Workplace deviance, in

group psychology Group dynamics is a system of behaviors and psychological processes occurring within a social group (''intra''group dynamics), or between social groups ( ''inter''group dynamics). The study of group dynamics can be useful in understanding decision- ...

, may be described as the deliberate (or intentional) desire to cause harm to an organization – more specifically, a workplace. The concept has become an instrumental component in the field of

organizational communication Within the realm of communication studies, organizational communication is a field of study surrounding all areas of communication and information flow that contribute to the functioning of an organization. Organizational communication is const ...

. More accurately, it can be seen as "voluntary behavior that violates institutionalized norms and in doing so threatens the well-being of the organization".Griffin and O'Leary-Kelly

Reasons

Psychological contract

Employees often create a set of expectations about their workplace; people tend to make psychological contracts with their organizations. When his or her expectations are not met, the employee may "perceive a psychological contract breach by their employers".Chiu and Peng This "breach" of the psychological contract then presents potential problems, particularly in the workplace. Workplace deviance may arise from the worker's perception that their organization has mistreated him or her in some manner. Employees then resort to misbehaving (or acting out) as a means of avenging their organization for the perceived wrongdoing. Workplace deviance may be viewed as a form of negative reciprocity. "A negative reciprocity orientation is the tendency for an individual to return negative treatment for negative treatment".Mitchell and Ambrose In other words, the maxim "an eye for an eye" is a concept that some employees strongly feel is a suitable approach to their problem. However, what is critical in understanding employee deviance is that the employee perceives being wronged, whether or not mistreatment actually occurred.

Abusive supervision

Workplace deviance is also closely related to abusive supervision. Abusive supervision is defined as the "subordinates' perceptions of the extent to which their supervisors engage in the sustained display of hostile verbal and nonverbal behaviors". This could be when supervisors ridicule their employees, give them the

silent treatment Silent treatment is the refusal to communicate verbally and electronically with someone who is trying to communicate and elicit a response. It may range from just sulking to malevolent abusive controlling behaviour. It may be a passive-aggressiv ...

, remind them of past failures, fail to give proper credit, wrongfully assign blame or blow up in fits of temper.James Larsen Abusive Supervision Article No. 309 Business Practice Findings It may seem like employees who are abused by their supervisor will either directly retaliate or withdraw by quitting the job but in reality many strike out against their employer by engaging in organizational deviant behaviors. Since employees control many of the organization's resources, they often use, or abuse anything they can. This abuse of resources may come in the form of time, office supplies, raw materials, finished products or the services that they provide. This usually occurs in two steps. First step is that commitment is destroyed and employees stop caring about the welfare of the employer. The second step is that the abused employee will get approval (normally implied) of their coworkers to commit deviant acts. Workplace experiences may fuel the worker to act out. Research has been conducted demonstrating that the perception of not being respected is one of the main causes for workplace deviance; workplace dissatisfaction is also a factor. According to Bolin and Heatherly, "dissatisfaction results in a higher incidence of minor offenses, but does not necessarily lead to severe offense". An employee who is less satisfied with his or her work may become less productive as their needs are not met. In the workplace, "frustration, injustices and threats to self are primary antecedents to employee deviance". Although workplace deviance does occur, the behavior is not universal. There are two preventive measures that business owners can use to protect themselves. The first is strengthening the employee's commitment by reacting strongly to abusive supervision so that the employee knows that the behavior is not accepted. Holding the employee at high esteem by reminding them of their importance, or setting up programs that communicate concern for the employee may also strengthen employee commitment. Providing a positive ethical climate can also help. Employers can do this by having a clear code of conduct that is applied to both managers and employees alike.

Types

Workplace deviance may be expressed in various ways. Employees can engage in minor, extreme, nonviolent or violent behavior, which ultimately leads to an organization's decline in productivity. Interpersonal and organizational deviance are two forms of workplace deviance which are directed differently; however, both cause harm to an organization.

