Employee rule-breaking not always a negative, study finds

Employees sometimes find themselves caught between strictly following company rules and bending or perhaps even breaking them to take care of a customer. A new study from the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia finds that employers may benefit from considering why workers, too, may not always follow the letter of the law.

In the past, researchers believed that employees broke rules for malicious or self-serving reasons, such as stealing or taking  longer breaks. But it turns out that some employees ignore orders to better serve customers, which can benefit businesses and improve the wellbeing of workers.

In general, those who bent or broke the rules say they didn’t feel guilty, because they were trying to help. They also felt more autonomous and competent because they were able to provide a solution for their customers. What’s more, they reported feeling more connected to customers. 

Researchers also found that pro-customer rule breaking led to feelings of psychological fulfillment for employees, which in turn led to lower rates of emotional exhaustion, higher job satisfaction and an increased sense of voice. Employees were also more likely to share their concerns about the organization’s rules and provide suggestions for how existing practices could be improved. 

“They might say, ‘I didn’t think this rule was great in letting me provide the best customer service,’” says Irene Kim, Ph.D., a lecturer at the business school and coauthor of the study. “So employees who felt the rules didn’t allow them to provide good service benefited more from their pro-customer rule breaking.”

As a result of the findings, Kim says employers may want to give workers more leeway to break rules when it leads to better customer service and to speak up when the existing rules prevent them from keeping customers happy.

“It’s a good idea to let employees voice their concerns, because they’re the ones at the frontline,” she says. “They observe the rules or practices that cause inefficiency or don’t allow them to provide best customer service. It also helps to allow employees some input in the designing of those rules and practices and to make the rules somewhat flexible if organizations want good customer service to be delivered.”