Negative behaviour at workplace undermines productivity
Individuals and groups of people employed by the government, institutions, private companies and other corporate organisations show certain negative behavioural patterns which do not promote the progress and development of such organisations.
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Some of the negative behaviours are absenteeism, pilfering, laziness and malingering, leaving the workplace before closing time, use of working hours to work lotto and other unofficial duties, alcoholism, lateness to work, doctoring of documents, watching television and listening to radio, and abuse/misuse of office equipment and materials.
Absenteeism
Some of the workers employed by private companies, the government, institutions and corporate organisations blatantly absent themselves from work. Majority of them do not have any tangible reasons or excuse for absenting themselves from work. This seriously affects productivity.
Pilfering
Some of the workers steal equipment, other items, materials and tools meant for production and others activities in bits and pieces or small quantities. Because they steal these things in small quantities, they are not easily noticed and caught. The activities of such people cause organisations to incur unnecessary costs and this has negative repercussions on the overall production cost of such organisations.
Laziness and malingering
By laziness and malingering I mean the situation whereby people get to the workplace but instead of discharging their duties and responsibilities as expected of them, they idle around. Such people move from one office to another to chat and gossip while others pretend to be sick or ill in order to avoid working.
Some workers habitually report very late to work every day. They are fully aware of the reporting time for work but have no regard for that time. Therefore, they report for work at any time.
Other workers choose to leave the workplace before the scheduled time for closing. Such workers find all kinds of excuses to leave the workplace earlier than the closing time. In most cases, they leave unnoticed.
Use of working hours for unauthorised activities
Some individuals or group of workers usually use working hours secretly to either work lotto or engage in other unauthorised activities. This is a major negative attitude at the workplace. Such people complain of inadequate remunerations, low motivation and poor incentives at the workplace as their reasons for engaging in unauthorised activities during working hours to earn money to supplement their salaries.
The use of alcohol is very common among the shop floor workers. Some of them get drunk during working hours and therefore cannot do any productive work during their shift. They cause blunders, accidents and those working with machines easily get injured. Most of such workers are often found sleeping at the workplace during working hours.
Other negative behaviours
Certain workers are in the habit of doctoring or altering entries in documents. They doctor official documents to their advantage in the form of financial rewards or their personal documents. Some of such documents include recruitment application forms, level of entry of workers at point of appointment, salary increments and personal information (e.g. dates of birth).
Most workers spend several hours watching television or listening to the radio at their offices or at the receptions of the organisations. They watch and listen to all kinds of programmes on various television and radio stations at their workplace instead of working.
Certain workers of organisations and enterprises misuse official vehicles, office equipment, materials and items in their care or at their disposal for private gains. They use A4 sheets, photocopiers, printers and others to do private work which put money into their pockets. Some of the workers take contracts for typing, printing and photocopying of examination questions for schools and institutions using office facilities and materials. Others use official vehicles for private trips and errands, especially at the weekends or during holidays.