Using company resources to work on personal projects, especially on company time, is a no-no for employees in most organizations. But supervisors often operate in what I call a gray zone, turning a blind eye to such officially forbidden behavior. They realize that stamping it out may do more harm than good, because many employees have a deep-seated need to engage in it.

My three-year study of an aeronautic manufacturing plant with 4,000 workers gave me insight into why gray zones persist in work settings. Employees produced personal artifacts such as kitchen utensils, toys for their kids and window frames, using company time and materials. Managers overlooked all this, because they could count on people when official work needed to be cranked out.

Consider the similar case of a competent, productive junior editor at a newspaper who works on her novel at the office. Despite company policies prohibiting this, her boss winks at the habit. By tolerating the editor’s behavior, the supervisor holds on to a loyal, self-motivated and engaged worker.

Why do otherwise good employees have the urge to break the rules in the first place? My study revealed that they need to enact their “occupational identities.” An occupational identity is the self-image that a person trained in a specific vocation develops as a member of that profession. The expected behaviors of the occupation become deeply embedded in the individual’s identity, which is quite separate from that person’s job or title. A job may be “just” a job; what really matters is how fellow occupational members would assess one’s professional standing. The junior editor works on her novel on company time since doing so allows her to “be” a writer in the eyes of her literary peers.

Many senior executives have trouble understanding the need for an occupational identity (and thus take a dim view of gray zones), perhaps because they themselves may lack one. As Harvard business school professor Rakesh Khurana has noted, managers often see themselves as pursuing individual challenges. Especially when they are brought into an organization from the outside, they aren’t attuned to employees’ occupational identities. The head of a fashion house, for instance, may not be a designer and so may underestimate the designer’s need to be recognized by his peers.

Instead of perceiving gray zones as a cause for alarm, top executives should try to understand why they exist. This doesn’t necessarily mean wholly accepting or excusing all gray zones—certainly, some are unhealthy, as when an editor spends most of her work time on her novel. Rather, top management should make the effort to patrol gray zones for serious abuses of time and resources—but with the awareness that, more often than not, gray zones signal a higher aspiration among employees that immediate supervisors deem worthy of pursuit.

Paradoxically, gray zones can also provide a measure of professionalism or engagement. Though senior executives might not see gray-zone activity right away, direct supervisors are quick to notice it. If your company’s supervisors aren’t observing it and haven’t offered people a chance to openly express their identities in authorized work, look for a possible corresponding drop in employee professionalism or morale. When “illegal” blogging, for instance, disappears at a newspaper, it may be because people do not feel respected for what they do or because the paper has already lost employees with strong occupational identities.

it’s worth thinking about bringing gray zones out into the open by finding official ways for employees to engage their occupational identities. Let’s go back to the case of the editor: could the newspaper use her talent as a writer to mentor a foreign correspondent less proficient in English writing skills? Finding a perfect official match might not always be possible, but employees will be more engaged and productive when their true skills are recognized by their employers.

****

Michel Anteby is an assistant professor of organizational behavior at Harvard business school in Boston. He is the author of Moral Gray Zones (forthcoming from Princeton University Press in June 2008).

Working in the gray zone

Using company resources to work on personal projects, especially on company time, is a no-no for employees in most organizations. But supervisors often operate in what I call a gray zone, turning a blind eye to such officially forbidden behavior. They realize that stamping it out may do more harm than good, because many employees have a deep-seated need to engage in it.

Creating the conversations that create innovation

One of the great myths of innovation is that breakthrough ideas are produced solely by intuitive individuals or by small creative teams working in isolation. The reality is that whether we think of Thomas Edison, Ted Turner, Jeff Bezos or Steve Jobs, most well-known innovators developed their breakthrough ideas as a result of interacting with a rich and diverse community of people.

Fun revisited

Thirteen years after he created the 17-hectare Enchanted Kingdom in Santa Rosa, Laguna, designer Gary Goddard has once again returned to the theme park he originally imagined.

