This article throws light upon the top four reasons why employees resist control in an organisation. The reasons are: 1. Over-Control 2. Inappropriate Focus 3. Rewards for Inefficiency 4. Accountability.

Reason # 1. Over-Control:

Occasionally, organisations go into excessiveness and make the mistake of over-control; they try to control too many things. This becomes especially problematic when the controls pertain directly to employee behaviour relating to their daily activities (such as whom to work, when to relax, when to have tea and lunch, when to return).

Yet, many organisations find it necessary to impose these rules. If controls are perceived as excessive, employees resist them.

Reason # 2. Inappropriate Focus:

The second main reason for resistance is that the focus of the control system may be inappropriate. The control system may be too narrow, or it may focus too much on quantifiable variables, leaving hardly any room for analysis or interpretation.

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A sales standard, for instance, that encourages high-pressure tactics to maximise short-run sales may do so at the expense of goodwill from long-term customers. Such a standard is too narrow.

Reason # 3. Rewards for Inefficiency:

People naturally resist control when there is punishment for being efficient and reward for being inefficient, i.e., when there is no suitable reward for appropriate effort. For example, department 1 may have budget cut next year for efficiently utilising the fund in the current year and thus exhausting the budgetary allocation. Depart­ment 2 may have budget increase for incurring a deficit in the current year.

Reason # 4. Accountability:

Another reason why some people resist control is that effective control systems create accountability. Some people, especially those who are doing a good job, do not want to be answerable for their mistakes and deficiencies (such as unsatisfactory performance) and, therefore, resist control.

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