How unruly employees could cost your firm money

Published: 02/10/2018 | Last Updated: 06/04/2020

There’s no doubt about it: your employees are your firm’s main assets and its main ambassadors, so it’s very important that you ensure they’re behaving appropriately. From checking that your staff have good timekeeping skills to ensuring that they avoid using substances such as alcohol or drugs when at work, it’s possible to manage your employees’ behaviour.

Lateness and time off

Being late to work causes all sorts of problems when it comes to productivity. While the first ten minutes of the day may not seem important to some employees, it can soon add up – and over the course of four full time working weeks, just ten minutes a day can add up to over three hours’ worth of lost working time. As a result, cracking down on lateness is a good way to start getting unruly employees under control.

Drink and drugs

In recent years, it’s been estimated that almost eight billion pounds is lost every year due to alcohol use in the workplace, and that’s enough to make any business owner think twice about their drug and alcohol prevention policies. For many employers, it’s often enough to be very clear in the company handbook given to all new starters that drinking on the job is not permitted and that illegal drug taking is also against the rules. In some cases, it is worth running a drug testing system. These tests are often conducted on site with the results being assessed at a drug testing laboratory, so they’re not too difficult to administer. An employee has the right to refuse to go ahead with a drug test, but the employer can in some scenarios begin disciplinary action if the reasons for the test are sound.

PR disasters

Another way in which employees can cause problems is in the world of PR. That is especially true in this age of social media. If an employee posts a so-called joke comment which is tasteless or even discriminatory in nature, it may get picked up by the press, and it’s almost certain that a journalist will be able to track down where the person works, and name your firm in the process.

That may seem like the sort of incident that is beyond the realm of possibility for many workplaces, but it’s really not – and there are all sorts of firms which have been caught up in these kinds of PR disasters over the last few years. Social media training, then, is vital.

Prevention is the best cure in the world of unruly employees. If you leave your workers to their own devices, you may soon find that they make the sorts of decisions that can end up costing you money and clients. Keeping an eye on behaviour and promoting a healthy, respectful company culture, can really make a world of difference.