Aubrey C. Daniels, Ph.D. (born May 17, 1935 in Lake City, South Carolina

Lake City, South Carolina

Lake City is a city in Florence County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 6,478 at the 2000 census...

, USA) is a clinical psychologist by training, but is frequently referred to as “the father of performance management”, as he was one of the first to make extensive use of the science of behavior analysis in business. His rich history is proof of his dedication and devotion to the science of behavior. More than thirty years ago, Daniels began pursuing and acting on his global mission: to help people and organizations apply the scientifically proven laws of human behavior to optimize performance.

Background and Career

Daniels' journey began when, at the beginning of his career as a clinical psychologist, he became convinced that the work of B. F. Skinner

B. F. Skinner

Burrhus Frederic Skinner was an American behaviorist, author, inventor, baseball enthusiast, social philosopher and poet...

 and other behavioral scientists best enabled his patients to change their own behaviors. With this conviction, Daniels began to consider the impact of applying behavioral science to the workplace. Daniels’ ground breaking impact in the workplace led him to coin the phrase Performance Management

Performance management

Performance management includes activities that ensure that goals are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner. Performance management can focus on the performance of an organization, a department, employee, or even the processes to build a product or service, as well as many...

 and begin his company, Aubrey Daniels International.

Aubrey is an internationally recognized author and speaker. He was the first editor of the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management

Organizational Behavior Management

Organizational behavior management is an important aspect of management studies the subject which is studied in first year of management studies is known as organizational behaviour . OBM is the result of applying the psychological principles of applied behavior analysis and the experimental...

(JOBM) in 1977. His best-known books are Bringing Out the Best in People (McGraw-Hill) and Performance Management: Changing Behavior That Drives Organizational Performance (1st & 2nd ed. 1982 with Theodore Rosen, 3rd ed. 1989, 4th and current edition 2004 with James E. Daniels) (Performance Management Publications).

Education

• University of Florida-Ph.D. in Psychology and Philosophy (Phi Beta Kappa), 1964

• University of Florida-M.A. in Psychology and Philosophy, 1963

• Furman University-B.A. in Psychology and Speech, 1957

Awards

Daniels has received numerous awards and acknowledgments for his work. Most notably, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Organizational Behavior Management Network (www.obmnetwork.com) and both the Outstanding Service Award and 2005 Fellow from the International Association for Behavior Analysis (www.abainternational.org). He has also been honored as Alumni of the Year for both Furman University and University of Florida, College of Health Professionals.

Memberships

• Board of Trustees, Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies
• Associate, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
• Board of Trustees, Furman University
• Member, President’s Advisory Council, Furman University
• Faculty Member, College of Health Professions, University of Florida
• Association for Behavior Analysis
• Georgia Association of Behavior Analysis

Contributions to Performance Management

• Oops! 13 Management Practices that Waste Time and Money (and what to do instead), Performance Management Publications, Atlanta, GA, 2009.
• Measure of a Leader, Performance Management Publications, Atlanta, GA, 2006.
• Bringing Out the Best in People: How to Apply the Astonishing Power of Positive Reinforcement, McGraw Hill, New York, NY, 1994, Revised 1999.
• Other People’s Habits: How to Use Positive Reinforcement to Bring Out the Best in People Around You, McGraw Hill, New York, NY, 2001.
• Performance Management: Improving Quality Productivity Through Positive Reinforcement, Performance Management Publications, Atlanta, GA, 1982 (with Theordore Rosen), Revised 1982, 1989.
• Performance Management: Changing Behavior That Drives Organizational Effectiveness, Performance Management Publications, Atlanta, GA, Revised with title change 2004.

