Productive and Counterproductive Behaviors
Christopher Prue
PSY428
March 28, 2011
Catherine Jennings, MA

Productive and Counterproductive Behaviors Some people seem to do better at their jobs compared to others. People behavior at work can lead to success or failure. There are many studies to understand why some people do better than others. Some Studies have concentrated on productive and counterproductive behaviors. Define productive and counterproductive behavior. Productive behavior is behavior that contributes to the goals or objectives of the organization. When a new employees starts they are more a liability than an asset to the origination. People coming in to the organization need to be trained and socialized. (Jex & Britt, 2008). Organization socialization it he process of a new employee is becoming a fully fledge member of a company. Until socialization is complete the employee may not be fully productive. An example at FedEx Express is a new courier coming to the job. On average there is a month to two months of training before the courier is on the road by themselves. There is much training that goes into a new courier. The first is having the new driver to become DOT Certified. After that there is learning how to do the job. FedEx has a two-week class for couriers to learn the basics of the job. Then there is on the road training. This includes learning the route, how to interact with the customers. Even after the driver is on route by themselves, they may not be fully productive. Couriers often need time to acclimate to the new route. For a while they only do a part of a route, or given extra time to do the full route. Counterproductive behavior is when someone intently does something that will harm the organization. This includes include ineffective job performance, absenteeism, turnover, and unsafe behavior, theft, violence, substance use, and sexual harassment (Jex & Britt, 2008). “Examples of counterproductive work behaviors include working on personal matters instead of assigned tasks, neglecting supervisors' instructions, stealing property, starting or repeating rumors and gossip, and using unprofessional language. It is easy to see the multiple ways in which these counterproductive work behaviors can reduce both individual and group performance. Moreover, Dalal (2005) found that employees who frequently engaged in counterproductive work behaviors were also less likely to demonstrate OCBs” (Ng & Feldman, 2008, para. 393). Describe the impact that productive and counterproductive behaviors have on job performance and the overall performance of an organization. Job performance is behaviors that evaluated by the organization as part of the employee’s responsibilities and duties (Jex & Britt, 2008). Productive behavior by definition leads to the company goals it also needs to be efficient. Counterproductive behavior such as theft, cause the company to lose money. Most organization goal is to be profitable. Absenteeism can also lead to organization to lose money. A FedEx courier calls into work sick. Management needs to find a way to deliver and pick up packages from the absent employee. This could be accomplished by giving other drivers more packages to deliver. The problem could be if they give other drivers too many extra stops they may not be able to deliver them by the time commitment the shipper has paid for. The other solution for this problem would be to find someone else to deliver these packages. The problem with this solution is management is paying overtime to the driver. This cost more to deliver the package compared to if the regular diver was there. Turnover can be a positive or negative for an employee or the organization. Employees who leave their job for a better job would be positive for the employee. This may be a positive for the company as well. If the employee has been with the organization for a long time, he or she may be at the top of the pay scale. Chances are good possibility that the replacement for the employee leaving would get paid less. Turnover can also be good for the organization if the employee leaving has counterproductive work habits. An employee who is counterproductive can cost the organization money; if this employee leaves there is a chance that the new employee will be more productive. Safety is an issue in all organizations. Accidents and injuries cost companies money. There is lost production, and paying someone else to cover the assignments of the injured employees. Medical bills and care also cost the company money. Depending on the injury or accident OSHA may investigate and fine the organization. Recommend strategies to increase productive behavior and decrease counterproductive behavior in organizations. Many strategies to increase productive behavior and reduce counterproductive habits. This begins with organizations recruitment process. The first thing the organization must do is evaluate what skills they require for the position they are hiring for. During the interview they should check to make sure the candidates values align with organizational goals. This will lead to job satisfaction and productive behaviors. If an employee’s values differ from that of the organization this will cause conflict which, leads to counterproductive behavior. A good training and socialization program in place also reduces counterproductive behavior. If employees do not perform well in training programs, it is highly unlikely that they will use the knowledge to real work settings (Ng & Feldman, 2008). To reduced absenteeism organizations must have a clear policy on missing work. At FedEx all employees receive five paid sick days a year. There are restrictions on paid sick days. An employee can only use them if it is they if they are sick. Relatives and spouses that are ill do not qualify for paid sick time. This policy allows any employees to take days off for spouses and children who are ill, but an employee do not get paid for them. Any paid sick days that are not used are paid at the end of the year. Another way FedEx reduces absenteeism is though a bonus. If an employee has not used any paid sick time or have any unexcused absences, you not only get the five paid sick times, but also an additional three days of pay. An organization should have clear policies on counterproductive behavior. This would be disciplinarian actions for counterproductive behavior. This could include written warnings, suspension, and up to termination. With disciplinary actions can lead to no or lower pay increases. Some Organizations will use other ways to lead to an employee to leave the organization. One example would not to schedule an employee hours to work if he or she are an hourly employee. As an hourly employee would not receive working hours that translate to their pay, the employee would look for another job. People who have good productive behavior at work tend to feel part of the organization. This leads to better job satisfaction. The more efficient people are leads to increase pay performance and job promotions. People who engage in counterproductive activities tend to be unhappy with their job and normally results in leaving for another job.

References Ng, T. H., & Feldman, D. C. (2008). The Relationship of Age to Ten Dimensions of Job Performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(2), 392-423. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Jex, S. M., & Britt, T. W. (2008). Organizational Psychology. A Scientist-Practitioner Approach. Retrieved from https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/content/eBookLibrary2/content/eReader.aspx.