 insects that are still around at that time of the year.
Sasha Bowers, 13, of Columbus, Ohio, an eighth-grader at Norton Middle School, developed a summerlong program of weekly activities for more than 250 children living at homeless shelters in the Columbus area. As a shelter resident herself, Sasha had enjoyed field trips to a local park, but thought they could be made more fun and educational. When she learned that volunteers were being recruited to work with homeless children, she figured there was no reason why she couldn’t help. “I realized that even if I was homeless, I could still help other people, too,” she said. She organized a planning committee with other kids at her shelter, developed ideas for a summer program, and sought donations from a variety of organizations. Sasha also promoted the program through media interviews, recruited and managed other volunteers, and arranged for supplies and transportation. Then every Monday last summer, Sasha and her helpers hosted a “learning day” at the park for homeless kids, featuring gardening, fishing, educational tours, environmental readings and wildlife lectures. At summer’s end, the program culminated with a big party for the kids, complete with entertainment, crafts, games and gifts. “No matter what situation you are in, you can always help make things better for others,” said Sasha.Skip to 0 minutes and 10 secondsI feel that organisational misbehaviour is quite a subjective subject in its own right and an example of where we have had to deal with say individuals that we perceive are misbehaving and that could be an example of poor attendance etc. It is how we deal with that, what’s the process we go through to ensure that we are addressing it effectively both for the organisation and for the individual.
Skip to 0 minutes and 41 secondsSo, if an individual is not attending work regularly one of the first things I would do is go and talk to the people that are working with that individual on a day to day basis, so they could be involved in the same project or they’re just in the same locality, they might have tuned into something that’s not quite right. From that point if there is something that’s not quite right I would possibly have to start the process off by having an informal conversation with the individual to see what’s going wrong. It could be a personal issue, it could be a professional issue, we don’t know at that stage.
Skip to 1 minute and 17 secondsAnd from that point onwards, you know, we may have to go into sort of a more formal process of dealing what the issue is. They could be going through some mental health issues or issues at home and ultimately some people might have their own agenda, they might feel that their psychological contract has been breached and then they are like a bad apple within your team and they can be disruptive and talking about organisational misbehaviour and its about trying to nip that in the bud before it progresses. If it’s a personal issue that person might need some time. It could be that we need to put some kind of support mechanism or help in place.
Skip to 2 minutes and 5 secondsBut on the flip side if that person is actually poor attending, we may have to go down the more formal route of clearly identifying the times that person isn’t attending so starting to gather evidence. We would do that as a background task and then from that point onwards if it continues through a period of time, so in that period of time we would expect to have further conversations with that individual. If it persists then the ultimate route is to start to make things more formal and potentially disciplinary. Throughout my experience the most important aspect of organisational misbehaviour, how to deal with that appropriately is having robust policies and procedures.
Skip to 2 minutes and 51 secondsHaving support from ACAS is key, looking at their guidance and support and actually going to an Employment Tribunal. I have been in an Employment Tribunal myself for unfair dismissal and it is quite an experience to be cross-examined when things have gone wrong so my advice if you are interested in becoming a manager is go to an Employment Tribunal, so you can have a look at the aspects of that environment. And listen to your employees. If you treat them how you expect to be treated, you won’t go far wrong and its all about that psychological contract with an employee and knowing the warning signs.
The role of managers
What is the role of managers in addressing the issue of misbehaviour?
Should managers just focus on responding to issues of misbehaviour as they occur, or should they try to prevent misbehaviour from occurring, which means starting during the recruitment and selection process?
Within academia and practice, the debate is ongoing as to whether organisations and managers should focus their effort on responsive or preventive activities.
Watch the video in which line managers share their experiences on how they have dealt with misbehaviour at work.
Other ways that managers and organisations could handle or prevent misbehaviour include:
- screening potential employees
- informative training on acceptable and unacceptable behaviours
- creating a code of conduct
- leading by example
Your task
Having watched the video of line managers talking about their role in addressing organisational misbehaviour, what are some of the key messages you have picked up?
What do you think the role of a line manager is and what course of action would you take to manage, prevent, control or respond to misbehaviour that occurs in the workplace?
You may like to draw examples from your own experiences.
Don’t forget to capture your thinking in your learning log or portfolio.
© Coventry University. CC BY-NC 4.0Tales from the Yoga Studio by Rain Mitchell. This is the story of the entwined lives of various women who attend a yoga studio together. It was a light, fun (very quick) read. Nothing life changing but I liked it. My rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. For this one, I should say, “finished” lately. Because I started this last year. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it – I really really did – but it just didn’t hook me. I still give it 5 out of 5 stars. Totally fascinating.
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling. I got this hardback book for my birthday last September. As a huge Harry Potter fan, I was super excited for it to come out but I was disappointed. It was VERY difficult to get into and I finally gave up after about 120 pages. And from what I’ve heard, it’s not worth plugging through. Bummer.
The Fault in our Stars by John Green. This is a story about teenagers who have cancer so I was expecting it to be devastatingly depressing but it wasn’t. Sad, yes, but also humorous and insightful. It hooked me and I read it in less than a week. 4 out of 5 stars.
Now I’m currently reading Bossypants by Tina Fey. So far, pretty good. I like how she addresses serious issues with humor.
Also reading Inside Out Weight Management by my lovely friend Meg Cline!
Next up on my Kindle: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do and Committed: A Love Story (the next book from the author Eat Pray Love).
I am not and have NO plans to become a parent anytime soon, but I am loving, Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting. It is the most fascinating look at another culture I have seen in a long time!
oooh interesting! I love learning about other cultures but never thought it about it from the parenting aspect. I’m adding it to my to-read list. thanks!
I will second that, I read it before I had a baby just because some friends were reading it and I thought it was really interesting!
Loved this one!!! It was such a refreshing change from the other baby/child rearing self-help books out there.
Goodness, I loved Fault in Our Stars. Even though I have never boo-hoo’ed so hard at a book before, I was just totally sucked in and I loved the writing.
I’m glad to hear you say Casual Vacancy wasn’t that good b/c I skipped that one for book club and was trying to decide whether to go back.
I am reading Habits right not too – well, technically I’m listening to it on Audible. I think it’s excellent, but I’m pretty obsessed with the personal development genre so I may be biased. Have you read The Happiness Project? It’s one of my favorite most-recent reads.
Favorite PD: How to Win Friends and Influence People (terrible title, awesome book), The Five Love Languages (doesn’t just apply to romantic relationships), The Four Hour Workweek, and I know a lot of people hate it, but I really like The Secret.
wow! i just read the book synopsis! INCREDIBLE.
I’m reading the Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin right now and have found myself thinking a lot about ideas and realizations the author makes in the book. Definitely recommend. And its less than $10 on kindle.
This post couldn’t have come at a better time! I just got an iPad/Kindle app, which has already changed my (previously non-existent) reading life.
I’m reading Consider the Fork, which is a history of cooking and eating. It’s pretty interesting to learn about how different tools have changed the way we eat and cook – did you know that by using knifes to cut up our food into smaller