of performance management that the newspaper does address appropriately is that of shaping. Shaping is defined as a procedure that involves reinforcement of successive approximations leading to some behavioral objective or goal. This is quite effective in modifying and improving low performance and also in teaching new behaviors. For example, during my employment at the newspaper, low performance in customer relations was addressed immediately. This could deal with not calling the customer back within a certain amount of time or simply doing something without a one hundred percent effort. One of the last concepts of PM that I will address has to do with delivering consequences. Through my experience in working for the newspaper, I felt as if not enough consequences were given when it came to staff consistency in terms of one actually being at work. Through my own eyes, I saw many occurrences of people not showing up to work or always calling in. This made for hectic days for the rest of the department, especially if it was not foreseeable well in advance. Consequences were not delivered very often and people took advantage of that. A company must learn to deliver justifiable consequences in a timely manner to avoid conflicts later down the road. If individuals are not consequated for their wrong choice of actions the process will continue and relapse. ...
