Behavior Science

Install a video camera in the area.

It doesn't even have to be real, a phony plastic one will do.

I know I couldn't bear the shame of being videotaped abusing an almirah, whatever that might be.

Yes, the fear of being recorded will prevent them from doing so.

But the main thing is that we can't make a person to do right for a long time by means of fear. So by keeping this in mind, U should focus on motivation of ur employees and to appreciate them 4 their good ones.

today, that's called "ethnic cleansing".

Obviously, certain employees do not care about their job. In my experience, this is mainly due to the employees belief that the "company" does not care about them.

I have a philosophy about business priorities of management in order to have a successful business. It goes like this:

1. Take care of your employees. Talk to them. Get to know them. If they respect you, they will want to do a good job and will try to make good product.
2. Focus on product quality. Roll your sleeves up alongside your employees to make it happen.
3. The bottom line. If you do (1) and (2), and the market for your product is there, money will be made and your business will succeed.

What is the state of affairs in your company? Is there any reason that the employees would be upset?

I'm not surprised - having doing a quick Wiki, it seems that almirahs should be made of wood, not steel. You deserve everything you get for expecting employees to put up with that. Flush toilets ? Are you saying that you don't provide auto-flushing urinals ??

If I knew your name, I'd report you to to an appropriate court of human rights. Provide internet access to Facebook so that these people, unfortunate enough to be in your employ, can play Mafia Wars and enjoy more fulfilled lives. It's bad enough that they should have to tolerate recieving a wage, but steel almirah's ?

Being a food industry,wood items are not allowed.

Thanks for additional info. My post was just a bit of playfulness. Being in the food industry raises even more call for alarm. Disaffected employees contaminating foodstuffs would be a nightmare. I hope some of the constructive suggestions others have made can help you resolve this.

You should change to wooden seats. Steel would be uncomfortably cold.

Do not install CCTV unless you want to be labeled a pervert.

Please define your almirahs.

Install these.

First to put it very simply an almirah is basically a cabinet.

There seems to be disharmony at your work location. What type of product or service do you provide?

How do you (HONESTLY) treat your employees? Would they agree with your reply to that question?

What is the median age of your employees? Are any very young or on a work release program? Are they indentured?

In my experience in most cases you get what you give. You will ALWAYS have some who will give you trouble. But if there are no mental illnesses and you are treating them well and fairly (with respect) you will get the same. If you treat people like slaves then that is what you will get - people who want you to suffer as you make them suffer.

We make food products.The damaged articles are shown to most of them and they also agree that it is a mistake.We are unable to find some and that is creating whole problem.They are being treated nicely.

Nicely said DV ... often the issues are not only disciplinary, but cultural ... being a "foreigner in a foreign land", even after 10 years, I am still learning. It is a complex and multifaceted problem. One, to assume that employees all "care" regardless of "our" care for them is definitely not true, and in the best of circumstances there will be "trouble-makers". But, like criminal behavior in any culture or location, often it is a very small percentage making it difficult for everyone.

Here is how I try to handle it:

(1) within the limits of what 'my' company may or may not allow, create an open and fair environment so everyone can feel some freedom to make their complaints known,

(2) post the rules ... its amazing how often we believe that 'everyone knows' the 'rules', when indeed they are not clear,

(3) supervise where possible (of course the toilet aren't always the easiest place to do that), and

(4) enforce the rules ... there has to be a balance of 'punishment' and 'reward'.

Although I am sure the very definitions might offend, there will always be some division between the 'white collar' and 'blue collar' staff, but that needn't be crippling. Do what is possible to keep a good bridge between that gap, and you are one step closer to keeping better controls and a better environment for everyone.

Kind regards ...

Assuming that they've been properly counseled, and the misbehavior persists, we can only presume that the culprit(s) are really few, perhaps less than a handful.

There are 2 approaches to this problem.

One is making things harder to destroy, and the other is discovering who the culprit(s) is/are so they can be directly reprimanded and made to pay for the damages.

