Productive & Counterproductive Behavior

Productive and Counterproductive Behavior

Productive behavior can be defined as when a person/employee acts in a specific way that produces an effectual behavior that in turn has a positive outcome. Counterproductive behavior is the time a person/employee acts in a way that goes against the ideas and goals of a group or organization. Both types of behavior can have an enormous impact on any organization, both negative and positive. Whether the effect is positive or negative depends completely upon the person or persons and the specific organization. The outcomes of both productive and counterproductive behavior can however, be manipulated around positive effects with certain strategies.

In an organization or group there will always be people who will have either one of two behaviors. They can either be a productive or a counterproductive behavior type. Those who obtain a productive behavior are likely to have a positive effect on an organization. For example, there are two employees in a clothing store with similarities in their sale figures, and they sell the same amount of a certain piece of clothing each month. The only difference in these two employees is that employee A works 10 hours each day and employee B works six hours every day. Employee B is the more productive employee because employee B accomplishes the same goal as employee A in fewer hours. There is a lower cost associated with employee B, therefore making him the more productive of the two employees. Efficient employees are productive because they complete large amounts of work in a short period.

Most employers want employees with productive behaviors because they tend to bring revenue for the organization. This is not necessarily true, though. A productive behavior, by definition, is behavior that contributes in a positive way to any goals and ideas set up by an organization. Therefore, simply by occupying one's time by doing something is not considered productive. However, the productivity of an employee can be measured by any cost that can be associated with the employee's personal performance and how effective that employee is in the work environment. This type of behavior can be encouraged by incentives and rewards for completing specific tasks and job-related duties efficiently and beneficially to the organization. By offering such treats, employees will be more apt to complete tasks in a productive and effective manner.

Strategies That May Increase Productive and Counterproductive Behaviors

The primary cause of a counterproductive behavior can be associated with an employee's lack of training in a certain area, employee turnovers, or simply an employee's attendance issues. The lack of happiness in the workplace could create a counterproductive behavior as well. To determine what specific causes may be attributed to an employee's counterproductive behavior