PLEASE VISIT OUR SPONSORS

Performance Management

Published September 2009

Mitigate Employee Deviance

 

  John W. Jones, Ph.D.

According to the 2009 Human Capital Research Report, historically, employee deviance — particularly theft, unethical behavior and policy compliance failures — increases during economic downturns.  

Traditional loss prevention and HR policies that focus on employee ethics and misconduct alone are not enough to confront the employee deviance challenge. See Figure 1 An organization's first and best line of defense should include pre-employment assessment systems that screen out job applicants at greatest risk. Alan Frost, director of learning and organizational development at Collective Brands Inc./Payless ShoeSource said, "Talent managers must play an integral role in ensuring that only the most honest and ethical employees are recruited and selected, so that their talent development and advancement efforts always center on the very best human capital."

Employee Deviance Triggers

To appropriately address the problem, talent managers need to understand the underlying societal and corporate triggers that contribute to employee deviance, and adopt a risk management mindset when selecting and developing talent.

Societal Triggers

1. Stress and disgruntlement: With the recession, employees feel heightened levels of stress and frustration. These feelings can fuel counterproductivity, especially in employees who already endorse tolerant attitudes toward workplace deviance.
2. Financial need: During the current economic collapse, employees lost a tremendous amount of wealth due to devaluation of their homes, investment losses, frozen salaries and benefits, and increased prices of basic commodities such as gasoline and food.
3. Highly visible corruption cases: Over the past few years, leading politicians, investment fund managers and corporate executives have been arrested for fraud and embezzlement. Awareness of such acts of fraud makes it easier for employees to rationalize engaging in acts of counterproductivity themselves.
4. Failing regulatory agencies: When regulatory agencies failed in the mortgage and investment banking sectors, to name a couple, people lost confidence in the systems of checks and balances that protect their assets. They wonder if fraud is to blame. They might act out against the "establishment," including their employer, to get even and recoup their losses.

1. Minimized risk management: Talent managers typically use selection systems that address positive worker attributes — service orientation and productivity — aligned with their employer brand. Companies that forsake screening applicants on tendencies to engage in on-the-job theft and counterproductivity minimize the need for no-nonsense risk management programs.
2. Less supervision coverage: Many companies have downsized severely and have an inadequate number of supervisors on the floor to deter employee deviance.
3. Disheveled facilities: Corporations have tightened their belts and forgone investing in their facilities and stores' appearances. Even regular maintenance has been cut back. Yet, any form of perceived social disorder at an organization can trigger acts of crime and deviance.
4. Perceptions of unethical leaders: Leadership at many firms is under fire, not only among employees but by the U.S. Senate and the President's Office. Many of the current leaders are being labeled irresponsible and even unethical and are blamed for drastic sales and earnings declines, lack of innovative products and services, and not having compelling answers to turn around their organizations.

Employee Deviance Risk Exposures