Failing to provide critical information about a project. Spreading malicious rumors about co-workers. Destroy or steal company equipment. Giving classified product information to a competitor.
These are just a few of the ways I’ve seen employees engage with a company over perceived injustices. The whistleblowers do not speak that it happened (I’m suing because I lost my job or because I was sexually harassed) almost as much as they recount stories of inconsideration and interpersonal abuse (no one took my complaint seriously, I was thrown out the door accompanied by a security guard).
When employee trust is broken
In a work environment, retaliation occurs in response to breaches of trust, that is, when expectations about another person’s behavior are not met, or when that person does not act in accordance with one’s values. Violations of interpersonal justice, that is, how one expects to be treated, tends to evoke the strongest emotional responses, ranging from anger to moral outrage.
There is evidence, for example, that layoffs or dismissals do not themselves provoke violence. Rather, vengeful attitudes and behaviors result from the humiliation that occurs when dismissals are carried out in an abusive and callous manner. In fact, numerous studies have found a relationship between unpopular decisions or results (being fired, for example) and retaliation. only when there was anger about how the decision was carried out (was the person treated with respect?) and how it was made (was the decision-making process fair?).
More than 80% of workplace homicide cases involve employees who want revenge for what they perceive to be unfair or unfair treatment of them by their organizations. This is not to deny the role of individual differences and how they interact with different work situations. An exploding employee may have a higher level of aggression to contribute to the outburst.
Workplace Retaliation: Don’t Break Your Psychological Contract
Retaliation at work doesn’t just happen in response to abuse or interpersonal humiliation. It can also result from the perceived violation of a psychological contract, that is, the expectations that both employees and employees bring to the employment relationship that operate beyond the formal responsibilities of the job.
The currency of the psychological contract is not traditional compensation. Rather, it involves intangibles such as respect, non-harassment, recognition, ongoing, accurate, and up-to-date communications, and opportunities for growth and development. An abusive manager, unrealistic sales projections given to a candidate during a hiring interview, a complaint that falls on deaf ears—these are all things that can lead to a sense of betrayal and injustice, and fantasies of revenge.
Improve your equity ratio
Human resources can play a vital role in organizational justice by:
- Check all policies and work rules to ensure that there are procedures that create equity. The important ones focus on salary, diversity, etc. Review the decisions made in implementing these rules and general work practices to ensure that fairness and equality are explicit in all supervisory and management decisions about employees and their work.
- Including leadership and interpersonal skills in your managerial development program, including 360-degree evaluations by subordinates, co-workers, and management.
- Ensuring that all candidates receive “realistic job previews” (i.e., providing an accurate description of the job, organization, and opportunities, including positive and negative features).
- Provide multiple avenues for employees to address complaints (and the feelings associated with them). For example, in addition to formal grievance procedures, hire your EAP to give informal talks during corporate transitions and offer relocation services during layoffs.
The bottom line
“Revenge is a confession of pain,” says a Latin proverb. While there are many reasons employees engage in sabotage or aggressive acts in the workplace, Human Resources can play an active role in reducing the chances that it is in response to an unfair or abusive work environment.