Editor's Note: Today's post comes to us courtesy of guest contributor Chris Dobyns.
The phrase, A Dog’s Breakfast, is probably unfamiliar to most Americans, as its use and origin is probably better recognized and understood throughout the United Kingdom. The exact source and the predominance of the phrase’s use in our workplace is a mystery, except for a widely held belief that it may have been “carried over” by staff members who have served in expatriate assignments with one of our British “subsidiaries.”
The underlying meaning of the phrase will quickly become apparent to anyone who has ever owned a dog. For you cat lovers, the fact is that most dogs eat every meal with a level of single-minded enthusiasm that would force you to conclude that the dog genuinely believes that, “. . . this may be my last meal”. Consequently, a post-meal overhead view would prompt the uninitiated into thinking that a small explosive device had been detonated somewhere deep beneath the “kibble” – evidenced by the ring of uneaten dog food fanned out around the dog’s bowl in a nearly perfect concentric circle. With that mental picture established, you’ll understand that, A Dog’s Breakfast = A Complete Mess.
All interesting you might say, but what’s the linkage between canine eating habits and anything related to compensation and total rewards?
Let’s assume that on rare occasions, “things” don’t always go quite as planned at work. Whether that’s in the planning and development of a new incentive plan or the rollout of a change to medical benefits, or when the execution of the tools or communications to support one of these initiatives is a little rough. And sometimes, the outcomes simply aren’t quite what had been hoped for. Depending on the organizational impact, these imperfect results will occasionally warrant being characterized as A Dog’s Breakfast (a complete mess).
What Comes After Breakfast
Organizational reactions to A Dog’s Breakfast vary. Punitive organizations will often hold individual(s) accountable for these failures, imposing a range of penalties, in order serve as an object lesson to forestall similar failures by others in the future.
More constructive-minded organizations recognize and treasure the value of experience in its employees. And where does that experience come from? Experience is most typically a cumulative by-product of exercising good judgment, in evaluating choices and making decisions. And as part of the iterative learning process, good judgment in evaluating choices and making decisions is usually the product of past instances of exercising bad judgment, and making less-good choices.
Sound Choices Produce Superior Results
It is through this iterative process of positive and negative reinforcement, that human beings learn, gain experience, and regularly make good choices. And while most people, especially children, learn equally well from a mix of both positive and negative reinforcement, adults appear to integrate and learn best from positive reinforcement.
To be optimally effective, experiential learning ideally needs to encompass all employees. Perhaps more importantly, senior management must empower workers to exercise good judgment in a variety of scenarios they may encounter.
Empowerment is best operationalized when management establishes an easy-to-understand framework or context that helps guide employees and enable good choices in specific situations. One such industry framework provided to employees by management is The Golden Rule, used by the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. Beyond the simple lesson drawn from childhood of treating others as you would want to be treated, The Golden Rule also includes the following to further help employees make good choices on behalf of its guests:
- Explain the desired choice that has been made, and the rationale behind it, in order to ensure better understanding and acceptance
- Immediately begin to identify the next choice or decision required, by you or others, in order better inform the subsequent choice hierarchy
- Management should assist in making downstream choices, if needed
- Be willing to assess and modify the choices made, based on the feedback received, to make better decisions in the future
Consequently, organizations which encourage taking balanced risks, treat employee mistakes as opportunities for learning, and empower their workforces, will end up with employees who have greater experience, are more predisposed to exercise good judgment and make better choices – and who will be more likely to avoid A Dog’s Breakfast.
Everyone probably has a different perspective. What's yours?
Chris Dobyns, CCP, CBP, is currently employed as a Human Capital Strategic Consultant for the Office of Human Resource Strategy and Program Design for one of the largest U.S. intelligence agencies. The Office of Human Resource Strategy and Program Design is responsible for organizational effectiveness, personnel assessment, compensation and incentives, occupational structure, recognition and rewards, HR policy, human capital program design, implementation, evaluation and assessment and internal consulting. Chris has worked in the area of compensation for more than 35 years, and has been employed in various compensation-related positions by a number of large, private sector companies including Sears, Roebuck, Arizona Public Service and Westinghouse Savannah River Company.
Image courtesy of fotolia, "Eating With Gusto" by Paulo Saludo
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