Interpersonal deviance

Interpersonal deviance can occur when misconduct "target(s) specific stakeholders such as coworkers".Pulich and Tourigny Behavior falling within this subgroup of employee deviance includes gossiping about coworkers and assigning blame to them. These minor (but unhealthy) behaviors, directed at others, are believed to occur as some employees perceive "a sense of entitlement often associated with exploitation". In other words, they feel the need to misbehave in ways that will benefit them.

Organizational deviance

Deviant behavior typically aimed directly at the organization is often referred to as organizational deviance. Organizational deviance encompasses production and property deviance. Workplace-deviant behavior may be expressed as tardiness or excessive absenteeism.Everton et al These behaviors have been cited by some researchers as "withdraw(al) behaviors…such behaviors allow employees to withdraw physically and emotionally from the organization".

Silence

Employee silence is also considered a deviant behavior in the workplace, falling into the realms of both interpersonal and organizational deviance. Silence becomes employee deviance when "an employee intentionally or unintentionally withholds any kind of information that might be useful to the organization". The problem occurs if an employee fails to disclose important information, which detrimentally affects the effectiveness of the organization due to poor communication.

Coworker backstabbing

Coworker backstabbing occurs to some degree in many workplaces. It consists of an employee's doing something to another employee to get a "leg up" on the other employee. Strategies used for backstabbing include

dishonesty Dishonesty is to act without honesty. It is used to describe a lack of probity, cheating, lying, or deliberately withholding information, or being deliberately deceptive or a lack in integrity, knavishness, perfidiosity, corruption or treacherousn ...

blame Blame is the act of censuring, holding responsible, or making negative statements about an individual or group that their actions or inaction are socially or morally irresponsible, the opposite of praise. When someone is morally responsible fo ...

(or

false accusation A false accusation is a claim or allegation of wrongdoing that is untrue and/or otherwise unsupported by facts. False accusations are also known as groundless accusations or unfounded accusations or false allegations or false claims. They can occur ...

discrediting A smear campaign, also referred to as a smear tactic or simply a smear, is an effort to damage or call into question someone's reputation, by propounding negative propaganda. It makes use of discrediting tactics. It can be applied to individual ...

others and taking credit for another's work. Motives for backstabbing include disregarding others' rights in favor of one's own gain,

self-image Self-image is the mental picture, generally of a kind that is quite resistant to change, that depicts not only details that are potentially available to an objective investigation by others (height, weight, hair color, etc.), but also items that h ...

management, revenge,

jealousy Jealousy generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety. Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness or disgus ...

, and personal reasons.

Cyber loafing

A novel form of workplace deviance has emerged in recent years, as technology becomes a bigger part of people's work lives. Internet workplace deviance (or "cyber loafing") has become another way for employees to avoid the tasks at hand. This includes surfing the web and doing non-work-related tasks on the internet such as chatting on social-networking sites, online shopping and other activities.

Production deviance

All behaviors in which deviant employees partake ultimately have a negative impact on the overall productivity of the organization. For this reason, all are considered production deviance. Production deviance is "behavior that violates formally prescribed organizational norms with respect to minimal quality and quantity of work to be accomplished as part of one's job".

Property deviance

More serious cases of deviant behavior harmful to an organization concern property deviance. Property deviance is "where employees either damage or acquire tangible assets…without authorization". This type of deviance typically involves theft but may include "sabotage, intentional errors in work, misusing expense accounts", among other examples.

Other types

Deviant behavior can be much more extreme, involving sexual harassment and even

violence Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened ...

. All these deviant behaviors create problems for the organization. It is costly for an organization to pay employees who are not working efficiently.

Reducing

The relationships employees have with their organization are crucial, as they can play an important role in the development of workplace deviance. Employees who perceive their organization or supervisor(s) as more caring (or supportive) have been shown to have a reduced incidence of workplace-deviant behaviors. Supervisors, managers and organizations are aware of this, and "assess their own behaviors and interactions with their employees and understand while they may not intend to abuse their employees they may be perceived as doing so…".

