Anyone who’s been on an unexpectedly heavy night out knows what a bad influence friends can be. And while many workplaces are reaping the rewards of a collaborative workforce, researchers from the University of Nottingham have discovered that teamwork in the office can also cause corruption.
In the study, called The Collaborative Roots of Corruption, paired participants played a dice-rolling game and reported their results to each other and then to the researchers. If the numbers matched, the participants were paid the same amount as the number they reported, with the money to be shared equally between them. Because the game took place in private, participants could choose to collude and artificially inflate their results rather than be honest. The reporting of doubles was 489 per cent higher than would have happened by chance.
“On the face of it, collaboration is great and you want to encourage it,” says Dr Ori Weisel of the University of Nottingham. “But our research shows there is a downside: because people like it so much, they can cut corners and behave unethically in the name of collaboration.”
Reward specialists working on their organisation’s next pay review might be relieved that the level of collusion dropped when the reward for scoring doubles was unevenly split between the two participants. And when participants were offered a decent base sum – which they would receive regardless of the dice outcome – there were also lower incidences of results fixing.
Firms struggle to balance the generations
Many organisations are daunted by the prospect of managing a four-generation workforce in the future. But, concerned about the region’s ability to retain nurses, Birmingham and Solihull Local Education and Training Council decided to take action now to understand how better handling of age-diverse workforces might aid employee retention.
The resulting report, Mind The Gap, revealed that younger workers were industrious and ambitious but their approach to work might be baffling to older colleagues. And while employers should encourage staff to try to understand the quirks of other generations, the authors stressed that workers needed to fully understand their own generations, too.
The study focused on millennials’ needs, concluding that they wanted strong career frameworks, the chance to get involved with important projects, and flexible working opportunities.
Theresa Nelson, chief officer for workforce development at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, has implemented the report’s findings at her organisation. Although the research was originally written for the medical sector, she believes it has wider applications: “Many people have applied it to their own family circumstances, and they’ve seen through those examples that they need to manage things differently.”
Ditch your comfort zone to boost creativity
Networking is a good way to increase your influence and career potential. But a team led by Rice University suggests it can also boost individual creativity.
The study examined 223 sales representatives at a Chinese organisation. Those who had a wider network were found to be more capable at creative activities, such as coming up with new ideas to promote products, creating cross-selling strategies and devising ways of approaching potential clients.
The researchers believe that connecting with a wider range of people gives workers the opportunity to expose themselves to novel ideas. But there is a catch – employees have to network beyond their immediate business circles.
“First-step networking refers to building relationships with your direct ties,” says Jing Zhou, Houston Endowment professor of management at Rice University. “Our research shows that, in addition to first-step networks, you need to know how your direct ties are connected. If you have two direct ties and they don’t know each other, it is good for your creativity because you get distinct sets of information.
“More importantly, you need to know whether your two direct ties are connected to a third party. You will get more relevant information if your ties are not connected to a third party, which is beneficial for creativity.”