Organizations nowadays have less slack, and they have to carefully manage their resources. In this article, we describe an omnipresent, yet an often ignored resource usage issue whereby some workers abandon particular responsibilities and use the freed-up time to pursue personal interests such as hobbies and side companies. In essence, these "time bandits" work part-time in exchange for full-time pay.
Particularly, banditry sabotages an organization's mission, morale, and productivity, in addition to setting stakeholder support at risk. In an attempt to address this problem, we offer insights in three areas. First, we identify key reasons for banditry, including supervisors not enforcing performance standards, badly built reward systems, and the failure to recognize individual differences when designing jobs. We describe reasons why banditry is born within organizations, like managers' want to prevent conflict and their fear of being labeled as hypocrites. Included in these are carefully defining expectations, quickly when the symptoms of banditry appear intervening, reducing bandits' compensation with time, and designing jobs that capitalize on individuals' diverse skills and motivation.
PUBLICATION DATE: March 01, 2008 PRODUCT #: BH272-HCB-ENG
This is just an excerpt. This case is about LEADERSHIP & MANAGING PEOPLE
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