Functional Behavioral Technique

How to use a school technique to enhance workplace culture

Remember the lesson we learned in our childhood, “One bad apple can spoil the whole barrel?” Don’t forget this lesson, as it holds true for professional life as well. Believe it or not, the negative behavior of one employee can leave a venomous effect on the entire workforce, organizational culture, productivity, and even on the bottom line.

According to Gallup's 142-country study titled "the State of the Global Workplace," just 13% of employees across the world are engaged at their work. More specifically, just one in per eight employees—about 180 million workers in the nations surveyed—are committed to their work psychologically and likely to be contributing positively to their

Axe those venomous employees? Hold on! Do you have a strong talent pipeline to replenish? This is where the challenge comes, especially at the time when the war for talent has reared its ugly head. Employee engagement undoubtedly is a good way to engage employees. However, does it address all behavioral issues?

People managers at organizations are now going back to school days to address various behavioral issues of their workforce. In schools, the Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) technique is used to deal with problematic students. And the same technique is now being replicated to deal with ‘problematic’ employees in the workplace.

FBA is all about addressing the behavior of problematic students. However, the process is now gaining significance as a fruitful method to enhance the workplace culture. These days, forward-thinking HR professionals and middle- and senior-level managers are leveraging it. If implemented successfully, FBA assists in understanding underlying factors that influence the behaviors of problematic employees. Further, it helps managers leave a positive influence on individual employee, team, and overall a company’s bottom

With in-depth examination and understanding, managers can create suitable strategies, comprising training and nurturing on the one-on-one as well as group basis. All these programs will be well-targeted, instructive, and will result in direct solutions.

FBA, in its basic form, assists organizations in addressing the function (for example, a low-working method that restrains production) instead of the behavior (aggressiveness, less motivation, and so on).

The process to conduct FBA

When it comes to conducting FBA, various techniques can be used. However, the first step is always to describe the behavior in some specific terms. For instance, it is quite unclear if we call someone obtuse. But if we say that the person provides irrelevant comments during meetings, then it gives certain behavioral context.

If you want to create the complete picture, you should observe your employees’ behaviors in different settings as well as at the time of various work processes. Furthermore, observations should not be made by a single person. Instead, others’ observations should be taken into account. Once the entire process is done, then only you can devise and implement appropriate action plans and strategies.

Can FBA be considered an ultimate tool of the business