Cris, humiliations, inappropriate remarks … In offices as on construction sites, toxic management poisons many professional environments. However, a study by researchers from the University of Georgia (UGA) upsets our understanding of this phenomenon. These abusive behaviors are not always loss of control. Some managers use it as a perfectly calculated strategy.
This intuition came to Szu-Han Lin, management teacher at Terry College of Business of the UGA, looking at “Hell’s Kitchen”. In this television program, two teams of chefs compete for a chef position in a restaurant. All under the gaze and, above all, the remarks of British chief Gordon Ramsay. Over the episodes, we see him scream, humiliate and sometimes even insult the candidates. For hours. Millions of viewers watch this show without flinching. Szu-Han Lin has seen an object of study.
His team therefore questioned 100 supervisors from various sectors, including construction, nursing or trade. Then, in a second phase, 249 other managers were followed daily for fifteen days. The question was simple: why are you mistreating your employees? And how do you feel after?
When mistreatment becomes a managerial tool
The answers are disturbing. Some hierarchical superiors admit to detour use the cries and humiliations as management tools to obey or establish their authority. And unlike those who crack under pressure, these managers do not experience any guilt. Worse, they feel a form of satisfaction. “”If they adopt these behaviors for a specific purpose, such as strengthening obedience or preserving their identity as a leader, they meet an emotional need“Explains Szu-Han Lin in a press release.
This discovery upsets twenty years of research on the subject. “We have been studying abusive behavior at work for 20 years, and we know that they still have negative consequences on performance and productivity”recalls the researcher. “”But we also know that people continue to adopt them. We thought that if the managers behaved like this, they would feel bad and that it would always have a negative effect on them. This is not the case“.
For Szu-Han Lin, this awareness must change the way of training managers. “It is important that leaders recognize that they can have motivations to act abusive, in order to help them find better leadership tools,” she said. “You may want your subordinates to listen to you or assure you to establish your leading role. It is understandable, but there are other ways to achieve it.”
Regardless of motivations, managerial mistreatment remains counterproductive. It destroys motivation instead of stimulating it. “”If you adopt abusive behavior, this will always lead to negative results. No one will be motivated“, Harts szu-han Lin. A lesson that should cool all those who confuse authority and brutality.