Why Smart Bosses Treat Their Employees Like Dogs

In my career, I have fostered dog-friendly environments in the workplace and have usually had a couple of well-trained dogs.  Teasingly my colleagues have remarked that if only my VPs were as well trained as my dogs, company productivity would be much higher. 🙂  I even referred to dogs in my Father’s Toast at my daughters’ wedding.   A friend sent me this article which I am excerpting below.  Please check out the full article at link,

Why Smart Bosses Treat Their Employees Like Dogs:

Reward Good Behavior and 8 Other Valuable Lessons You Can Learn from Dog Trainers

Rieva Lesonsky
blogger, SmallBizTrends.com

JUNE 19, 2013 

One of my friends recently got a new dog and has been taking him to obedience school for the past few months. As she was filling me in on his recent accomplishments, I couldn’t help thinking that there are lots of employee training lessons entrepreneurs could learn from dog obedience school.

Be consistent. Whether teaching Fido to sit, walk or stay, it’s important for dog trainers to perform the desired move the same way every time. Inconsistency confuses dogs (and humans). Don’t ask your employees to do something one way on Monday, and another way on Friday.

Always reward good behavior. Dogs are motivated by food, so each successful repetition of the desired behavior earns them a little treat. Figure out what motivates your employees—it may be different for each person—and reward them for good performance, learning new skills and going above and beyond the call of duty.

Love matters. Petting and “good boy/girl” makes dogs almost as happy as food does. Similarly, rewards to employees don’t always have to be tangible: Public praise, a sincere thank you or a nice note are all good ways to “mix it up” and leave them with a lasting memory they can be proud of.

Practice makes perfect. Successful dog training requires daily practice to get the behaviors cemented in the dog’s brain. If you’re training new employees—or teaching old employees something new—don’t expect them to conquer the new task immediately. It will likely take several practice runs to get it right.

We learn by doing. You can’t show a dog when to sit by telling him about it or waving your arms. You’ve got to make him do it until he understands. People learn by doing too, so don’t try to talk someone through a task or hand them a guidebook. Walk them through it so they’ll learn, then let them try themselves while you observe.

Keep a positive attitude. Dog training is supposed to be fun, so owners are told to keep it light and, if they’re in a bad mood, not to practice that day. Dogs pick up on your attitude—and so do people. As the leader of your business, you need to inspire and motivate, not discourage and scare your employees.

Sometimes you have to get tough. No dog owner likes squirting his or her dog with water or withholding a treat from a pair of big brown eyes, but sometimes “tough love” is necessary for the dog to learn. If employees are doing something wrong, you’re not doing them (or your business) any favors by failing to confront the situation—you’re just taking the easy (and possibly costly) way out.

Correct mistakes immediately. When dogs are rewarded for the wrong behavior, they learn to repeat it, so it’s crucial to correct errors right away. In the same vein, rewarding sloppy obedience work leads to a poorly trained dog. Quickly correct problems you see before employees develop bad habits that will be hard to break.

Get professional help. Yes, you can try to train your dog yourself, but it’s a lot easier with a professional guiding the way. If you’ve got tough tasks to teach employees or a sizable staff to train, consider getting professional help by enlisting training and education options from a consultant or your local community college, adult education program or professional or trade association.