majority of them wish they could get more out of their employees than they do. At the same time, excessively high percentages of workers consistently report that they could do their jobs better if circumstances would permit them to. Both of these seem pretty ironic, given that research shows that over $100 billion per year is spent on employee training and development. There is no question that many companies have reaped incredible benefits by investing in programs to improve leadership skills and to upgrade employee attitudes and behavior, but such interventions have also often bred cynicism because of poor results.

As is so common, where there is mutual frustration, there is mutual blame. Workers grumble about arrogant and insensitive owners and bosses, the latter blame lazy and incompetent workers. Business leaders complain about ineffective consultants, and consultants say their programs don’t work because of obstinate owners. While all of the above perspectives are valid in at least some cases, more often than not, there is hope. The problem is one of getting the right tools for the right job.

What’s the answer? Some “nots”

Anyone who has actively attempted to improve her or his effectiveness as a business manager has got to have noticed that not that all that much really changes in regard to what they need to know about people and productivity. Only those who attempt to manage in a vacuum are unaware of the importance of clear goals and objectives, commitment, improving communication, team building, and the like. These are things that everybody knows about, but only a few seem to be able to implement in ways that lead to consistent improvements in results.

One doesn’t have to go far to find consultants or training systems that promise to remedy the situation, but positive changes very often fall short of the promises. One problem is an unfortunate tendency to assume that the higher the price of the training, the better the outcome will be. One highly effective and well established consultant I know personally recently  expressed amazement that his programs (which actually do work) generally cost a fraction of what his less effective, but considerably more expensive competitors offer. The truth is that some owners fall for the “expensive = good” ruse, banking on the old adage that “you get what you pay for.” While the latter statement is often true, it’s also true that “there’s a sucker born every minute.”

A second “don’t” involves calling on the biggest firm that spends the most on advertising. At one point I aspired to work for one of the most well known international consulting firms in the world, only to find that they had lost their integrity years ago.  According to former clients and former employees alike, their approach to consulting is outdated and their primary virtue is their glorious past. Name recognition is often the result of excessive investment in advertising and only sometimes correlates positively with the quality of service rendered.

Many interventions operate at superficial and symbolic levels

Unfortunately, many fix-it programs are marketed on the basis of easily copied jargon and sound bites. We’ve all heard references to “thinking out of the box,” and that “business as usual won’t cut it” as harbingers of changes in management, but these have generally been predictive of only “more business as usual.” Remember the “TQM” craze of the ‘80s and ‘90s, when the word “quality” was the way, the truth, and the life?  I personally encountered numerous businesses in which TQM made things worse than they had been by increasing the amount of time that employees spent in unproductive meetings and engaging in ritualistic, but irrelevant activities. Not too many months after implementation, TQM was dropped as a program, much to the relief of exasperated production and service workers. The time and money lost during that phase of business history is incalculable.

Sound bites vs. sound behavioral science

Many intervention programs are sold on the basis of the jargon and platitudes involved rather than their ability to link processes with outcomes to produce measurable results. I’ve frequently cringed as each “new wave” hits and its jargon becomes popular, for I know that it won’t be long before it wears out and is replaced by the next new wave.  While each “wave” boasts its linkage to behavioral and cognitive science, but there is very little respect for the science per se. We’re in a business world in which the sales process is king, and unfortunately, great salespeople “create value” in the minds of buyers rather than instilling it in the product involved. Business owners and managers who really desire positive change are far too busy to be able to convert themselves into astute consumers of the best research. So it goes.

Separating the signal from the noise

Business leaders have much to benefit from good psychological research, but little time to screen that research for themselves. On the other hand, they can’t afford to ignore what it may have to offer their businesses, and ultimately, their bottom lines. Below is a summary of what cognitive and behavioral science research tells us regarding our needs for continuous training and education, and some things that any intervention programs involved must take into account:

• We tend to forget what we know, and what we do retain is subject to distortion. Revivals and refresher courses are essential, even for the most astute individuals.

• Watch out for “multitasking”— what appears to be multitasking is actually a rapid shifting from one priority to another, generally with declines in performance in all areas. The appearance of increased productivity is accompanied by higher rates of error.

• We are constantly being influenced by environmental factors at levels that we are unaware of. Our focus on and commitment to chosen goals will deteriorate if action isn’t taken to offset the devil’s forces.

• Much of what appears to be conscious, intelligent behavior is quite often regulated by non-conscious processes, making us prone to error to degrees that we can’t anticipate unless special action is taken.

Perhaps most important,

• Tangible behavior changes must be involved, and these must be subject to shared systems of accountability.

Leaders as applied psychologists

Whether we’re talking athletics, the military, production, or service, good leaders are effective because they are good psychologists— and I don’t mean the kind with beards and couches. They are practical folk who appreciate the interface between their people, their products, and their customers. Technological advances alone will never be sufficient for a business to thrive or survive. It takes people, and there are no sound bites or “one size fits all” approaches that work to solve the problems that business owners face in the daily grind. Most of all, effective leaders are aware that desirable behavior changes decay and stagnate if not reinforced, refreshed, and revitalized on a continuous basis.

There are some things that are true of people that must be incorporated into daily activities, and there is no better formula for success than an intelligent combination of sound business thinking, good behavioral science, and common sense. Perhaps what is lacking at times is that third component. It is what brings the other two together to improve results, cut costs, and increase the magnitude of the most important resources of any successful business— loyal customers and long term relationships.