It surprises me that steel objects could still be destroyed. Nevertheless, the almirahs can be fixed against the wall, and be fabricated with thicker-gauge steel. don't buy them, as commercial almirahs are light and not robust. Chairs, if used for dining, can altogether be removed, and dining tables elevated to accommodate diners who are standing. This is what they do in Japan, to ensure that no one overstays for lunch :D.

For the toilets, you can find some public toilets here in the UAE overhead water / flush / jacket / tanks. To activate them, you pull down on a cord that is attached to a lever. If this is installed in your toilets, I don't think anyone will try to pull down harder than is necessary and risk having the contraption fall on him.

Now for the discovery approach to the problem.

First, narrow down the suspects of this misdemeanor. You should be able to come up with methods to do this. Some of these are by talking with the known "good guys", the good supervisors, who could shed some light as to who these people might be. You could also observe the place yourself and identify who behaves carelessly in these areas (not in the toilet, obviously). Then, call up this "usual suspects" group. Tell them that their co-workers have identified them as the possible culprits to the damages observed in their area, and you have already repaired the damage and improved them. But if any more damage is observed, all of them will be made to pay for it as first offense, dividing the cost equally among them. Subsequent offenses will be dealt with more severely, including termination.

By isolating the suspects, the real culprit will eventually be identified, as they will try their best to discover who he or they are.

Make sure you follow-up and review the effect of this move, and most importantly, implement what punitive measure is required to the erring employee(s).

In the Asian setting, a heavy hand is most often needed to get things in order. More stick, less carrot.

HTH

-- langyaw

Try a carrot and stick approach. First determine how much this has been costing you per year, and then put that amount up as a bonus to be distributed, minus the amount needed to repair the vandalism. Extra days off that are deducted according to vandalism could be another option.

How about some type of alarm that sounds when the object is subject to a vibration way above that experienced during normal use?

Have you thought of , that you may have a shortcoming and you are not a good emplyer or Manager? To me it seems that some one is looking for an attention from you. Find out. Just by good relations you can save a lot and turn a rogue into an excellent worker.

Good employer or not, no one has the right to destroy or damage other people's property. Don't like the job or the employer, you walk.

world has changed. Behavior corrections are possible.person breaking the things is very intelligent .only his intelligence needs to be taken to right path,

In what world is that? This isn't an ethics debate, the OP asked for advice on how to catch those destroying his property.

Apothicus said:

This isn't an ethics debate, the OP asked for advice on how to catch those destroying his property,

and the OP agreed "Yes, you are correct."

The question from the OP was "Ours being a small scale industry appreciate if somebody can give solution to prevent such type of incidents."

Pointing out that the title of the thread is "Behavior Science," how can ethics not enter into the discussion. There have been several comments offering solutions that are highly unethical. Some of these were farcical, some I sadly believe were serious. This has been an ongoing problem and no other employee has come forward to rat out the culprit(s). That is proof enough that all are disgruntled over some issue; wages, working conditions, or harassment by management. Emphasis on the latter I believe is most likely. To even bring such a topic to this forum shows a lack of understanding of fundamental order.

I joined this discussion because of a humorous post by agila, and frankly; the OP was ridiculous. I will un-subscribe so I will not be back for the confrontational comments by Apothicus, and others who took this thread seriously.

Yes, you are correct.

At first my first thought was to close that room down.

And as they damage more they have less places to doo their doody so to speak. and eventually none at all. But then i thought that this isn't fair to the other 99% that are behaving.

How about swipe cards (pun intended) where each employee cas a card. You may already have it for time card useage. add to the bathroom doors the swipe cards where they need to swipe to gain access.

Then this way when damage is discovered you can look up in a log of who went in there since the last time it was inspected and deemed Ok.

then you can haul the guilty asses in and make even more threats.

The behaviour has probably become endemic, with new employees following the behaviour of others. Plant a 'mole' into the workforce, and have them report what they can observe after, say, a 3-month period. Use somebody with no local connections, provide a plausible exit strategy for them, and implement any sacking after they have been gone a month or so. You'll need that month to investigate suspected individuals and obtain proof anyway.

