***Peer Pressure - The Real Cause for Behavior on the Job

What really causes unwanted behavior on the job?

For many years companies have been searching for the answer to this question. Why do employees put themselves in harm's way, create a defective product or treat that customer in a terrible manner? What happened to common sense? Does it exist? And worse, what happens if we try to rely on "common sense"? Too often we attempt to treat the symptoms rather than the disease.

Think of it this way, not too many of us can stand the idea of pain when it comes to our body. Yet, each day many people will suffer a work related injury on the job. Why? Consider the following idea. We are all different when it comes to risk. We make mental risk calculations constantly throughout the day. And ironically, most of them pay off and we don't suffer an injury.

Tragically, it is the rare occasion that costs us physically and financially. Imagine the choice faced by a front-line employee with the issue of quality. Her job is on the line if she isn't productive but she will only receive a mild rebuke if her work quality marginally suffers. Don't forget the employee at the fast food restaurant that chooses saving pennies over the retention of a long-term customer.

Why are we this way? Don't we know better? Didn't our parents do a better job? The answer, though profound, is simple. Our need to assimilate socially causes a momentary decision that creates personal risk. In other words, we will take a chance physically (stick our hand in the machine) if we think our peers are more likely to accept us as normal to the culture. We will reduce our effort on the job and compromise quality if it means acceptance by our peer group. We will even alienate the very customer that provides for our existence if we can gain momentary favor from those we choose to associate with.

If we come to an organization from a previous one, we will typically adapt to the new culture over time. Past activities (good or bad) fade and we begin to practice what the current social group considers to be "normal". We become institutionalized over time and what once may have been incomprehensible now becomes routine. It is our very nature to adapt to the environment that makes us so amazing and yet so predictable at the same time.

Today's news includes a six-year old that has been placed in "reform school" for 45 days because he innocently brought his favorite cub scout cooking gear (it contained a fork-spoon-knife combo) to school. A zero-tolerance policy without consideration for circumstance and situation is simply the absence of leadership. Reliance on a policy to cover all situations is a cowardly attempt to abdicate or even avoid leadership when a tough decision needs to be made. Obviously, the leaders at this school have developed a common belief that the decision is proper while it is preposterous to the rest of us.

Great companies understand that the true measure of success is rooted in the culture they create by implementing and living a philosophy for many years. There are no short-cuts to great performance in a challenging economy that rewards good companies by "culling the herd" of those poorly managed beasts that seemed to thrive when the economy was good. The camouflage is gone and the poor leaders stand out like a NBA center in a kindergarten class. If your business model is good and you have a game plan - this tough economy can be a blessing rather than a curse.