Managerial Solutions for Social Loafing

Abstract

It is assumed that working with others in a group has an energizing effect, motivating people to work hard. But this only occurs when collective efforts are rewarded and when people are willing to cooperate with each other. Unfortunately, what is experienced in group work can be completely different, as people are not always willing to do their best. Therefore, they inhibit themselves from making a significant contribution, while remaining unnoticed by the rest of the group. This is known as Social Loafing, which despite having been studied for years, has recently become popular due to the need for organizations to understand underperformance and loss of productivity.

As time goes by, it is increasingly important to focus on a company's human resources, their well-being and the impact this has on a company’s performance. In recent decades, people have become more important for both human and legal reasons, even surpassing the economic benefits that any company may offer. Therefore, managers have found it necessary to strengthen their skills in the psychological field, social skills, and leadership to understand and properly manage their teams to achieve the expected performance.

Effective management is not just about achieving goals, but also about understanding and influencing the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of the people within the organization. This article will therefore focus on the importance that managers and leaders be aware of the contributing factors to Social Loafing and take proactive actions to address it in an organization. It aims to suggest effective models and tools for organizations to implement in order to create a culture of accountability, collaboration, and high performance that supports achieving strategic goals and objectives in projects, programs, and portfolios, suggesting different models and tools for each level of management.

Big Idea

Social loafing has been studied for years, but it was only in the last few decades that it became relevant for managers in organizational settings. Time after the establishment of the concept with the Ringelman Effect. In 1979, Latané, Williams and Harkins proved the notion of social loafing with the saying “Many hands make light the work”, paving the way for multiple research on its causes and consequences in the organizational setting.

They framed the concept in a way that has allowed it to be approached from a different perspective since then, which is, in part, the basis on which this article is written. They defined it as a "social disease" which has evident negative consequences in the social context. It results in a reduction in human efficiency, which leads to lowered profits and lowered benefits for all. Thus, from a managerial perspective, anything that causes a loss of profit needs to be addressed.

As a "disease" related mainly to groups and collective effort, it might seem easy to avoid group work as the most effective "cure," and focus on individual collaborations. However, groups are necessary because they make it possible to achieve a large number of goals that would not be possible if each person worked on their own. Collective action is a vital aspect of our lives. From time immemorial, it has made possible the construction of monuments, and today it is essential for providing even our food and shelter.