JULY - 2023HR TECH OUTLOOK8In MyOpinionErik Doyle, Director of Talent and Organizational Development, Patrick Industries, Inc.ByWHEN PAVLOV'S DOGS LOST THEIR TRICK: A LESSON IN RAPID CULTURAL TURNAROUNDSAre you getting weary of the words "engagement" and "culture"? You are not alone. We love to hear stories about this magical state of the workplace, but after many company picnics, engagement contests, and swag giveaways, it simply has not happened for most. Even if we find the mystical formula to improve employee engagement, we are discouraged from being told it will take years to generate significant, sustainable results. If this is where you find yourself, the untold part of the story of Pavlov's Dogs holds some encouraging news for you. After working in several industries with over seventy companies and hundreds of people leaders, I am both witness and partner to some incredible turnarounds that changed lives and set records in key performance indicators (KPIs). These companies experienced both improved culture and stronger business results, and they did not do it with major campaigns or expensive gimmicks. Universally, people respond to a few elemental concepts some companies have forgotten. What happened "after the bells" in Pavlov's story may hold the key to achieving the culture upgrade your company wants.The experiments Ivan Pavlov conducted on dogs are fairly well known. He trained them to salivate whenever they heard a bell ring by giving them food right after they heard the sound. In fact, they learned this behavioral response so well that Ivan was unable to make them stop responding this way. He performed many experiments and treatments, but the dogs could not stop salivating when they heard the bell. How does one "uninstall" such a deeply engrained behavior pattern?The answer came one September evening in 1924 when the lab was overwhelmed by a flood. The dogs were immersed in icy water and understandably distressed. Thankfully, they survived, and Ivan's team was able to Erik Doyle
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