Depending on the exact nature/size of business, you may be able to separate people (to different sections) - a bit like a teacher separating naughty kids in school.

More draconian (and risky) is to impose responsibility on all. Inform all that cost of vandalism will be recouped by x% of all company employees pay, yourself included. If that causes a legal issue there is almost certainly a work around - eg, announce a bonus (less than cost of vandalism) that is dependent on change in behaviour. Some of those not committing these acts will know who is responsible. If somebody cost me a bonus, we would be having a robust discussion outside the company premises.

I'm sorry, but putting employees in a position of "squealing" on one another can only create more chaos within an organization. A solution as you present would never work in the U.S. You would have the unions, ACLU and NAACP close you down.

The first suggestion of a mole, was to infiltrate a corrupt workforce. The later bit was about leaving employees to police themselves.

Squealing doesn't come into it.

Man, that's one place I wouldn't want to work in.

That's the starting point of the problem - some of the employees don't want to be working there. Collecting pay yes, working, no. Those casing the problems might not directly cause harm to their colleagues, but vandalism against the company is in effect taking money out of everyone's wallet. If somebody stole from you, I doubt you would consider the person who told you who was responsible a squealer.

Ah well, this is all going off the edge of CR4 topicality. OP will have to use own best judgement to address the situation.

Put a lock on the toilet room and have anyone who needs to use it sign out for the key. After the key is returned, either assign someone or do it yourself to check the toilet. No one will cause damage if the boss knows who was last to use it. Gas stations do this, although for a different reason.

The toilet room should contain only the toilet. Everything else should be outside the toilet room in plain sight. I can't see how vandals would damage the toilet or tank itself. If they work there, they will have to use the facility. The vandal may be someone who is a visitor or someone who is ready to quit the job and may have a grievance against you. I personally wouldn't damage something I have to use myself.

Production related bonuses and penalties can help weed out the bad ones.

When they do not get their bonuses, the good ones (employees) will either turn the bad ones in, or pressure them to quit messing up.

It is either that or send them all packing and start with a new crew.

frustration of employees are being vented out by damaging toilet items and not on Product . that is a good sign. A problem which does not happen normally elsewhere, is happening here. There is something terribly wrong with the employer. Employer must find the reasons of unrest and not try to catch the collective destructive reactions. If he tries to catch without solving the problem , the frustration will then be vented in some other form. Forget swipe cards and think of solving the problem differently.

Thats right blame the victim and not the criminals. That is the same as "If you didn't go here you wouldn't get mugged" or much worse "If you didn't dress like that you wouldn't get ------"

These "employees" are committing crimes, catch them, prosecute them, and string em up. It will teach them a lesson.

To the so called employees with a grudge. If there is something at work you don't like, start a petition, talk to the owner, form a union. If what you don't like is an illegal practice inform the proper authorities, hire a lawyer. If however you resort to illegal practices of your own you can expect to be arrested, prosecuted and penalized.

Sit them down, give them your word, (and keep it), in a private meeting,( no one higher up the ladder than you allowed), that everything discussed will held in strict confidence. Give them an open forum to air their grievances. Listen and take notes. Let them know that you have a responsibility to the company to turn out a quality product, and help the company be profitable, (if you don't do that, "you" will be replaced). Also tell them, that, in order to achieve that, you need a team that is on board with that goal. In doing this, the bad apples will probably reveal themselves, (they will tend to make demands that are completely unreasonable). The other suggestions that come in, that are reasonable and would make the workplace a better environment for your workers, get to work "yourself" on getting them done. You of course, must convince your superiors, that this is the logical path to follow and will ultimately result in higher profitability for the company. Sometimes, not always, it's the simplest things that have the people under you pissed off, and are easily fixed. If the bathrooms are sub standard, get the company to upgrade. Put each employee on a rotating cleanup detail, each one will have an equal stake in keeping them nice.

It seems that there is lack of responsibility in your organisation. you should realize your supervisors their responsibility & develop a shift hand over format that shall be filled by them

It appears that the problem has not been understood properly and it is not due to lack of responsibility of the organisation.The problem posed for solution may be read once again.