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Counterproductive Work Behaviour (CWB) is a problem that arises in the current workplace. It describes the actions of the employees, whether intentional or unintentional, that are likely to cause damage to the organisation, people, or culture in the organisation. From petty infractions to gross misconduct, such actions slowly undermine trust and efficiency, making them a major issue in any business of any size.
Recent surveys indicate that 75–80% of employees confess to having committed at least one Counterproductive behaviour in their careers. Such actions include being too late and obvious sabotage and are examples of the prevalence of CWB in any industry. Being so prevalent, organisations should realise that avoiding CWB may result in performance problems in the long run.
The Counterproductive Work Behaviour (CWB in full) is a set of actions identified by the purpose of doing bad to an organisation or those who are members. Such behaviours are stealing, sabotage, gap-plugs, absenteeism, disrespectful behaviour and withdrawal, all of which affect the workplace's performance, morale and organisational development.
Such counterproductive work behaviour is not accidental; it is a deliberate decision influenced by workplace factors like stress, poor leadership, and perceived unfairness. It directly impacts team collaboration ; ruins trust and may ultimately destroy the overall culture of an organisation if not managed carefully.
Other sources of Counterproductive work behaviour are often combinations of workplace stressors, injustice, bad leadership, and employee role misfit. Research has shown that 54% of U.S workers are facing job insecurity, a major indicator of such behaviours.
A supervisor’s disrespectful attitude can emotionally affect employees, creating unnecessary stress in the workplace. Over time, this often leads to retaliatory behaviour, frustration, and higher levels of unproductive actions, damaging both employee morale and organisational performance.
Frustration and disengagement that result in Counterproductive behaviour are supported by overload, hard deadlines and long hours; the leading cause of stress in 65% of the U.S. workforce.
Monotony in daily tasks and limited opportunities for growth often lead to boredom at work. When employees feel disengaged, they may start procrastinating, tuning out, or deliberately slowing down as a subtle form of silent protest against their situation.
Inequality about promotion, recognition and workload inspires resentment. Workers can counter such perceptions by acting slowly as a reaction or against organisational norms whenever they feel they are treated unfairly.
It has been identified that poor conscientiousness, role incongruency (discord between job demands and individual resources), or incongruency between values contribute to dissatisfaction. Consequently, many individuals turn to the bedroom as a coping or escape strategy.
Acts identified as counterproductive work behaviours occur in various ways, including current incidents of inefficiency and misbehaviour. These titles emphasise how slight or severe actions can hurt an organisation's productivity, workplace culture, and performance.
1. Production Deviance: This also incorporates behaviours which lower the efficiency of the work, e.g. deliberately working slowly, wasting or taking unnecessary breaks. Over time, such behaviours significantly diminish both the team’s productivity and overall performance.
2. Property Deviance: The employees might steal, abuse, or knowingly damage organisational assets. Not only would such behaviour result in financial loss, but it would also result in a trusting and insecure attitude towards colleagues.
3. Political Deviance: This includes social manipulation within the workplace, i.e. passing rumours, favouritism or accusing others. Political deviance destroys relations and disturbs a positive and cooperative work environment.
4. Personal Aggression: These acts include behaviours such as verbal abuse, harassment or bullying. Personal aggression has a direct negative impact on the psychological health of employees, which can lead to conflict, loss of talent, and organisational branding.
5. Withdrawal: Examples of withdrawal include acts such as absenteeism , recurrent lateness or lowered performance without explanation. Such an attitude undermines an organisation's performance and overworks the team's hard-working members, without providing a chance to be heard.
6. Misuse of Resources: This is present in most workplaces today and includes digital loafing, like variations of work time with social media, personal shopping, or entertainment. Research shows that this may reduce productivity by almost 40%.
Counterproductive work behaviours are evident in everyday job or workplace practices that may be ignored but are harmful. These cases demonstrate that something that is a small move when repeated can damage productivity, the morale of the employees, and the overall performance of an organisation.
Employees who make it a habit to take long time off or report late to work frustrate the working process and set bad examples to others. This type of behaviour decreases output, breeds contempt, and burdens the competent workers in the group.
Poor scheduling, added costs, and schedule slippage due to the deliberate or accidental destruction or abuse of operational equipment at the place of work. Sabotage not only affects productivity but also affects the level of trust and cooperation within the team.
Gossiping or discrediting others wastes time and affects trust, as well as cooperation, in an attempt to appear competent in the workplace. Such a culture creates hatred, refocuses personnel on other employees, and often causes a hostile work environment.
Verbal abuse or intimidation (also violent behaviour) poses a negative psychological safety threat by inspiring fear and withdrawal at work. In such a workplace, this unhealthy relationship may lead to stress, high turnover, and demoralisation.
Too much absenteeism without a justified cause undermines reliability and disrupts the team’s planning. Employees can easily get overwhelmed, and managers fail to enforce responsibility and predictability in performance.
One of the most popular counterproductive behaviour patterns is that of digital loafing. Personal internet use also reduces output and efficiency, with excessive browsing during work hours being a major contributor.
Counterproductive work behaviours can only be addressed through proactive efforts that promote accountability, better communication, and enhance a workplace culture. Through regular efforts, the organisations would manage to reduce disturbances and improve employee performance .
Acceptable workplace behaviours and acceptable performance levels should be clearly defined. However, when employees know what is expected, they become more accountable, and there is a low chance that other staff members will use counterproductive work behaviours.
Positive feedback allows workers to learn the effects of their actions on others. Consistently tracking performance aids in rectifying small problems before they develop into bigger counterproductive behavioural patterns.
Employees who feel that they belong to the work and are appreciated by the management are unlikely to perform most of the negative acts. Engagement schemes enhance motivation, loyalty and teamwork.
Skill-building programs fill in gaps in knowledge, which justify frustration and counterproductive behaviours. Workplace stress can also be reduced by providing employees with tools to assist them in dealing with such stress.
Consistent and well-defined discipline will prevent poor business practices. When policies are enforced at all organisational levels, employees will respect the rules because they will feel that everyone will be treated fairly.
Any place where open discussion occurs promotes trust and fewer misunderstandings. Employees will be less likely to participate in activities that destroy team harmony when they feel listened to.
The counterproductive work behaviour checklist assists organisations in detecting, tracking, and fixing employees' negative actions. It guarantees an orderly disciplinary approach to eliminating undesirable conduct and enhances equity, responsibility, and improved workplace behaviours.
This means that frequency and type of counterproductive behaviour should be documented, including lateness, absenteeism or incivility. These patterns can help companies pinpoint common problems and formulate specific remedial solutions.
Identifying workplace factors that lead to negative behaviours such as stress, conflict, or bad leadership is important. These triggers are useful in ensuring that managers address the root cause and not just address the issue observed.
The organisations should quantify the results of CWB in terms of decreased productivity, employee turnover, or low morale. These measures help the company understand the direct negative impact of performance and culture.
Keeping a record of remedial action, such as training, reminders, or mediation, is essential to accountability. Writing down interventions will also help organisations test which strategies effectively minimise counterproductive behaviours.
It is important to reappraise interventional behaviours. The follow-up enhances the accountability of employees and the application of unified behavioural change through a follow-up schedule that helps to track improvements over time.
Access to counselling, mediation, or stress management materials will assist workers in positively confronting issues. Provision of support shows that the organisation is concerned with the well-being of employees and long-term behaviour change.
