Performance Punishment in Managerial Practice and Its Conscious Application

This bachelor thesis deals with the phenomenon of performance punishment, i.e., the systematic overloading of high-performing employees, and analyses its conscious and unconscious applica-tion in Czech managerial practice. The aim of this thesis is to explore how managers perceive this phenomenon, what mechanisms lead to its emergence, and what consequences it has for both individuals and organizations. Methodologically, the thesis combines a quantitative ques-tionnaire survey with qualitative semi-structured interviews with managers in the Czech Repub-lic. The results identify the phenomenon as a sign of trust rather than punishment, with its occur-rence being strongly conditioned by the organizational context. The thesis concludes by con-firming that while this approach may be effective in the short term, it leads to burnout and in-creased turnover in the long run, and it proposes recommendations for more sustainable human resource management.