Introduction
Organizations strive each day to increase their asset base as well as increase revenue income, which has made it a culture for almost all organizations to measure success in terms of growth that they have achieved in a given period of time. Because of this, organizations have come up with a set of regulations and visions of what they would want to achieve within a specified period of time. This paper seeks to pin point those behaviors that enable achievement of the set visions and those that deter efficiency in the organizations.
Productive and Counterproductive Conducts
Productive behaviors are the codes of conduct in an organization which help in propelling the interests of the organization forward, and in most cases they bring about efficiency and smooth running operations in the organization (Griffith, 2006). Behaviors like proper time management, striving to surpass ones targets and assisting other employees in order to ensure timely accomplishment of tasks are considered productive.
On the contrary, counterproductive behaviors deter smooth running of the organization’s day to day activities eventually, preventing the organization from achieving its targets. These behaviors are also costly to the organization, because finances are used on unproductive employees who will rather gossip or even avoid coming to work instead of working hard to fulfill the vision of their organization.
They include not applying due diligence when performing duties, completing assigned duties late consistently, drug addiction and being antisocial at work place (Jex & Britt, 2008).
Impact on Job Performance and Overall Organizational Performance
Client satisfaction is the pillar of business in any organization since it attracts more customers, who will in turn increase turnover and income. Firms where productive behavior is practiced, will therefore have increased customer base due to customer satisfaction, and will grow at a higher rate while recording high and increasing revenue income (Jex & Britt, 2008).
Employees also have a conducive working environment given the friendly atmosphere and will become more productive. On the other hand, counterproductive behavior leads to failure of the organization to achieve its goals, while it contributes to customer loss to the organization.
Counterproductive behaviors are among the major causes of organizational failure in today’s world (Griffith, 2006). Since employees themselves are not on good terms, their productivity decreases because they cannot assist one another in any situation, and each employee may be looking for avenues of proofing how worthless the other employee is to the organization.
How to address these behaviors
Counterproductive behaviors sometimes emanate from organizational management to some extent, therefore it will be of great importance to address the issue of unfair treatment of employees if any in the organization; because if employees are treated unfairly they will also behave unfairly.
Motivations will also enable in both reducing counterproductive behaviors and fostering productive behaviors (Griffith, 2006). When a well performing employee is rewarded for example, those who are not performing to their best will want to be rewarded next time and therefore start giving their best in their duties, while those who were performing well will look for ways of remaining at the top.
When recruiting, it will be important to employ mechanisms which will enable detection of those who may be inclined to counter productivity and do away with them. Fair promotions based on performance will also go along way in ensuring that productive behavior is encouraged (Jex & Britt, 2008). In extreme cases, it might be beneficial for the organization to get rid of employees who consistently exhibit counterproductive behaviors, as this reduces unproductive employees and also gives a warning to others.
Conclusion
Productive and counterproductive behaviors are present in our organizations and it is upon the managers to see how to reduce the negative ones and foster the positive ones. Since employees are the major input that an organization can have, it is of significant importance to make sure that they are producing at their best, and they are in line with the company goals for success to be registered.
References
Griffith, L. R. (2006). A Closer Examination of Applicant Faking Behavior. Charlotte, NC: IAP.
Jex, M. S., & Britt, W. T. (2008). Organizational Psychology: A Scientist-Practioner Approach. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.