The Modern Leader

‘People don’t want to be managed, people want to be led.”

Winning: Before taking the plunge, get all the details

Q: I’ve been in my job for six years, but there’s very little runway for me here. Last week, a business acquaintance offered me a job at his company. It’s not really my area of expertise and the position is somewhat unclear, but it seems exciting. Do I go for it? Name Withheld, Wayne, Pennsylvania

The Rice Cop

There are moments during these days of worry over soaring international food prices when it appears that Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is out to solve her country’s rice shortages on her own. 

Rice’s price rise takes a toll in Manila slum

It is in the heaving slums of Asia, amid sagging tin shacks and streets afloat with waste, that the soaring global price for rice hits hardest.

Look to the Sky

ALFRED M. Yao is a man who rarely rests.

He says the last vacation he had with his entire family was two years ago in New Zealand, and remembers a few regional cruises with his wife. He tells the BusinessMirror he would rather be on his toes, working, on the lookout for new business opportunities.

The Best Advice I Ever Got

Shortly after joining Salomon Brothers in 1975, I had an opportunity to rescue a troubled account. Our firm was getting almost no business from one of our huge institutional clients, but I made some headway and surprised everyone, including myself.

Using conflict as a catalyst for change

Deep organizational change inevitably produces conflict. Those who lead change usually try to suppress conflict, with the goal of keeping the energy positive and the forward momentum strong.

Law& property

Talk about having the right address.

That’s how Atty. Andres D. Bautista, chief executive officer of the Kuok Group in the Philippines, was initially considered to become the Hong Kong-based group’s top guy in the Philippines.

Winning: When the chips are down, keep your chin up

Q: Our company, like many these days, is experiencing lower earnings and the termination of many good employees. How do we build morale and give employees some sense of confidence in the face of poor financial results? Name Withheld, Maryville, Tennessee

From farms to tables

Governments serve the secondary purpose of intervening when free markets come perilously close—or are perceived to be close—to losing control.

Food-Price Shock

The globe’s worst food crisis in a generation emerged as a blip on the big boards and computer screens of America’s great grain exchanges. At first, it seemed like little more than a bout of bad weather.

Take the lead at your next review

The management literature is full of advice for those who want to deliver effective performance reviews. The usual mantra? Use review sessions to set clear expectations and goals but never forget to praise good work and to listen closely to employee concerns.

What you can gain when you lose good people

Knowledge workers in technology companies generally don’t view their jobs as being about human relationships. The more introverted among them would probably even shudder at the thought.

A call to Help

Choosing the less traveled path can lead to either great heartbreak or indescribable rewards. Luckily for Marilou Pantua-Juanito, VSO Bahaginan executive director, it is the latter which she continues to reap.

Winning: Collaboration is the mother of innovation

Q: When you read the history of the greatest products ever created, you find out that many times the innovator was ignored or ridiculed by his company along the way and even had to struggle against the wishes of management. Why does this happen? Shouldn’t managers at least be giving these people moral support?  Name Withheld, Livermore, California

Hand to Mouth

Maria Susana Espinoza wanted only two children. But it was not until after the birth of her fourth child in six years that she learned any details about birth control.

Rice shortage may mean more trouble for Arroyo

Myrna Lacdao used to eat two meals a day. Now she eats one, and gives the rest to her two grandchildren.

In the Shadow of Debt

Summary: The stagnation of the Philippine economy has now lasted over 25 years. Between 1990 and 2005, the Philippines’ average annual GDP growth rate was the lowest in Southeast Asia, being lower than even that of Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.

Five ways to boost retention

* boom times and slow times alike, you need to keep your best people. Let’s look at five proven practices to help you do just this.

1. Provide room to grow. Nothing is more frustrating for an employee than discovering he is out of growth opportunities.

The tourism time bomb

International travel is no longer the exclusive province of the rich. Over the next several decades, hundreds of millions of new entrants to the middle class will want not only the things—but also the experiences—that money can buy.