Positive Reinforcement: It's not just for the dogs!

There’s a lot of buzz in the dog training world about using positive reinforcement—reward-based training—to teach our furry friends to do all manner of things. Positive reinforcement can be described as giving a reward when the desired behavior occurs. An example in the workplace would be a sales team getting a bonus for hitting their sales goal for the quarter. Popular parenting and management techniques will often fall into one of those categories. If we want a child to eat all their veggies, a reward of dessert will be promised. The best part about using positive reinforcement is that it makes the person or animal receiving the reward feel good, which prompts them to continue performing the behavior(s) that earned them the reward. 

In the workplace, management can positively reinforce employees by providing bonuses, raises, verbal praise, recognition, additional benefits, and empowerment. Positive reinforcement does not need to be limited to those examples; providing chances for employees to blow off steam in a fun way with coworkers can also be great at boosting morale!

Freedom Service Dogs and Paws With A Cause gives employees a chance to engage with their coworkers outside of their usual work duties. Freedom Service Dogs has done a scavenger hunt of seed packets on Earth Day as a fun way to get employees out from behind their desks and stretching their legs. As an added incentive, some of the seed packets had gift cards attached! They also have a regular Yappy Hour which includes snacks, mingling, and celebration of the month’s birthdays. The Yappy Hours have had some themes to encourage participation, such as “Tie-Dye” and “Lumber Jack”. These events are inter-department, allowing coworkers to catch up with people they may not see regularly in their day to day activities. 

Paws With A Cause gives individual departments the opportunity to decide what kind of team bonding activity they’d like to do as often as once a month, in addition to having these events include multiple departments and all-staff events. Some teams have chosen to spend that allotted time volunteering for local food pantries, doing a seasonal activity like picking pumpkins, or something as simple as going out to grab coffee & donuts. An aim of these choices offered for these events is to have different departments getting together at least once annually. These team bonding days occur during working hours to ensure everyone is able to participate and has the added bonus of employees getting to enjoy “playing hooky” for part of the day. 

When picking an activity, it’s important to take into account everyone’s preferences and find out what people find energizing. After all, we want these activities to be rewarding to the people participating in them. While one person might think playing a game or competition that requires teamwork is good for getting people out of their shell, it could be a source of stress and be draining for the more introverted folks. Activities that allow for parallel play such as puzzles or coloring books may seem silly, but the purpose of this time is to give people a chance to engage with one another in a way that takes the focus away from office talk. It is crucial to involve employees when deciding on activities to ensure they have a voice in how this time will be spent. Always keep in mind one of the most important  factors of positive reinforcement: only the receiving person or animal can decide what counts as a reward!

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Haley Gorenflo is the Foster Puppy and Staff Trainer at Paws With A Cause. Training animals was a childhood dream that fell by the wayside until I took an internship on a whim at a conservation facility. During that internship I learned all about clicker training, behavior modification, and animal care. While that program was working with captive canids such as wolves, coyotes, and foxes, it launched me into a dog training career. After working with pet dogs and their owners for a few years, I have found a deeper joy in training assistance dogs. My goal is to enhance the lives of those in need of an assistance dog by applying my passion, kindness, and drive to learn in every dog I train. I have a Golden Retriever at home, Joe, and a cat, Artemis. In my spare time I enjoy finding new things to enrich my animals at home, reading, and watching horror movies.