Thaindian News

Washington, July 10 (IANS) Managers who try to impose discipline by taking away privileges are missing a vital key to improving performance and behaviour, according to a new study.
Denying privileges is a widely used disciplinary tool, but the consequences of giving them back have been largely ignored, said Matthew McCarter and Arran Caza, of the University of Illinois (U-I) College of Business.

“It’s not just how you punish the person. The way privileges are reinstated can make or break how effective the punishment was,” said McCarter.

McCarter and Caza found that restoring lost privileges is more common than most people suspect, based on information gathered through interviews and accounts in the media and academic journals.

“Colleagues thought reinstatement would be very rare, and that even if it did occur the privileges being restored would be very extreme, such as a person getting their job back after termination,” McCarter said.

“However, we found that is not the case at all. It happens all the time through all stages of life and involves a wide range of privileges, from kids getting back the keys to the car to lawyers who are re-admitted to the bar.”

“Organisations can use reinstatement to their benefit, offering it as a reward to make a more committed worker. The old adage that we tend to love what we’ve suffered for applies very much here,” McCarter said.

McCarter said the findings offer hope to workers and others who lose privileges.

“They don’t necessarily have to be at the mercy of the organisation,” he said. “This shows they have some control over their destiny.”