Many employers have been profiting from the fact that their employees now live in constant fear of losing their jobs as layoffs occur left, right, and centre.
Some claim that their only goal is to promote complete commitment to work-related duties. Others desire to cut money, get away with bad office workplace practises, or prevent their employees from receiving benefits and promotions.
Job-insecure workers are less likely to follow rules
Workers who feel like they are at risk of being fired may overcompensate by never missing deadlines, being as punctual as possible, never taking long lunches, taking on the projects of their colleagues and working extra hours—developing unsustainable behavioral patterns.
However, there is only so much work they can take on and so much effort they can put in. Sooner than later, these workers who feel job-insecure become more likely to break the rules over the next three months.
How so?
Let’s imagine a worker who knows they are at risk of being fired and begins to “relieve their colleagues of their extra work” or work extra hours.
However, one thing is clear: job uncertainty has a negative effect on employee well-being.
The Effects of Job Insecurity on Employees and Employers
Many employers have been profiting from the fact that their employees now live in constant fear of losing their jobs as layoffs occur left, right, and centre.
What do you anticipate happening in, say, three months?
As resentment grows, people get uneasy and anxious and start looking for solutions to make things easier. Not as you might anticipate, but rather by using unhealthy coping techniques in place of the added projects (caffeine, over or under-eating, isolating etc.) Because maintaining the self-control necessary to adhere to the (additional) regulations requires significant cognitive resources, just like with performance.
The employee may also begin to prioritise their own interests, slowly eroding any sense of loyalty they may have to the business by exchanging and disclosing trade secrets or other sensitive information while they look for new employment, which finally occurs.
Workers with unstable employment favour conspicuous work above worthwhile labour.
When a company uses the carrot-and-stick approach, its staff members become more focused on making sure their managers are aware of their contributions than on really improving their performance.
There are unfinished business and only short-term objectives are pursued. After all, they are the ones who bring the carrots.
For instance, a job-insecure developer who is asked to create a website for a new project can, on the surface, create a stunning website, but the website may have been created using clumsy codes. He is unconcerned. Why would he, too? He merely wants the carrots, like a great performance review, an employee of the month honour, or a LinkedIn endorsement, so he can continue looking for work on the side.
A certain amount of image management is healthy, but creating a culture of insecurity among your employees will result in the death of your business. Your staff members don't put in particularly valuable or sustainable long-term contributions; they merely strive to impress you.
Employees that are uncertain of their jobs may purposely harm their coworkers.
Job insecure people may sabotage their peers to look better in contrast and finally impress you.
They don't necessarily care about doing good work that is worthwhile; instead, they merely want to outperform their peers.
They start to compare things because of the job uncertainty they experience at work. They feel secure as long as two or three other coworkers don't put in as strong of performances as they do.
At the risk of seeming repetitive, this is a prescription for your business to fail.
How?
A company's strength depends on how well-coordinated it is, as is conventional knowledge. Your company becomes a ticking time bomb when your employees compete among themselves, suppress crucial information, lie to you and to themselves, and generally just think about themselves.
Additionally, it doesn't really help their work insecurities. Ironically, it makes things worse. They are under additional stress due to receiving criticism and competing with other employees, which exacerbates their job instability.
A company that has a lot of job-insecure employees is less likely to hire and keep top talent.
The fact is that news spreads thanks to websites like Glassdoor and others that allow employee reviews.
When talented individuals choose not to work with your business and spread negative word about it, your organisation ultimately suffers. The fact that 46% of respondents in our survey on talent attraction and retention in MENA prioritised long-term job security is further evidence that nobody likes to feel as though they are about to lose their jobs.
Does exploiting job insecurity thereby improve workers' performance?
Simple no is the response. Although it may enhance performance in the near term and check off some boxes, it has a negative impact on the company in the long run.