Chapter 8: The Dark Side of Work

The main focus of human resource management has been to develop principles, policies and practices that facilitate competitive advantage through people. Much of the focus is to develop a strategic fit between all aspects of HR. In developing such an approach, it is expected to lead to an organisation where people are satisfied and motivated to remain and that is attractive to potential employees. However, this focus can neglect the context aspect of work and, in particular, what we term the ‘dark side’ of work, where a ‘deadly combination’ of increased pressure to perform through work intensification, a longer-hours work culture, the threat of job loss, or simple bad management and systems create a climate of fear and discontent, which can potentially erupt into violence. This chapter explores some of these features of the dark side of workplace behaviours to better understand why these occur, how they occur, and what can be done to mitigate these issues.