Drive behavioural change with measurable results

We often boast that our scientific method—Organisational Behaviour Management (OBM) and Behaviour-Based Safety (BBS)—delivers measurable results every time. 

Are you wondering how we take a somewhat vague concept like organizational culture and make it concrete enough to be measurable? Here, we’ll share how we design initiatives with MEASURABILITY, step by step.

1. Pinpointing: What strategic outcome or goal should be achieved, and what key behaviours will get us there?

We begin by defining the desired outcome—the goal of the initiative. Next, we identify the outcome-driving behaviours that need to increase, and the behaviours that need to decrease, in order to achieve the desired outcome. The goal may be a stronger safety culture with fewer accidents and near misses, or improved collaboration with a higher rate of project implementation as the desired outcome. 

It’s important to understand what behaviour is: something we do or say. Behaviour should be described in such concrete terms that it can be captured on a video camera! (That way, it can also be counted, measured, and reinforced with feedback.)    

2. Baseline: How often do these behaviours occur today?

Once we have defined the behaviours in concrete terms, we conduct a baseline assessment. There are many different ways to measure behaviours. The most common is frequency—how often they occur during a specific work task or work situation. We choose the method that best suits the intervention, often self-reports or behavioural observations.  

3. Progress during the initiative: Are the result-driving behaviours increasing?

We continuously measure and visualise progress throughout the project. In large, complex organisations, there are many categories and levels of behaviour—from the strategic behaviours set by the executive team, through the leadership behaviours of middle management, and down to the front lines, where change takes place through employees’ performance. It is essential to select behaviours with precision in order to achieve the desired effect. We select a few behaviours at different levels within the organisation that, when combined, have the greatest impact on the desired outcome.  

Behaviours are the leading KPI in all of our initiatives, driving us toward our established outcome and impact goals.  

4. Evaluation: Have we achieved the desired behaviour change? And what impact has it had on our performance goals? 

We evaluate our efforts based on both “leading” key performance indicators (behaviours) and “lagging” key performance indicators—such as performance targets including the number of accidents, the number of new innovations, or perceived psychological safety. We typically use existing lagging metrics that the client already monitors closely. 

When behaviours are consistently at a high level and we see the desired impact on lagging indicators, we develop a maintenance plan to make the behavioural change permanent. 

OBM and BBS are like a real-world research project in a fast-paced format.

That’s how we use behavioural psychology and systems engineering to make our efforts measurable. Much of the work behind the scenes involves aligning strategy, tailoring communication, choosing the RIGHT behaviours, and getting everyone on board.  

And we don't give up until we've achieved results—every single time.