Dysfunctional Behaviors at Work: The Case of Employees in Poland

Purpose: The paper seeks to explore the scope and frequency of dysfunctional behaviors of Poles at work. Most broadly, they can be understood as intentional and conscious behaviors of employees violating the adopted rules, norms or values, offensive, unethical, destructive, bad, dangerous, pathological behavior. They may be related to the way the employee performs work and fulfills the obligations imposed on him, as well as directed towards other employees. Design/Methodology/Approach: This problem has been presented on the basis of the results of primary quantitative research carried out in November 2020 with the use of the CAWI technique. The study covered 300 professionally active Poles between 20 and 65 years old, randomly selected from a panel of internet users. Scales were used to measure the scope and frequency of dysfunctional behaviors in the workplace, assuming that they have a unit of measurement, i.e., that the distances between adjacent scale items are equal. Findings: The results of the research show that the majority of professionally active Poles, to a varying degree and extent, encounter dysfunctional behaviors in the workplace. Practical Implications: This study could be potentially helpful for managers in identifying dysfunctional behaviours in their workplace in order to further prevent these behaviors. Originality/Value: There were many arguments in favor of taking up such research issues. First of all, the role of work for the individual as an important area of life as well as the negative effects of dysfunctional behaviors considered both in the individual, organizational and social dimension. Professionally active people devote not only a significant part of their time budget to work, but also energy and feelings. Work is not only a way to raise funds to finance consumption, it also allows an individual to meet many important needs, related to development, belonging, achieving success or differentiation. Therefore, dysfunctional behavior of employees will have a negative impact on the effectiveness of the entire organization and their personal life. In social terms, the negative consequences of dysfunctional behaviors at work include costs of employees’ medical treatment or paid social benefits, but also creating negative patterns of behavior.