Punishment of employees – its causes, types, and consequences, as well as factors determining punishment for poor quality

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify reasons for punishing employees, prevalent types of punishment, consequences of punishment, and the factors that determine whether employees are punished for the poor quality of products and services. Design/methodology/approach The main research method was a diagnostic survey using a questionnaire technique. A personal interview was a complementary method aimed at providing additional data and broaden the extent of research findings. Findings The conducted research shows that employees are punished mainly when some irregularities occur and are detected (someone does not respect the procedures and standards in force in a given organization). Penalties provided for in-work discipline systems are rarely used. They are supplemented by various informal punishments. As a consequence of penalties received, employees feel injustice, a lack of motivation to work, a lack of satisfaction, and an unwillingness to propose improvement actions. Originality/value The factors influencing punishment include the ability to set a quality criterion for a job appraisal, the presence of a quality criterion in a remuneration system, as well as the results of quality audits. The narrow spatial and temporal scope of the conducted research should be considered as its main limitation. The research was of a partial character, so its representativeness is rather limited. The interpretation of data obtained through interviews depends on their structure, the knowledge and skills of interviewees, and their ability to avoid bias.