What is performance punishment at the workplace?

Be it in the personal space, or the professional one, too much of a good thing is always bad. What one often sees in the rat-race of their daily job is their excellence and performance being punished. Confused? Look around you and you’ll probably see high-performing employees and colleagues (you could be one yourself) being bogged down with tasks, deadlines—much more in comparison to other employees just because you’re the best, fastest and most efficient of the lot. Rewarding good work with more work is a bad thing because the person tasked with these jobs has no support (because you’re the best from the rest) leading to them facing burnout, and their motivation and well-being decreasing with every passing day. Add to that, it is not only detrimental to the person but to the work culture of the organisation as it sends a message of high performances and performers being punished. 

How and why does this happen? 

Managers and bosses assign difficult tasks to competent and reliable employees because they have a proven track record of accomplishing what’s given to them far better than anyone (their reliability and competence gets punished in the long run). They would rather go to the same person than distribute the workload equally amongst the workforce. As mentioned earlier, these challenging assignments are a burden, because they might not have the required resources to carry them out. What’s more, managers do encroach into the boundaries set by these high performers (can you really say no to your boss?) and disturb them during off-hours, even weekends, which sees the employer’s work-life balance go for a toss and them being overwhelmed. 

This can result in them feeling that they’re being treated unfairly, as they feel that the standards set for them are too high, and in some cases unachievable. You might be working on a task after office hours while your colleagues are enjoying their Friday night. You might feel good at the start on completing a task only to realise how unfair the situation is and that your performance is actually a punishment. With time, you will be conditioned to anticipate it. What we mean here is that every time you’re asked to help, your brain signals a threat state that can eventually lead to burnout. Additionally, more tasks for one person results in less for others and prevents their development and their growth being stagnant. They could also feel isolated from team activities and decisions as they are considered to be a one-man show. Should there be no signs of this coming to an end, the increased stress and decreased job satisfaction can push the person to quit their job as they look for a place where things aren’t so bad. 

What needs to happen and change?

The very first step that needs to take place is the manager realising and recognising the negative impacts of performance punishment and instilling a healthy working environment with a focus on equal and fair distribution of work and recognising everyone’s efforts. Distribute tasks and responsibilities in a way that improves not just the organisational objectives but the employee’s growth as well, ensuring that they are motivated to do the job (and makes them not quit due to being overwhelmed). Post that, recognise their efforts and compensate their addition workload and responsibilities with perks. Managers must not forget to check-in with such high performers to understand their workload and stress levels, and focus on the growth and development of all team members. 

Lead image: Pexels

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