A couple of weeks ago, Kerri shared a new term she had heard: “BNPL” (buy now, pay later). While I was familiar with the concept, I hadn’t heard the acronym. This is most common with consumer goods, but I got to thinking about other ways it shows up in our lives, specifically in the workplace.

Here are just a few examples I identified: ruinous empathy, sarcasm, yelling, gossip/venting, and blaming/not taking responsibility.

Now the problem with this kind of behavior is the same as with the financial principle… there will be interest. And make no mistake, it compounds.

Let’s consider ruinous empathy. This is the desire to spare someone’s feelings, by not saying what needs to be said, by not being forthright, or by just offering something minimal but ultimately not helpful. We see this most often in feedback, where a leader will need to provide adjusting feedback but will end up either providing a version so watered down or vague, that the message is utterly pointless. The leader will then be shocked when the employee fails to change, but how could they? So now you have a leader that doesn’t trust/value/see a future for an employee and an employee who is in the dark about their perceived shortcomings and may even sense something is “off” but not know exactly what it is.

This also happens with gossip and venting. It can feel satisfying in the moment (or even like a version of “bonding”) to air one’s grievances, but this ends up breeding mistrust (because if you will gossip or vent to me, you will most certainly gossip or vent about me).

Engaging in BNPL behavior (according to the Googles) means we “bypass the pain of paying now.” We don’t face the real consequences of our actions, but we also remove our agency. Bad – or simply unhelpful – behavior should hurt, otherwise we will continue to do it. Over time, these actions result in a decline in morale and trust; which makes keeping good people even harder.

So, what should we do about BNPL behavior? Well, like any line item on the budget that isn’t serving you, cut it out. It might feel hard, but this is where the agency comes in… you have the option of doing something better, so take it. Then, become vigilant about other little “charges” that aren’t worth paying, either now or later. Your wallet and your employees will thank you.