Reducing Social Loafing

Assume the role of a manager of a home improvements/building supply store that sells a wide range of products—including lumber, plumbing txtures, windows, and paint—to both commercial accounts and individual customers. The store is staffed by three types of employees who work in three different groups: (1) a group of six cashiers who check out purchases made by individuals on site; (2) a group of five floor employees who help customers locate items they need, stock merchandise, and reshelve returns; and (3) a group of four employees who handle commercial accounts. All the employees are paid on an hourly basis. The cashiers and floor employees earn the minimum wage; the commercial account employees earn one and a half times the minimum wage. You are pleased with the performance of the cashiers and the commercial account employees. The floor employees, however, seem to be putting forth less effort than they should. On several occasions, customers have complained about not being able to find items, and you personally have located the items for them even though there were ample floor employees on duty. The floor employees do not seem busy, and their workloads have not increased recently, yet they have a backlog of work to be done, including stocking of new merchandise and reshelving. Despite their backlog, you often see members of this group chatting with each other, taking cigarette breaks outside the back of the store, and making personal telephone calls—all outside their regularly scheduled breaks.

Question:

List 3 – 4 recommendations to reduce social loafing in the group of floor employees. (Refer to the ways to reduce social loafing as discussed in the chapter)