Coming soon · Book Profile
Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices
A practical, science-based guide showing managers how to apply the principles of behavior analysis—especially positive reinforcement—to change workplace behavior and drive organizational effectiveness.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
Performance Management translates the rigorous science of Applied Behavior Analysis into a hands-on 'how-to' technology for managers, supervisors, and students who want to bring out the best in people while generating the highest value for their organizations. Drawing on more than four decades of field experience across thousands of workplaces and over thirty countries, Aubrey Daniels and Jon Bailey show that all organizational results are the product of human behavior, and that behavior is controlled far more by its consequences than by the antecedents (goals, memos, training, threats) most managers rely on. The book walks readers step-by-step through pinpointing behaviors and results, measuring and graphing performance, analyzing the ABCs and PIC/NIC patterns that explain why people do what they do, and above all delivering positive reinforcement effectively and on the right schedule. It debunks common management myths—that punishment works, that money alone motivates, that competition and forced-ranking appraisals improve performance—and demonstrates through data-driven case studies how frequent, contingent, positive consequences produce dramatic, sustainable gains in productivity, quality, safety, and morale.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- A manager, supervisor, business leader, or student who wants to bring out the best in people and generate the highest value for their organization.
- The problem
- People aren't performing at their potential—productivity, quality, safety, and morale fall short despite training, memos, goals, and discipline. The reader feels frustrated, baffled, and powerless, resorting to labels like 'lazy' or 'unmotivated' and unsure how to actually change behavior.
- The plan
- Pinpoint the behaviors and results that matter, starting with the mission.
- Measure and graph performance so you can see small changes.
- Analyze behavior using the ABC Model and PIC/NIC Analysis to understand why people do what they do.
- Find, create, and deliver effective positive reinforcers immediately, specifically, and frequently.
- Use feedback paired with reinforcement and the right schedules to build and maintain performance.
- The payoff
- Dramatic, sustainable improvements in productivity, quality, safety, and cost. · Higher morale, engagement, and discretionary effort with people who like their work and their boss. · A positive, enjoyable workplace where reinforcement is everybody's business.
See our guide
Related profiles we’ve built
Additional reading
- Design, Implementation and Evaluation of Assessment and Development Centres; Best practice guidelines · British Psychological Society (BPS)
Cited by the author as an authoritative source for best practice, covering key issues like fairness, design, and evaluation that are central to the book's guidance.
- Assessment Centres (3rd edn) · C Woodruffe
Recommended for readers seeking a broader overview and history of the assessment centre method.
- The big five personality dimensions and job-performance; a meta-analysis · Barrick, M R and Mount, K M
Provides the empirical support for the book's caution against over-relying on personality tests in selection, a key topic in Chapter 5.
- A theory of the validity of predictors in selection · M Smith
Offers a theoretical framework for understanding why different selection tools have varying levels of effectiveness, underpinning the book's core argument.
- Competence at Work · Spencer, L M and Spencer, S M
A foundational text on the concept of competence, relevant to Chapter 2 on developing a competence framework.
- Development and Assessment Centres · Charles Woodruffe
Cited as a key text for readers wanting a more recent and in-depth exposition of assessment centre work, a core topic of the book.
- Performance Management: The new realities · Michael Armstrong and Angela Baron
The book uses Armstrong and Baron's definition of performance management as its foundation, making their work a primary source for understanding this core concept.
- The Competent Manager: A model for effective performance · R. F. Boyatzis
The author attributes the current usage and definition of 'competency' to Boyatzis, making this a foundational text for a central theme of the book.
- Appraisal and Feedback: Making performance review work · Clive Fletcher
Fletcher is cited as an authority on appraisals, a key one-to-one interaction within performance management, providing deeper insight into this specific practice.
- The Easy Guide to Repertory Grids · D. Jankowicz
The book presents the repertory grid as a powerful technique for developing interview models; this book is recommended as a highly accessible introduction to the method.