If a company enjoys the trust of its employees, it has a economic advantage over other organizationsThis makes it all the more important for companies to maintain trust even when a decision has to be made within the company that is drastic or even risky for the team.
On the company side, this means taking responsibility, overseeing further processes and offering support. However, one group is unlikely to be impressed by this.
Those who are stuck in their jobs tend to react defiantly
A study by the University of Birmingham, which was Journal of Business Psychology shows that when it comes to employees who would actually like to quit but are forced to stay in their jobs due to external circumstances such as family, lack of alternatives or other hurdles, companies’ support efforts often come up against a brick wall.
On the contrary, those who feel stuck in their job are more likely to counter the critical decision and the resulting perceived injustice of the company with defiant reactions such as gossip, wasting time or violating the contract. The proportion of “stuck” employees is not exactly small: The University of Birmingham writes in a press release that more than half of the global workforce counts itself among this group.
“Our study found that after an employer makes a decision that compromises employee safety, overall positive perceptions of organizational support can reduce intentions to retaliate, but not among stranded employees,” said Solon Magrizos, one of the study’s co-authors.
Against defiance: “Clear and honest communication”
Specifically, Magrizos and his team presented 327 employees in the United States, who had varying levels of job satisfaction, with various scenarios regarding the coronavirus pandemic. In some of the scenarios, companies made decisions that were legal but came at the expense of employee safety.
The respondents were then asked to indicate on a scale the perceived support from the company on the one hand and their intentions to retaliate on the other. While the perceived support from the company mitigated the intentions to retaliate for some of the respondents, it had no balancing effect on “stuck” employees.
In fact, the study results even suggest “that the perception of general organizational support can increase the retaliatory intentions of those who would like to leave but cannot,” the press release states. It also makes it clear: “However, this does not mean that employers should not be supportive.”
Instead, according to the study authors, companies should “communicate clearly and honestly why decisions are made”. In the long term, the focus should be on “building better relationships with employees by giving them the opportunity to develop themselves and their careers, and allowing them to raise concerns that are then heard and addressed. Understanding employees who are stuck is key to improving negative feelings in the workplace”.
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