Counterproductive behaviors at work: what they are, and characteristics

Although it is logical to think that all workers will always act in accordance with the interests of the company, this is not always the case.

let's find out What are counterproductive behaviors at work?, what characterizes this type of behavior, what are the contexts in which it occurs and who are the people most likely to commit it.

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What are counterproductive behaviors at work?

Counterproductive behaviors at work are those behaviors carried out by some employees, consciously and deliberately, and that collide head-on with the interests of the company, thus generating damage or loss at any of its levels. This behavior can be an isolated event or a constant that ends up assuming very serious figures in terms of repair costs for the damage caused.

Depending on the type of conduct and the intensity of the sabotage carried out by the employee, the company may have to face an economic unforeseen event, either directly, because it has to replace or repair the elements that have been damaged by the behavior of the worker in question, or indirectly, because it has stopped generating a certain wealth. Both cases involve a loss that generates damage to the company.

AND It is not only about economic losses, but counterproductive behavior at work also generates serious reputational problems, since the fact of having employees who deliberately boycott The company's actions are an obvious stain on the brand, and more resources must be allocated to recover the brand image that it had before said calamitous events. acts.

Another of the damages that these actions can entail is losing very valuable team members, since It is possible that the employees who have engaged in the counterproductive behaviors at work were previously highly efficient people. and bring great value to the company through their remarkable work. The reasons that could lead to such a radical change in attitude will be explored later.

Lastly, another of the negative effects that counterproductive behaviors can cause at work are the judicial repercussions, since if the company manages to demonstrate that one of its employees carried out actions with the objective of harm the company, it is most likely that they will choose to sue you and take you to court, so that justice imposes the sanction correspondent. But this scenario is still another setback for the company, which could have been avoided.

Types of Counterproductive Behaviors at Work

These behaviors can be categorized into different types, depending on their nature. Let's take a closer look at them.

1. thefts

The first of the types of counterproductive behaviors at work we have already anticipated, and it is about theft. Obviously, there are degrees, since This category encompasses everything from stealing a pen or other office supplies to stealing cash directly from the till.. The damage caused to the company will depend on the value of what was stolen, but it must not be forgotten that, ultimately, stealing is stealing, and any action of this nature is reprehensible.

To get an idea, according to an investigation, thefts by employees suppose, each year, losses of 40,000,000 dollars to American companies. This is a not insignificant figure that allows us to have a better perspective to understand the scope of this type of problem.

2. Sabotage

The second type of counterproductive behavior at work is sabotage. This conduct deliberately involves damage or destroy company material, or interfere so that processes lose efficiency in any way. Returning to the issue of ethics, sometimes the people who carry out these actions consider that they are totally justified.

In order to understand it better, we will give an example. Imagine an office worker who deliberately spills his coffee on the computer and causes irreparable damage. At first we would think that his behavior only seeks to harm, but his reasoning could be that this computer was already very old, had errors constantly and his superior did not provide him with one new.

So, ethically, the person would think that his behavior would not be sabotage as such, since he needed a computer in good condition to be able to work without problem and thus be more efficient. The truth is that an unexpected cost has been incurred by the company due to a deliberate action of the employee, so it would enter counterproductive behaviors at work.

Sabotage is not to be taken lightly. Together with thefts and other types of fraud against the company by internal personnel, it is estimated that these conducts generate from 10% to 20% of the total number of annual bankruptcies of companies in the United States, so they are factors to take into account, and companies must establish measures and awareness programs to prevent them from occurring, as far as possible. possible.

3. substance use

We enter a different terrain within counterproductive behaviors at work, and that is that the next item on the list refers to consumption of toxic substances, such as alcohol and drugs, within working hours, or before it, provided that the effects are located within the working time of the individual. It is an invisible problem, but very serious for some companies.

This type of behavior can generate losses of about 30 million dollars a year in the group of companies in the United States, since it entails an accumulation of loss of efficiency of the workers that ends up having repercussions in the processes of the organization and therefore also in its results (and in its benefits).

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4. Time-out

The last of the types of counterproductive behaviors at work would be the one that it has to do with inactivity within the working day, either in the form of unjustified absenteeism from the workplace, in more abundant and prolonged breaks than what is established by business regulations or even the performing other non-company tasks during work time, such as browsing web pages for personal purposes or constantly checking the phone mobile.

It is a time of work in which the activity that in principle should be being carried out is not being carried out and that Therefore, it supposes a notable decrease in the productivity of the employee, making it more and more difficult to achieve the achievements marked.

offender profile

For companies, it is vital to be clear about the profile of the worker who may engage in counterproductive behavior in the workplace. work and thus be able to anticipate these malicious actions, thus avoiding the terrible repercussions that we have known at the point former. It does not always have to meet the same characteristics, but there are some qualities that are often repeated among these individuals.

The first factor that usually appears is the lack of empathy, and it is that it is understood that the workers who try to boycott their own workplace, in general, have to have a level low empathy, since they fail to understand the needs of the company or identify them as their own, despite being part of she. On the contrary, they act against his interests, which, ultimately, would also be causing harm to himself.

However, research shows that these people are not always low in empathy, far from it. In some cases, employees who engage in counterproductive behavior at work have a high empathy rating. How is this explained, then? Here another factor comes into play, which is ethics, and that is something very personal.

The question is that, in the person's eyes, the actions he is performing may be perfectly ethical. If your moral code or your way of perceiving reality makes you understand that your counterproductive behaviors at work in In reality, they are completely justified behaviors, you will not have any ethical problem in carrying them out, because it will not entail a shock of beliefs.

This ethical justification can be real, because we believe that the actions are not harmful, or that pursue a greater good, or can even be constructed, as a form of self-regulation of the individual. In this case, what they will do is adapt their beliefs to the behavior carried out, so that there is no discrepancy that would lead to discomfort. That is precisely what is known as cognitive dissonance.

Finally, there is an important factor that should never be forgotten: boredom, or lack of motivation. Some behaviors, such as the ones we saw related to downtime, excessive consultation of the personal telephone, etc., are simply and simply because the worker is very unmotivated in front of her task and constantly seeks to escape from her through this type of Actions.

Bibliographic references:

• Bruursema, K., Kessler, S.R., Spector, P.E. (2011). Bored employees misbehaving: The relationship between boredom and counterproductive work behaviour. Work & Stress. Taylor &Francis.
• Fox, S., Spector, P.E., Goh, A., Bruursema, K., Kessler, S.R. (2012). The deviant citizen: Measuring potential positive relations between counterproductive work behavior and organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. Wiley Online Library.
• Omar, A., Vaamonde, J.D., Uribe, H. (2012). Counterproductive behaviors at work: design and validation of a scale. Diversitas: Perspectives in Psychology.