10. Productive and Counterproductive Employee Behavior

10. PRODUCTIVE AND COUNTERPRODUCTIVE EMPLOYEE BEHAVIOR

PRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR

Ability and performance

Motivation and performance

Personal characteristics and performance

Personality

Big Five

Locus of Control

Age and performance: No relation

Job characteristics: Very small relations

Incentive systems: Effective

Design of technology: Effective

HUMAN FACTORS: THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY

Persontechnology interface (tools, machines, computers)

Physical interaction: Movement, manipulation and control of

physical objects

Communication: Exchange of information

Design of tools and equipment for people

Level of individual tool (screwdriver)

Level of entire system (factory)

Human capabilities

Perceptions (What can people sense and process?)

Sensory capabilities (threshholds)

Is it there?

What is it?

Accuracies of sense modalities

Motions (What can people manipulate and reach?)

Angles of reach

Distance of reach

Strength

Sizes of objects (chairs, consoles, cockpits)

Design of controls

Shape, location, resistance

Recognition (visual, touch)

Standardization (clockwise for left)

Natural motions (overlearning)

Cultural tendencies (Americans pass on right)

Judgments (What judgments can people make?)

What information is necessary for a decision?

Accuaracy of decisions

Ways of presenting information

Decision aids

Design of information systems

Computer hardware

Computer software

Telecommunications

ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR – OCB

Behavior that goes beyond job requirements

Another way to contribute to the organization

Dimensions

Altruism – helping others

Compliance – following rules

Individual vs. Organization beneficiary

OCB related to job satisfaction

Found in many diverse countries

Nigeria and Taiwan

Different factors related to different beneficiaries

Individual: Concern for others and empathy

Organization: Desire for recognition and equity

(McNeely & Meglino, 1994, Journal of Applied Psychology)

More likely in people who are collectivistic

COUNTERPRODUCTIVE WORK BEHAVIOR, CWB

Intentional behavior that harms the organization or organization members

Types

Aggression

Physical

Verbal

Sabotage

Theft

Withdrawal

Absence

Lateness

Turnover

Directed at

Organization

Sabotage

Theft

People

Coworkers

Subordinates

Supervisors

Clients/Customers

Extreme forms of direct violence are rare

1993 U.S.B.L.S.: 1,063 workplace homicides, 59 by employees

Indirect and hidden forms common

Employee theft accounts for more loss than shoplifting

Employee theft estimated at $200 billion/year

Hollinger (1986) stealing varied with industry

6.6% retail (merchandise)

27.3% hospital (supplies like linens)

14.3% manufacturing (raw materials)

Geddes (1994) manager national survey, response by employees

to negative feedback.

Pushed or shoved 3%, damaged my property 4%

Refused to perform assignment 19%, Absence 18%

Percentage of Participants Who Reported Doing Various CWBs

Started or continued a harmful rumor at work / 12.0%
Took money from your employer without permission / 7.9
Hid something so a supervisor couldn’t find it / 6.5
Hit or pushed a coworker / 3.8
Made an obscene gesture (the finger) to a coworker / 15.8%
Threatened a coworker with violence / 3.1
Insulted someone about their job performance / 23.6%
Ignored a coworker / 50.0
Started an argument with a coworker / 23.3
Insulted or made fun of a coworker / 31.2
Purposely did your work incorrectly / 10.3%
Purposely damaged a piece of property / 6.2
Been nasty or rude to a client or customer / 34.2
Purposely worked slowly / 28.4
Purposely wasted materials/supplies / 30.8%
Came to work late without permission / 52.1
Stayed home from work and said you were sick when you weren’t / 50.0
Tried to look busy while doing nothing / 64.0

(Fox, Spector, Miles, SIOP, 1999)
Causes of CWB

Person Vs. Situation

Certain types of people more likely to engage in these behaviors.

Delinquent personality:

Alienated

Hostility to rules

Poor impulse control

Social insensitivity

Integrity tests used to screen them.

Situation contributes to behaviors: Eliciting situations

Situations that are stressful

Situations that induce negative emotions such as anger

Situations that allow for little employee control

Culture that encourages CWB

Injustice: CWB to even the score

WORKPLACE MOBBING OR BULLYING

Form of psychological aggression aimed at an individual

Often involves a group of mobbers

Causes

General anxiety disorder in victim

Poor leadership and problems in the workplace

Bullies

Social system

Effects

Anxiety

Depression

Physical symptoms

Posttraumatic stress disorder

Suicide

Examples of Mobbing Behaviors

Ignoring the person

Insulting a person

Making negative comments to the person

Spreading false rumors

Not allowing the person to speak

Physical threats

Sexual harassment

Telephone terror

WITHDRAWAL

Absence

Different types

Illness

Nonillness

Only illness related to job satisfaction

Absence culture and policy important causes

Primary child care responsibility

Lateness

Failing to get to work on time

Many causes like absence

Culture important

Americans more prompt than Brazilians

Turnover

Job dissatisfaction major cause

Leads to search behavior and intent which result in turnover

Other reasons have other causes, e.g., injury

Search behaviors

Contact an employment agency

Prepare or revise a résumé

Send résumé to employer

Go on job interview