Miriam:

So what got you interested in undertaking this research?

Richard:

When I started my PhD a couple of years ago, I wanted to look at employee motivation, engagement and organisational performance from a different perspective, not just using carrots and sticks or empowerment. I discovered a whole body of literature on self-efficacy that showed a strong causal link between an individual's confidence in their competence to undertake particular tasks (their self-efficacy) and their performance. Yet the management textbooks I looked at rarely described this link.

Miriam:

Really? What sort of link did you uncover?

Richard:

A 1998 meta-analysis of over 114 self-efficacy work-related studies concluded that on average, a self-efficacy based intervention led to a 28% increase in performance. That's more than double that of interventions such as goal setting. So it struck me that the key to increased motivation and performance might be to focus on improving employee self-efficacy first and foremost. However the catch was that few studies were conducted on a longitudinal basis so there was no information on how much "stickage" there was. I decided to conduct a field experiment to see what difference a self-efficacy approach would make over time to employee motivation, engagement and performance.

Miriam:

Sounds great. But how do you set up a self-efficacy intervention?

Richard:

People get information about their self-efficacy from 4 sources: personal experience, watching others, feedback and coaching. Being in a heightened physiological and emotional state is also a strong factor. In Forum Theatre and Rehearse for Reality are all 4 sources are operating concurrently so they're ideal learning vehicles to help people increase their self-efficacy. Anecdotal feedback from a number of Be Learning clients about positive changes in employee behaviour and performance supported that view.

Miriam:

Yes, those programs really boost confidence.

Richard:

Employees typically know what-to-do, it's the how-to-do part that's important. By becoming more confident in their competence to undertake difficult or
challenging tasks, they move from being motivated by external factors to becoming motivated from within.

Miriam:

And that's when you approached us about participating in the field experiment?

Richard:

Yes and we were fortunate enough to find a supportive industry partner that was particularly interested in the measurement issue. The field experiment used a Be Learning developed program with 2 half day workshops spaced one month apart and a series of DVD's designed to support employees with behavioural change back at work. We split the industry partner's division in two and randomly assigned one half into the experimental group and the other half into a control group.

Miriam:

I know our clients are definitely interested in valuing the success of training so how do you measure whether or not this type of intervention works?

Richard:

We've measured changes in 3 ways besides the traditional participant evaluation form. First, we used surveys to measure employee attitudes around a range of work and personal factors as well as employee perceptions of their self-efficacy on specific behaviours. Second, we studied the results of mystery shopper feedback before and after the workshops. Finally, we're tracking a number of key performance indicators to see what's shifted over time and put a monetary value on changes.

Miriam:

And the results so far?

Richard:

The preliminary results are encouraging. Employee self-efficacy has increased, mystery shopping results have improved and the critical key performance indicator has increased. We haven't completed the longitudinal component of the field experiment to fully assess the "stickage" from the training but from what we've seen so far, we believe there has been a sustained shift in behaviour and performance.

Miriam:

It sounds like the principles of self-efficacy really fit with Be Learning's Open Progress philosophy where the focus of the learning methodology is based on creating adult/adult relationships in the training and the trainer becomes a facilitator or guide rather than an expert. The program we set up also has an emphasis on process by recognising that change takes place over time. Do you agree?

Richard:

Absolutely. I was fortunate enough to meet with the prominent psychologist and father of self-efficacy Professor Albert Bandura at Stanford last year and he emphasised the need to create programs over time that help participants build a sense of resilience. When I described the principles of Forum Theatre as a learning intervention, he showed me some work he'd been doing in the third world with different media that he labelled Education Entertainment. It uses the same principles of story telling and self discovery as the keys to increasing self-efficacy, motivation and changed behaviour.

Miriam:

So building a sense of resilience is critical?

Richard:

Yes, in fact a couple of new theories, Core Confidence and Positive
Psychological Capital, explicitly identify resilience and self-efficacy as key factors, along with hope and optimism as being central to understanding employee motivation.

Miriam:

Everyone's also talking about lifting their engagement scores in the war for talent. Where does self-efficacy fit in with employee-engagement?

Richard:

It's key. I was at a presentation on engagement at last year's Academy of Management conference where they presented a meta-analysis of 20 engagement studies. The most surprising thing I learned there is the extremely high correlation between self-efficacy and employee engagement. Optimal engagement scores really seem to depend on having highly self-efficacious employees.