“FREERIDERS” We work from home…..fun or not fun! (a performance management view) part 2 by DR. Martinus T.,MM

In the previous article about “We work from home…… fun or no fun!(a performance management view)” that in the Hybrid WFH+WFO process, to get output that can be accepted by other departments, all things must be detailed, proper and measurable.

To get detailed, proper and measurable results, all individuals from the company are required to use a transparent and measurable system (Management by Objective- MBO) with tools such as Balanced Scorecard, KPI, OKR, etc. When this was implemented, chaos began to occur, that many employees who had seemed to be working, turned out to be useless. And this is where we know the term "FreeRider".

“Freeriders” are people who do not contribute fairly to the organization. Many of us, at some point in our lives, work in organizations where at least one person is not pulling their weight. Reviews are constructive and organizational performance is negatively impacted.

When I worked in the retail sector, I found a lot of “Freeriders” for example, there was Hypermarket “H” and Hypermarket “C” which were in the same mall in Jabotabek with the same store area, with the same income, but having different employees Hypermart "H" has 160 people, Hypermart "C" has almost 250 employees, with a difference of almost 90 people (30%) in other words there are many "Freeriders" at Hypermart "C" . Why this happened ? This is because HYpermart "H" practices social loafing theory.

Social loafing is a phenomenon in which a person does not do all he can while in the organization. Because there is an assumption that the work or task will be completely handled by other colleagues.

From the picture above, it can be seen that the more people involved, the greater the coordination loss and reduce effort/output. With this theory, we as an organization should start doing research that the ideal number of employees involved? And when connected to the WFH-WFO hybrid which requires careful, proper, detailed and measurable planning, the "Freeriders" begin to appear on the surface and can no longer hide.

A friend once asked me, How is it easy to know if we are needed or not in the organization? The easy way is to look at the impact/output, for example the employee is sick or/learn for a week, if there are no waves or ripples in the organization, it can be said that the employee has a low level of impact or that it is not even useful.

"Free Riders" not only exist in low-level employees, but also many in high-level management even at the level of "C-level". To find out someone is "Freeriders" we can see from the output. Like an orchid plant that only rides on its host, but does not interfere with it is called a "low impact freerider", or the worst is like a "parasite" that interferes with the "freerider high impact" organization. The more "Freeriders" in the organization, the more unhealthy the organization will be, as in statistics, the more outliers (wrong data) the more it deviates from its goal.

Why Does Free Riding Happen?

Before we dig in on how to prevent free riders, let’s consider why free riding occurs. From my experience, free riders tend to take advantage of a organization when:

??They are asked to complete a task that is above their skill level;

??They are repeatedly asked to complete a task that is below their skill level;

??They think their contributions will not be perceived as valuable by the organization;

??The organization is large so some members do not feel personally responsible for the organization’s success; and

??They wait to see what others are going to contribute so they don’t get taken advantage of themselves.

Let’s also consider what happens when we have a free rider. Generally, the organization compensates for the free rider because other members of the organization do not want to fail.??Another reaction is for other organization members to contribute less, slowing the progress of the entire organization and potentially even resulting in missed deadlines

So how do you avoid and eliminate free riders?

1.?Hire the Right People

For starters, hiring procedures that weed out incapable, unmotivated, or combative people is the first line of defense. Use a multi-phase hiring process that allows for many different types of interactions. These interview phases could include phone screens, completing real-world exercises, and in-person interviews in which the candidate presents a solution to a group of people.

2.?Use Processes that Promote Transparency

Though good hiring practices will weed out most applicants that aren’t a good fit, they are not 100% foolproof. Free riding can also occur for other reasons, such as a organization member who doesn’t understand how to complete a task and is afraid to ask for help. Implementing procedures that incorporate transparency for early detection can not only discourage free riding, but help managers identify and handle free riders.

3.?Agile Methodology is an ideal framework for achieving transparency and accountability.

the Agile methodology incorporates self-managed organizations. Organizations come together to plan the work they will undertake in a given block of time, called a sprint. Organization members decide the best approach to dividing work, whether it’s taking turns selecting items off the top of a to-do list or assigning tasks based on expertise, the process of figuring out how the work will be divided creates personal responsibility and transparency among organizationmates. Organization members understand how they each affect the outcome of the sprint and how they are creating value for the organization.??

4.?Restrict Organization Size

Large organizations allow underperformers to hide, and to feel less responsible for overall organization productivity. Large organizations also make it difficult to manage personality conflicts and reach organization consensus.

5.?Give Kudos

It is my observation that people are more motivated by recognition and opportunity than by money (I know… money is important too). Fostering an environment that celebrates successes and contributions, in addition to tangible rewards, improves performance across the organization.

So be careful now that working with the WFH-WFO hybrid will reveal a lot of “Free Riders”. Don't panic!!!!!

for anything under the sky there is a time

Tangerang, October 2021

DR. Martinus T., MM