“Many workers break rules to help customers. Their bosses punish them anyway”

Key points

• Managers often punish all rule-breakers equally to appear fair to the team.
• Employees bend rules to help customers for reasons beyond personal gain.
• A review of 250 studies links four motives to rule-breaking: self-interest, helping customers, coworker pressure, and ethics over policy.
• Front-line staff report better control and job satisfaction when bending rules for customers.
• Leadership should understand underlying reasons before punishing and consider updating rules accordingly.