| What is OBM? |
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Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) OBM is the study and application of applied behavior analysis in organizations that focuses on assessing and changing work environments to improve employee performance and business results, as well as employee engagement. Our experimental base makes us different than other approaches to workplace performance improvement.
Theoretical and Conceptual Background Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) is a sub-discipline of ABA, which is the application of the science of behavior. ABA emphasizes the use of operant and respondent procedures to produce behavior change. Behavior Analysis as a science has very explicit goals. Prediction and control of behavior, with an emphasis on control, are the objectives of behavior analysis (Hayes & Brownstein, 1986). OBM has commonalities with the field of Industrial-Organizational Psychology, all relating to the behavior of people in the workplace. There are many differences between the two fields as well. Industrial-Organizational Psychology is based on theory and has a focus on topics such as personnel selection and placement. OBM is guided by a single theory of human behavior and has historically emphasized identification and modification of the environmental variables that affect directly observable or verifiable employee performance (Bucklin, Alvero, Dickinson, Austin, & Jackson, 2000).
The History of OBM The works of Watson and Skinner have heavily influenced the field of OBM. Skinner’s applications of behavioral principles to instructional design served as a starting point for the use of the science of behavior in the workplace. Even before OBM was viewed as a field, Fredrick Taylor advocated for the use of the scientific method to improve employee and organizational performance. The Journal of Organizational Behavior Management (JOBM) began publication in 1977 and is the main outlet for the field today. By 1977 over 40 articles on OBM had been published in other journals and at least one OBM consulting firm had been established. Aubrey Daniels was the first editor of JOBM. The journal is published by Haworth Press and is in its 32nd volume. It has recently been ranked as having the third highest impact factor among applied psychology journals according to the Journal Citation Reports published by Thompson/ISI Publishers (Hantula, 2005). There are a number of graduate programs in OBM that have been established at various universities. Graduates of these programs work in the private sector as external consultant, as internal consultants for organizations, or as program managers in the health and human services industry. Graduates also work in academia. Watch this 1972 documentary where B.F. Skinner discusses theories concerning behavior modification principles, including scheduling, shaping, and positive reinforcement, as they are used in education, business, and industry.
To learn more about our field's evolution since the 70's, watch this 2019 presentation by John Austin providing an introduction to OBM, including its history and key studies. For more details on the deep roots in our field, see these articles published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management:
Areas of OBM Application PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT The management of individual employee or a group of employees through the application of behavioral principles is called Performance Management (PM). The PM process usually involves the analysis of antecedents and consequences supporting the behaviors of individuals or groups within the organization and manipulating these variables to either decrease unproductive or increase productive performance (Austin, 2000; Daniels & Daniels, 2004; Daniels & Rosen, 1982, Diener et al., 2009). Common interventions used in PM include antecedent and consequence changes such as goal setting, feedback, job aids, token systems, lottery systems, etc.
BEHAVIORAL SYSTEMS ANALYSIS The Behavioral Systems Analysis (BSA) method involves outlining how the components of the system interact, including how each individual contributes to the overall functioning of the system (McGee, 2007). The value of BSA is that it allows us to analyze the organization outside the basic three-term contingency of antecedents, behaviors, and consequences to identify variables that can significantly impact individual and organizational performance. By analyzing the entire organization as a system, one can identify areas of improvement that will produce the largest positive impact on the organization and focus on planning and managing the variables that support desired performance (Diener et al., 2009). BEHAVIOR-BASED SAFETY Behavior-based safety focuses on the analysis and alteration of work environments to reduce injuries and promote safe behavior among leaders and employees. This family of evidence-based interventions, which have traditionally focused on safety communication, feedback and reinforcement processes, can be applied to compliment and enhance traditional safety controls. The first priority in safety is always to eliminate occupational hazards from the work environment (CDC). The next priorities are substitution and engineering controls. Behavioral processes would be best categorized as administrative controls that can be used to promote the safety priority and protective behaviors at all levels of an organization.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS Consumer behavior analysis is an interdisciplinary field of research that investigates consumer choice and the situational factors that influence it (Foxall, 2001, 2002). There are multiple theories related to consumer behavior analysis, but they all share an operant behavior framework (Hantula, 2018). In particular, the field examines how factors such as advertising, social consequences, financial cost, delay to receiving an item, and the effort involved in acquiring an item impact purchasing.
HEALTH AND WELL-BEING Health and well-being in OBM expands beyond efforts to improve employee performance and safety to further support employee health and well-being. The focus is on identifying factors within the work environment that impact the quality of employees’ work life, mental and physical health, and overall well-being. How these employee outcomes relate to important organizational outcomes, such as job satisfaction, work engagement, burnout, absenteeism, presenteeism, and turnover, is also examined by research and practice in this area.
PAY FOR PERFORMANCE Pay for performance research and application in OBM is a continuum that ranges from individual-level financial incentives to pay-for-performance systems for the entire organization. Research in this area evaluates how altering the amount, timing, probability, and contingency of financial consequences impacts performance. In application, OBM practitioners utilize this research to help organizations optimize how employees are paid so that key performance areas are improved and employees fairly compensated.
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT Training can be viewed as closing the gap between a learner’s current knowledge, skills, and abilities and the requirements of the workplace (Brethower & Smalley, 1998). Training is a tool—an intervention—used when what the individual can do does not match what that individual must do in order to successfully perform on the job. While a critical aspect of addressing employee performance, it is important to remember that training is only one tool in the OBMer’s toolbox, and other interventions may be necessary instead or in addition to training. LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE Leadership and management actions not only affect the well-being and success of organizational members (e.g., their safety, health, financial security, etc.) but also entail positive or negative impacts on consumer practices and collective community practices (e.g., education, obesity, cancer, safe or green driving, energy conservation, diversity-based healthcare, etc.). The leadership and culture area of OBM focuses on emerging research and applications pertaining to leadership decision making, communication, and management practices by drawing upon literature in behavioral systems analysis and cultural behavior analysis (Glenn et al., 2016; Houmanfar et al., 2009, 2010, 2015, 2021; Malott; 2003, 2021). |
