Drive behavioral change with measurable results

We often boast that our scientific approach—Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) and Behavior-Based Safety (BBS)—delivers measurable results every time. 

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

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

We start by defining the desired outcome—the goal of the initiative. We then identify the performance-driving behaviors that need to increase, and the behaviors that need to decrease, in order to achieve that outcome. The goal might be a stronger safety culture with fewer accidents and near misses, or improved collaboration leading to higher project completion rates. 

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

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

Once we have defined the behaviors in concrete terms, we conduct a baseline assessment. There are many different ways to measure behaviors. 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 behavioral observations.  

3. Progress during the initiative: Are performance-driving behaviors increasing?

We continuously measure and visualize progress throughout the project. In large, complex organizations, there are many categories and levels of behavior—from the strategic behaviors set by the executive team, through the leadership behaviors of middle management, down to the front lines where change is driven by employee performance. It is essential to select behaviors with precision in order to achieve the desired impact. We select a few behaviors at different levels within the organization that, together, have the greatest impact on the desired outcome.  

Behavior is the key performance indicator (KPI) in all our initiatives, driving us toward our established outcome and impact goals.  

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

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

Once the behaviors have reached a high and stable level and we see the desired impact on lagging indicators, we develop a maintenance plan to make the behavioral change permanent. 

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

This is how we use behavioral psychology and engineering to make our efforts measurable. Much of the work behind the scenes involves aligning strategy, tailoring communication, selecting the RIGHT behaviors, and getting everyone on board.  

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