• "What is Behavior-Based Safety?", Aubrey C. Daniels, Performance Management Magazine, May 2010
• “Creating ‘Above and Beyond’ Performance,” Aubrey C. Daniels, Managing Performance Strategies for Global Leaders, October 2006
• “The Leader’s Role in Pay Systems and Organizational Performance,” Aubrey C. Daniels, James Daniels and Bill Abernathy, Compensation and Benefits Review Magazine, Sage Publications, May/June 2006
• “Measure of a Leader,” Aubrey C. Daniels and James Daniels, Leadership Excellence Magazine, March 2006
• “Positive Reinforcement: Misunderstood and Misused,” Aubrey C. Daniels and James E. Daniels, Training and Development Magazine, March 2006
• “Measure of a Leader,” Aubrey C. Daniels and James Daniels, Leadership Excellence Magazine, March 2006
• “Thank God It’s Monday…Celebrating Work,” Aubrey C. Daniels, Performance Management Magazine, 1995.
• “Thank God It’s Monday…Celebrating Work,” Aubrey C. Daniels, Performance Management Magazine, 1995.
• “Management by Common Sense Is Not Management At All,” Aubrey C. Daniels, Performance Management Magazine, 1994.
• “Teams and Empowerment,” Aubrey C. Daniels, Performance Management Magazine, 1994.
• “Risky Rewards,” Aubrey C. Daniels, Entrepreneur, November, 1994.
• “Performance Management: The Executive Function,” Aubrey C. Daniels, Performance Management Magazine, 1994.
• “Money Alone Won’t Motivate,” Aubrey C. Daniels, Business Atlanta, June 1992.
• “Parties with a Purpose,” Aubrey C. Daniels, SKY, December, 1992.
• “Successful Rightsizing: The Organizational Challenge of the 90s,” Aubrey C. Daniels, Performance Management Magazine, 1991.
• “The PM Extremist—How and Why to Become One,” Aubrey C. Daniels, Performance Management Magazine, 1988.
• “Axing Some Axioms,” Aubrey C. Daniels, Performance Management Magazine, 1987.
• “Performance Management Beyond the Workplace,” Aubrey C. Daniels, Performance Management Magazine, 1985.
• “Counterpoint: Positive Process Produces Results,” Aubrey C. Daniels, Performance *“R+ and the Future,” Aubrey C. Daniels, Performance Management Magazine, 1983.
• PUBLISHER, Performance Management Magazine, quarterly, 1982.
• FOUNDER & EDITOR, Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 1977-78.
• “A Review of Theodoro Ayllon and Nathan Azrin: The Token Economy: A Motivational System for Therapy and Rehabilitation,” Reviewed by Aubrey C. Daniels, Contemporary Psychology.
• “Verbal Behavior in Group Psychotherapy,” Aubrey C. Daniels’ unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 1965.
• “A Token Economy With ‘Automated’ Data Collection,” A. Daniels, B. Tanner, Behavior Therapy, p. 111-118, 1975-1976.
• “Token Control of Medications,” A. Daniels, J. Parrino, L.George, Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 1971.
• “A Behavior Modification Program on an Inpatient and Outpatient Unit,” A. Daniels, D. Slavin, Behavioral Intervention in Human Problems, ed. H. C. Richard, Pergamon Press, 1971.
• “Religious Attitudes Among Psychiatric Patients and Normals,” A. Daniels, R. Burns, Journal for Scientific Study of Religion, 1969.
• “The Alteration of Intellectual Performance After Lateralized Brain Injury in Men,” A. Daniels, P. Satz, W. Richards, Psychon Science, p. 369-370, 1967.

Discussion of Performance Management

Performance Management (PM) as described here refers to a term coined by Dr. Aubrey C. Daniels in the late 1970s to describe a technology (i.e., science imbedded in applications methods) for managing both behavior and results, the two critical elements of what is known as performance. Performance is the sum of behavior and results, and cannot be viewed as independent of either component. It is an outcome of effective management.

This PM approach is used most often in the workplace but applies wherever people interact—schools, churches, community meetings, sports teams, health setting, governmental agencies, and even political settings. PM principles are needed wherever in the world people interact with their environments to produce desired effects. Cultures are different but the laws of behavior are the same world-wide.

This management process can involve self-management (e.g., lone workers using the same tools as found in formal management structures or patient learning to manage self care procedures) or the formal chains of management typically found in most organizations where people work in groups or teams.

