Month: July 2011

Polygraph Test in the Workplace

Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 (EPPA) prohibits  private employers from using lie detector tests for pre?employment screening or during the course of employment.

Polygraph tests can be administered to job applicants in the follwoing areas:

  1. security service firms (armored car, alarm, and guard) and
  2. pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, and dispensers.

In addition, subject to restrictions, the Act permits testing of  employees of private firms who are reasonably suspected of involvement in a workplace incident (theft, embezzlement, etc.) that resulted in specific economic loss or injury to the employer.

The act is administered by the Wage and Hourly Division of the US Department of Labor.

Motivation: The Art of Changing Behavior (part 1)

Psychologist David McClelland identified 3 things that motivate human behavior: 1) affiliation with people that leads to support and validation; 2) achievement and the satisfaction of success; and 3) influence over other people including control.

Every individual has some or all of the above three motivators working to reinforce their behavior. Combinations of the three can be stratified as primary and secondary. For example, in the context of the workplace, an individual might have influence as their  primary motivator and achievement as a secondary motivator. Awareness of your own motivators and those around you is important.

Self-awareness will help you to chart a proper course towards a role or organization that values and reinforces your deepest level of  motivation. Awareness of what motivates members of your team is about knowing what the carrot and stick looks like to them.

In my next post, I’ll add some more detail to the metaphor of  the carrot and stick.