MANAGEMENT SKILLS - What Is Positive Modeling in the Workplace?

What Is Positive Modeling in the Workplace?

by Jared Lewis, Demand Media

Positive modeling is a system of mentoring and discipline that focuses on positive workplace behavior and performance. For companies big and small, positive modeling can provide a way to train employees and improve employee success. It has an effect on both the individual worker and those who are part of a larger team effort.

Mentoring

At its core, positive modeling in the workplace means that businesses mentor workers to success by demonstrating proper behavior. Organizations that use positive modeling consistently do so throughout all levels of the organization, exhibiting what positive behaviors are allowed and encouraged by the business. Some make use of a mentoring strategy in which a mentor is assigned to a worker or group of workers to help them learn the ins and outs of the job. The mentor also serves as a model to emulate.

Teamwork

Literature covering the importance of positive and negative modeling in the workplace shows that workers who are engaged in a positive manner in the workplace tend to feel more connected to their job and fellow employees. Business consultant Marcial Losada and researcher Emily Heaphy looked at the topic in a 2004 article titled "The Role of Positivity and Connectivity in the Performance of Business Teams" in "American Behavioral Scientist." Using complex statistical models, the authors show the connection between feeling interconnected and workplace performance. Generally speaking, those with greater feelings of connectivity at work tend to display better overall performance.

Reinforcement

Positive modeling goes beyond mentoring and teamwork. It is generally an organizational wide model of behavior in which workers and management tend to respond to the work of others in a positive manner. This usually starts at the management level with the way that managers assess and reinforce the work of employees. This assessment focuses on the positive aspects of performance rather than the negative. Negative behavior and performance are not necessarily ignored, but rather given a positive spin.

Outcomes

Positive modeling is associated with a number of other positive outcomes. For instance, employees who are mentored tend to show higher levels of learning at work. Workers also tend to have greater levels of mobility, being able to move up the work ladder more often and faster when mentored in a positive manner. Furthermore, mentors themselves may get a great deal of job satisfaction from being helpful and providing positive instruction.