Influence in the Workplace: How to Change Employee Behavior

Behavior is at the core of organizational culture, so it should come as no surprise that influencing the behavior of others is a critical component of a business’ culture journey. But how do you do that?

Understanding how to influence the behaviors of your team for the better is a key component of effective modern leadership. It helps achieve team synergy, encouraging each individual to buy into the work they are doing and support one another, as well as wider company goals. In this article, we will focus on equipping your leaders to use their influence to help increase team efficiency and employee engagement. Discover practical examples of how influence can shape a positive working environment.

What is influence in the workplace? 

Workplace influence is used to affect the actions and behaviors of team members. It is a vital aspect of effective leadership and helps build trust within the organization. It is important that you do not confuse influence with manipulation. Influence is all about persuading and guiding others towards positive habits and behaviors, and is built on trust. It is about employees buying into the work they are doing and genuinely caring about making a change. Whereas, manipulation suggests deception and coercion.

Why is influence important in an organization?

Influence is important, as it helps to naturally drive your team towards positive outcomes, helping them realise their true potential. It also establishes trust between team members and their leadership, fostering a collaborative and open working environment.

Practical examples of influence in the workplace include:

• Pitching a new idea by clearly articulating its benefits in alignment with company goals.
• Managing change effectively by communicating the reasons for the change, addressing concerns and demonstrating a positive attitude to the change.
• Resolving team conflict by facilitating open and honest communication to understand both sides. You can also suggest collaborative solutions that benefit both parties.
• Advocating for inclusive policies and sharing educational resources to encourage a positive team approach.
• Motivating your team members through recognition and setting an example of positive work ethic and commitment, as well as establishing a collaborative, supportive environment.

Who is responsible for influencing team and employee behavior?

Leaders are the key element in influencing and shaping employee behavior. Most leaders are fully aware that they need to influence the behaviors of their direct reports as well as other staff if they want to lead a successful business. However, many feel ill-equipped to do this.

Leadership development and training activities are commonplace in most businesses, but they often focus on hard skills and much less on soft skills. When they do, they often deal with practical issues, such as managing conflict, giving feedback, or building consensus in a team. Whilst those are useful tools to have, they are not quite enough to start influencing behaviors at a deeper level.

What leaders can do to influence behavior

Influencing behavior is easy because you don’t need to learn new skills. At the same time it is tricky because it is something you need to do all the time. Not every morning, or at certain times, but on a continual basis. 

Influencing behavior is not about hard skills, but much more about understanding oneself and understanding one’s impact on the social dynamics at play in the organization. Here are some of the things that you, as a leader, can start doing immediately to influence the behavior of the people around you.

Be a role model

This is where it all starts. Role model the behaviors you want to see others adopt, and you will see a big difference. However, you need to do this consistently, over time. If you slip from time to time, or even just once on a key behavior, you risk losing the result of all your hard work.

Choose your symbols carefully

Symbols are all the little (or big) things you do and which send a strong message. For example, the language you use is one symbol that is easy to change. How you spend your time and what you spend your budget on sends a strong signal about what you value.

By reinforcing your messages with well-chosen symbols, you will speed up the adoption of certain behaviors. When selecting symbols, you should pay attention to the cultural context you operate in because it may change how people perceive them. For example, speaking up freely in Indonesia will be frowned upon unless you have made it clear that it is expected in the organization.

Think before making decisions

Every decision you make sends a message about what is important. Where you focus your energy will focus the energy of others, so pay attention – and make wise decisions.

A client of mine wanted to increase accountability and empowerment and decided to abolish the Leadership Team as a decision-making body, pushing the decision-making down in the organization. This was reinforced with clear communication explaining why the decision was made. This initiative sent shock waves through the business, and people started taking accountability.

Set-up behavioral standards

Standards of behavior are essential in helping people understand what the behavior means and how to apply it. For example, for a behavior such as “Dress appropriately”, you may establish a standard like “Always wear a suit and tie when meeting clients”.

Develop great habits

Habits are behaviors that have become unconscious over time. Identify the habits that need to be changed around you and help people to adopt the new routine. For example, you may want to change meeting times, location, or agendas.

Consider social dynamics at play

All the above actions need to be considered in the context of the environment that you operate in.

• What are the pressures that staff are experiencing and is this impacting how they behave?
• Are staff rewarded on individual commissions and sales whilst you are trying to develop a collaborative culture?

If so, you need to tweak/adapt/review your decisions, symbols, or standards.

• Are you a subsidiary or a Region of a large multinational firm, whose culture works contrary to the behaviors you are trying to shift?

If so, how can you take this into account and make sure that your message is still heard?

Put yourself in your team’s shoes

At the end of the day, what matters is not so much the messages that you send, but how they are received. For example, you may be wondering why you have been doing what you consider to be the right thing for 12 months, and your staff have not changed yet. This may mean that you need to adopt an outside-in view of your leadership. Essentially, you need to forget the leader you are. Instead, put yourself in the shoes of your direct reports or colleagues, and see the world through their eyes. How does the environment distort the messages you’ve been sending?

Get an expert perspective

Ultimately, influencing behavior is only possible when:

1. You are focussing on a very small number of behaviors
2. Those behaviors make sense to the business and to individuals
3. You are a role model for these behaviors
4. You have studied the social dynamics at play and have made sure that the messages are heard correctly
5. You are self-aware and manage the symbols you send and the decisions you make strategically.

If you are still unsure about how to influence behavior after reading this blog, we are here to help. We can help your leaders become effective pioneers of your desired behaviors.

For further insights, view our selection of case studies, ebooks, reports and white papers or contact us to learn how we can transform your culture.