How to Inspire Good Behavior

by | Jun 27, 2017 | Blog | 1,325 comments

In a manufacturing company in the Philippines, the lunch schedule of the production workers is at 12 noon to 1 p.m., while the lunch break of rank and file professionals, supervisors, and managers is 12:30 noon to 1:30 p.m.   Lunch break was scheduled this way in order not to overfill the cafeteria with employees.

At exactly 12:45PM, a newly hired HR Manager, who was only two weeks into her employment, came in accompanied by the company nurse. Both were dressed in corporate attire. They lined up just like the rest of the employees to buy their food and dine in.   The walls of the cafeteria were made of glass.  There were also no curtains so the people inside the cafeteria were also visible from the outside.

The HR Manager noted that from time to time, workers who were outside the cafeteria talked and laughed while observing the people eating inside the cafeteria.  This was fine, because the workers’ were on their break and were just having fun.

As the weeks passed, the behavior of the workers continued: every time the HR Manager ate at the cafeteria they stayed outside to hangout and observe.   The HR Manager was curious as to why they preferred to stay there when they could stay at the barracks during breaks.

She finally learned that the workers were observing how she ate.   She was observed to be eating slowly with poise and using many utensils.

This was how she ate:    Before eating, the HR Manager began with a prayer and concluded by making the sign of the cross as she was Roman Catholic.   She will not lean her elbows on the table.  She wipes the utensils (fork, spoon, teaspoon, and knife,) and plate with the table hankie before using them.  She puts the table hankie on her lap.

Ready to eat, she starts her meal with the soup, then the oriental salad, then the main course.   After, she drinks a glass of pineapple juice to finish it all up.   Then, she stands, puts the table hankie on the table, and walks back into the office.   When she starts drinking the juice, the workers take it as their cue that she is about to finish her meal and so they too leave the cafeteria area.

After awhile, it was observed that the workers started to imitate the HR manager’s way of eating.   They even called it “eating with a procedure” and they enjoyed doing this.   For them, it was “eating like a soldier.”  They would follow how the HR Manager would do it—although not always in perfect order—and finish in under five minutes, especially when they were hungry.

Workers learn by observing and imitating the actions of the company’s top management. This is the reason why managers and other top ranking officials in the company should aim to be role models.   Just like children, employees model their attitude and behavior after what they see from their leaders.

As professionals, leaders are bound by a code of ethics and professional conduct.   Their behavior in the workplace should reflect loyalty, honesty, commitment and decency.  They should demonstrate that they have a sense of what is right and wrong.    Professionals should consider carefully the ways in which they are perceived by others and their judgment of other people’s abilities.  Their conduct is usually correlated to competence and credibility.

Velasquez (1998)

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