Is ‘social loafing’ impacting your business?

Let’s just take a moment for some honest reflection. Have you ever noticed the printer needed a new toner – then quietly walked away? Or maybe you have read an office email asking for volunteers and chose to ignore it – assuming someone else would put their hand up. Perhaps you have even been on a project team and allowed others to start the work.

The truth is – if you can relate to any of the above, chances are you are guilty of ‘social loafing’. Most of us have been guilty at some stage; but left unchecked social loafing can have negative impacts on culture, engagement and productivity.

So, what is ‘social loafing’?

Social loafing is a psychological phenomenon that describes the tendency of individuals to contribute less effort when they are working as part of a group than if the task was solely their responsibility. The theory suggests that in groups, individuals underperform in comparison to what they are capable of which impacts the team's performance.

For example, when there are a number of people in a work team or group that could replace the toner, volunteer for the office task or lead the project – the ‘social loafing’ phenomenon suggests that individuals adopt a relaxed approach and rely on the contribution of others to get the job done.

Sometimes, this is also referred to as the ‘sucker effect’ as employees believe someone else will do the work and they can take the comfortable role of ‘free rider’.

How did the ‘social loafing’ concept begin?

In 1913, a French agricultural engineer named Max Ringelmann conducted a series of interesting experiments. He formed two groups of participants and asked them to pull on a rope first in groups and then alone. Ringlemann deducted that when people were part of a group, they made considerably less effort to pull the rope than they did when working alone.

Concerningly, he uncovered that as the group size increased, the effort exerted by each individual decreased.This meant that the group performance decreased when the team size became bigger with one example highlighting teams of four doing much better than teams of eight.

What are some of the causes of ‘social loafing’?

Chances are, your organisation has a combination of ‘social loafers’ and those frustrated by experiencing this phenomenon. It might not seem like a big issue, but for those always left with changing the toner – it is disengaging and can be a cancer to your culture.

Psychologists believe that there are some common causes for social loafing:

• Large group size: the larger the group, the more likely that individuals feel their effort (or lack of) will not be noticed.
• If you can’t beat them – join them: when there is an expectation that team members will slack off, employees don’t want to get stuck with the work, so they tend to slack off as well. This can also happen when surrounded by high achievers as it is easier to let them handle the work.
• A lack of accountability: when a team fails to deliver the project on time, it is unlikely that one individual will be thrown under the bus – so the ‘safety in numbers’ theory results in team members not feeling accountable for the task. This makes it easy to sit back and let others do the work.
• Lack of motivation or alignment to the task: if an employee feels like a ‘prisoner’ in the workgroup, there is likely to be social loafing as there is no motivation to do the task.
• Too hard or too easy: when the task is too complex or it feels unachievable, there can be a tendency to resort to social loafing. Similarly, if it is too easy – surely someone else can just do it?
• Not feeling good enough: team members that find themselves allocated to a team with smart, experienced workers can fear not adding value which drives social loafing behaviours.
• Lack of diversity and inclusion: if the organisation does not have a strong diverse and inclusive culture, some team members will fall victim to ‘social loafing’ purely because they don’t feel that they belong.

What steps can help to minimise ‘social loafing’ in the workplace?

‘Social loafing’ left unchecked can cause long-term damage to an organisation’s performance, culture, competitiveness in the marketplace and engagement. It is recommended that employers put strategies in place to address the issue and move towards a more collaborative, inclusive and productive work team.

Tips to prevent ‘social loafing’ in the workplace:

• Ensure there is a culture of individual and team accountability.
• Keep workgroups small.
• Cultivate a culture where employees have the tools to engage and invite all participants to actively participate.
• Define the roles and responsibilities of work groups.
• Check the right people are included in the workgroup.
• Build team bonds. Research suggests people work harder for others when social connections are formed.
• Set clear and achievable tasks that are appropriately challenging for participants.
• Be proactive in investing in a culture that positively embraces diversity and inclusion to enable all participants to feel like they belong.

It's time everyone pulls their weight

It is not necessary to be the person that always volunteers or refills the coffee station - but being part of a successful team means you can’t sit in the back seat with popcorn whilst everyone else does the work. It is important to be aware of the ‘social loafing’ behaviours in the workplace and take some subtle steps to ensure that everyone on the end of the rope is pulling.

Further information

For assistance with your workplace matters, Members of Ai Group can contact us or call our Workplace Advice Line on 1300 55 66 77 for further information. 

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