Management under this PM definition is about arranging the conditions of the workplace for individual, group, unit, division, regional, and corporate success. Management requires that systems, processes and structures are arranged carefully according to the laws of behavior to support the necessary direction, skills, resources, and motivation people need to do a job well, whether at the executive level or at the shop floor, in all types of industries and across all kinds of business drivers of success (e.g., merger/acquisitions, managing culture during rapid change, strategic initiatives turned into solid implementations, ensuring safe practices while meeting objectives, reducing waste, and so on). Performance Management is about individual managers truly understanding how to ensure the development of skills and provide sufficient training and coaching resources so that each manager can be fairly measured by the success of his or her direct reports, not by business results only or on kindness factors.

How well an organization does in applying the scientific elements of PM is found in the success of its employees in serving customer needs, meeting their targets, producing desired impact and creating a culture of respect and commitment, with a focus on active learning, inclusion, and shaping—a culture where the predominate method of building habits of success involving knowing when and how to “carve mistakes in sand and success in stone” (Benjamin Franklin quote). PM companies that understand the technology create high and steady rates of discretionary effort by all—they model ‘best practices’ and take measures on their work from customers and employees, using the feedback openly to make improvements.

A critical component of successful PM implementation is that performers gain excellence in their own performance—developing habit strength that can be applied across similar or different settings for effective problem solving and work habits. Whether it is learning highly technical skills in a nuclear facility or learning the foundation of good customer service in a restaurant, the goal at the individual level is to do work well, efficiently and effectively, and to find real delight in the mastery and fluency these tools provide. The conditions that surround behavior—what people say and do that are recognized or punished over time (the culture) –also help to support sustained patterns or diminish such patterns of success.

The principles that are central to Performance Management (PM) are derived from the science of behavior analysis (also known as the psychology of learning). This term Performance Management is often thought to refer to structures and processes of Human Resources Management (compensation, appraisal, selection, retention, competencies, and so on). Those are important elements of a well-designed workplace, but most often they are systems, processes, and procedures designed without knowledge of behavior. They often suppress or overlook the ways in which motivational factors can be built into the workplace to produce accelerating performance for the right objectives, done the right way, for the right reason.

Well designed PM processes will do just that—teach managers and supervisors—all leaders—how to bring out the best in people, including themselves, through a set of clear steps that appear easy on the surface, but do require a grounding in the principles of learning. Those steps are 1) pinpoint (again, both results and needed behaviors), measure (frequently), feedback (post so that others can see success steps or track in other ways so that data becomes the core of decision making, not simply ‘gut feeling’), consequate (using systematic processes; whenever possible, using positive reinforcement strategies (R+)) and evaluate (continuous improvement on how to get better at bringing out the best in everyone). There are over 80 years of data [Watson, et al.] and thousands of case studies demonstrating the impact of well designed PM applications [www.pmezine.com].

OTHER WORK: Performance management has a wide variety of applications such as employee performance, software performance, business or corporate performance and so on.[1]. [].

Affiliations

• Advisory Board, Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, Member, 1996–2002

• Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, Editorial Board, 1989–Present

• Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Editorial Board, 1986–Present

• Florida State University, Psychology Department, Visiting Professor, 1987–Present

• Western Michigan, Psychology Department, Visiting Lecturer, 1987–Present

• Georgia Office of Rehabilitation Services, Member, Psychological Advisory Board, 1969–1972

• Georgia State University, Psychology Department, Visiting Lecturer, 1967

• Emory University, Department of Education, Visiting Lecturer, 1968

• Atlanta University, Visiting Lecturer, 1971–1972

• Emory University Medical School, Psychiatry, Assistant Instructor, 1965–1968

• J. Hillis Miller Health Center, Gainesville, FL, Clinical Internship, 1964–1965

• U. S. Army, Commissioned Officer, 1957–1960

• Licensed Psychologist, Georgia

External links

• PM eZine (Performance Management eZine)
• (Aubrey Daniels International)
• (Aubrey Daniels Blog)