Organizational justice Greenberg (1987) introduced the concept of organizational justice with regard to how an employee judges the behavior of the organization and the employee's resulting attitude and behaviour. For example, if a firm makes redundant half of the worker ...

and the organizational climate are also critical, since the quality of the work experience can impact employee behavior in the workplace. Organizational justice may be organized into three subcategories: procedural, distributive and interactional justice. *

Procedural justice Procedural justice is the idea of fairness in the processes that resolve disputes and allocate resources. One aspect of procedural justice is related to discussions of the administration of justice and legal proceedings. This sense of procedura ...

is concerned with how the decision-making process was made. * Distributive justice, on the other hand, considers the actual decision. *

Interactional justice Interactional justice is defined by sociologist John R. Schermerhorn as the "...degree to which the people affected by decision are treated by dignity and respect" (''Organizational Behavior'', 2013). The theory focuses on the interpersonal treatme ...

involves the interpersonal relationship and sense of fairness which employees have with supervisors and other authority figures within the organization.Harris and Ogbonna Research indicates that procedural justice (combined with interactional justice) is beneficial in reducing workplace-deviant behavior. Employees who are consulted (and given an opportunity to be involved in the decision-making processes at their organization) are less likely to act out, since their voices are valued. Workplace deviance is a phenomenon which occurs frequently within an organization. Ultimately, it is the managers' and the organization's responsibility to uphold the norms to which the organization wishes to adhere; it is the organization's job to create an ethical climate.Litzky et al If organizations have authority figures who demonstrate their ethical values, a healthier workplace environment is created. "Research has suggested that managers' behavior influences employee ethical decision-making". Employees who perceive themselves as being treated respectfully and valued are those less likely to engage in workplace deviance.

Footnotes

References

*Bennett and Robinson (2003) *Bolin, A. and Heatherly, L . ( 2001). Predictors of Employee Deviance: The Relationship between Bad Attitudes and Bad Behaviors." ''Journal of Business and Psychology'', 15(3), pg 405. *Chiu. S and Peng, J. (2008) "The relationship between psychological contract breach and employee deviance: The moderating role of hostile attributional style." ''Journal of Vocational Behavior'', 73 (4), 426-433. *Everton, W.J., et al. (2007). "Be nice or else: understanding reasons for employee's deviant behaviors." ''The Journal of Management Development''. 26 (2), 117. *Griffin, R.W. and O'Leary-Kelly, A.M. (2004). ''The Dark Side of Organizational Behavior''. () Wiley, New York. *Harris, L.C. and Ogbonna, E. (2006). "Service Sabotage: A Study of Antecedents and Consequences." ''Academy of Marketing Science Journal''. 34(4), 543-599. *Hollinger, R. and Clark, J. (1982)." Employee Deviance: A response to Perceived Quality of the Work Experience." ''Work and Occupations'', 9 (1), 97-114. *Litzky, B.E., et al. (2006). "The Good, the Bad, and the Misguided: How Managers Inadvertently Encouraged deviant Behaviors" ''Academy of Management Perspectives'', 13 (5), 91-100. *Malone, Patty. "Coworker Backstabbing: Strategies, Motives, and Responses" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, TBA, San Francisco, CA, May 23, 2007 *Mitchell, M. and Ambrose, M.L. (2007). "Abusive Supervision and Workplace Deviance and the Moderating Effects of Negative Reciprocity Beliefs." ''Journal of Applied Psychology'', 92 ( 4), 1159-1168. *Pulich, M. and Tourigny, L. (2004). "Workplace deviance: Strategies for Modifying Employee Behavior." ''The Health Care Manager'', 23 (4), 290-301. *Tangirala, Subrahmaniam, and Rangaraj Ramanujam. (2008): "Employee Silence on Critical Work Issue: The Cross Level Effects of Procedural Justice Climate." ''Personnel Psychology'', 61 (2), 40-68. *Zoghbi-Manrique-de-Lara, P. (2006) "Fear in Organizations, Does intimidation by formal punishment mediate the relationship between interactional justice and workplace internet deviance?" ''Journal of Managerial Psychology'', 21( 6), 580. {{DEFAULTSORT:Workplace Deviance Deviance (sociology) Human behavior Workplace Workplace bullying