Fostering positive deviance: a potential strategy to an engaged workforce

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to suggest positive deviance as a tool to enhance employee engagement. Design/methodology/approach The article offers the viewpoint of the author based on the pieces of the current research available on the subjects of positive deviance and employee engagement Findings The paper reveals that positive deviance may help the organizations to enhance their engagement levels. Originality/value Employee deviance has generally been regarded as negative, the paper suggests that positive deviance can be used to foster employee engagement.

Employee Deviance as By-product of Psychological Contract: The Moderating Effects of Power Distance among Employees in Insurance Companies in Nigeria

Employees have expectations from their organizations; whether they are written, contractual, or not, these expectations have an equally employee outcome such as employee deviance. Indices indicate that employee deviance is on the increase especially in the organized private sector; thus, this study evaluated employee deviance as by-product of psychological contract and power distance among a sample of employees (289) from insurance organizations in Nigeria with an average age of 34.50 years and standard deviation of 3.50. The study sought to ascertain the relationship between psychological contract and employee deviance and whether perceptions of power distance moderated this relationship. Psychological contract inventory (PCI), Power distance scale adapted from CVSCALE Five-dimensional scale of individual cultural values and Workplace deviant behaviour scale were utilized for data collection. The result of data analysis indicated that the adjusted R2 for step 1 is .24 at F(42.06) p < .01. In the second model, the adjusted R2 is .26 and R change is .002. This R change was significant at F (33.76), df = 285 p < .01. The Beta coefficient for model 2 shows that psychological contract significantly and negatively predicted employee deviant behaviours at Beta value, thus, the first hypothesis was confirmed at β = -.68, p < .01. Similarly, power distance significantly and positively predicted employee deviant behaviour at β coefficient value of .34, p < .01, thus, the second hypothesis was also confirmed. Also, the third hypothesis where power distance moderated the relationship between psychological contract and employee deviant behaviour was confirmed at β =.27, p < .01. The study concludes that organizations whose interests do not account for the expectations of their employees are at risk of higher levels of employees’ deviance either as byproduct of psychological contract violations or as a retaliatory behaviour.

Workplace Deviance Among Hotel Employees : An Exploratory Survey

This exploratory study examined workplace deviance among hotel employees in Langkawi, Malaysia. Specifically, it attempted to provide empirical answers to two main research questions: (1) what are the types of workplace deviance employees exhibit at the workplace, and (2) what work-related factors account for the exhibition of those acts. In order to address these questions, data were collected from 308 hotel employees. The findings showed that workplace deviance exists in organisations and takes on a variety of forms. The results also depicted that workplace deviance is influenced by a number of work-related factors, such as pay, supervision, co-workers, and management practices. In addition, employee deviance was also significantly related to the way they were treated by hotel guests. The implications of the study’s findings on practice and theory are discussed.

Deterrence Effects: The Role of Authoritarian Leadership in Controlling Employee Workplace Deviance

ABSTRACTDrawing upon two independent samples from mainland China, we propose and investigate the deterrence function of leadership behavior focused on control. We suggest that controlling leadership, specifically, authoritarian leadership, deters employees’ deviance under certain conditions. That is, authoritarian leadership thwarts employees’ interpersonal deviance behavior when leaders send clear signals of potential punishments of non-compliance by showing low leader benevolence, and when employees are highly dependent on the leaders for important work resources. Results from two independent studies largely support our key propositions. Overall, these results add to the range of possible impacts that a leader can play in decreasing employee deviance. Theoretical implications and directions for follow-up research are discussed.

Customer responses to employee deviance: A conservation of resources perspective

This study aspires to examine how customers respond to two forms of frontline employee deviance (i. e., customer-oriented deviance, COD, and customeroriented misbehaviour, COM) during a specific service exchange. Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, COD and COM are viewed as resources and demands of customer performance during their exchanges with employees. Five customer responses are examined, namely encounter satisfaction, and employee-oriented citizenship behaviour, customer dysfunctional intentions, customer citizenship behaviour towards the organisation, and brand advocacy. To gain insights into these issues, an experimental design is adopted, which manipulates the two forms of deviance along with two boundary conditions: the extent to which the problem the customer faces is severe (i. e., problem severity); and whether the outcome of the exchange with the employee is successful (i. e., exchange outcome). This study contributes to deviant employee literature by illustrating how different forms of deviance shape exchange-specific responses and reciprocal customer intentions directed at the organisation and the employee.