Threat of job loss makes workers less creative, more productive

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Vancouver, Wash. - Worrying about losing their jobs might make workers more productive, but also less creative. This is the finding of Tahira Probst from Washington State University Vancouver and colleagues*. The research was published in the Aug. 26 Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology ( ).

Theories that leaner companies are more adaptable and therefore more competitive in today's fast paced market have led to a trend in downsizing of companies. Probst and colleagues researched the effects that the resulting job insecurity had on employees' job performance.

Research was conducted in both lab and real-life settings. 104 undergraduate students took part in a lab experiment in a simulated organizational environment which measured changes in creativity and performance after the threat of layoffs was introduced. Similar data were also gathered from surveys of 144 employees in five organizations in which employees answered questions measuring their job insecurity, counterproductive behavior and creative problem solving ability.

The results showed that while job insecurity led to decreased creativity in the workplace, increased productivity and a reduction in counterproductive behavior such as absenteeism, hostile behavior and being late were also seen. The authors proposed that these performance improvements might be due to the employees' awareness that they are under increased scrutiny during the period of organizational uncertainty, but that such improvements are likely to diminish over time if the stress of job uncertainty is prolonged.

Probst said, "There has been a lot of research carried out about the effect that downsizing can have on employees' health but little about the effects of job insecurity on various aspects of job performance. Our research suggests that although productivity does increase, employees' creative problem solving skills are also hampered. This might mean that the very creativity and flexibility that is hoped for as a goal of downsizing might not materialize."

(For more information on Tahira Probst, see )

*Editors note: Other authors are Susan Stewart (University of Puget Sound), Melissa Gruys (Wright State University), and Bradley Tierney (Washington State University Vancouver).

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Photo: Tahira Probst. Click thumbnail for high resolution photo.