Chapter 3 OB PDF

# Chapter 3: Job Attitudes and Satisfaction ## Attitudes - Attitudes: Evaluative statements - either favorable or unfavorable - concerning objects, people or events - Reflect how one feels about something ## Three Main Components of Attitudes - **Cognitive** = evaluation > - My supervisor gave...

# Chapter 3: Job Attitudes and Satisfaction ## Attitudes - Attitudes: Evaluative statements - either favorable or unfavorable - concerning objects, people or events - Reflect how one feels about something ## Three Main Components of Attitudes - **Cognitive** = evaluation > - My supervisor gave a promotion to a coworker who deserved it less than me. My supervisor is unfair. - **Affective** = feeling > - I dislike my supervisor! - **Behavioral** = action > - I'm looking for other work; I've complained about my supervisor to anyone who would listen. ## Attitudes Follow Behavior: Cognitive Dissonance - **Cognitive dissonance**: any inconsistency between two or more attitudes, or between behavior and attitudes > - Individuals seek to minimize dissonance - **Desire to reduce dissonance is determined by**: > - The importance of the elements creating the dissonance > - The degree of influence the individual believes he or she has over the elements > - The rewards that may be involved in dissonance ## Behavior Follows Attitudes: Moderating Variables - The most powerful moderators of the attitude-behavior relationships are: >- Importance >- Correspondence to behavior >- Accessibility >- Social pressures >- Direct personal experience - Knowing attitudes helps predict behavior ## Major Job Attitudes - Job satisfaction - Job involvement - Psychological empowerment - Organizational commitment - Affective commitment - Continuance commitment - Normative commitment - Perceived organizational support - Employee engagement ## Major Job Attitudes - **Job Satisfaction** > - A positive feeling about the job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics - **Job Involvement** > - Degree of psychological identification with the job where perceived performance is important to self-worth - **Psychological Empowerment** > - Belief in the degree of influence over the job, competence, job meaningfulness, and autonomy - **Organizational Commitment** > - A state in which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals, while wishing to maintain membership in the organization. - **Three dimensions:** - Affective - emotional attachment to organization - Continuance Commitment - economic value of staying - Normative - moral or ethical obligations - **Perceived Organizational Support (POS)** > - Degree to which employees believe the organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being > - Higher when rewards are fair, employees are involved in decision-making, and supervisors are seen as supportive. > - High POS is related to higher OCBs (Organization Citizenship Behavior) and performance. - **Employee Engagement** > - The degree of involvement with, satisfaction with, and enthusiasm for the job. > - Engaged employees are passionate about their work and company. ## Measuring Job Satisfaction - **Average Job Satisfaction by Facets** - **Single global rating method:** > - Only a few general questions > - Remarkably accurate - **Summation score method:** > - Identifies key elements in the job and asks for specific feeling about them - **Is one of these approaches superior?** > - Summing up responses to a number of job factors seems likely to achieve a more accurate evaluation of job satisfaction. > - Research doesn't support the intuition. This is one of those rare instances in which simplicity seems to work as well as complexity, making one method essentially as valid as the other. > - The best explanation is that the concept of job satisfaction is so broad a single question captures its essence. > - The summation of job facets may also leave out some important data. Both methods are helpful. > - The single global rating method isn't very time consuming, thus freeing time for other tasks, and the summation of job facets helps managers zero in on problems and deal with them faster and more accurately. ## Global Implications - Is job satisfaction a U.S. concept? > - Cross-cultural differences do exist but job satisfaction seems to be a global concern. - Are employees in Western cultures more satisfied with their jobs? > - Yes, but that may be due to the greater value Westerners put on positive emotions and happiness. ## What Causes Job Satisfaction? - **The Work Itself** - the strongest correlation with overall satisfaction - **Social Component** - there is a strong correlation with how people view the social context of their work - **Pay** - not correlated after individual reaches a level of comfortable living > - Advancement > - Supervision > - Coworkers ## The Consequences of Dissatisfaction - **Destructive to Constructive** - **Passive to Active** > - **Exit**: Behavior directed toward leaving the organization > - **Voice**: Active and constructive attempts to improve conditions > - **Neglect**: Allowing conditions to worsen > - **Loyalty**: Passively waiting for conditions to improve ## Employee Responses to Dissatisfaction - **Active vs. Passive** > - **Exit:** Behavior directed toward leaving the organization. > - **Voice:** Active and constructive attempts to improve conditions. > - **Neglect:** Allowing conditions to worsen. > - **Loyalty:** Passively waiting for conditions to improve. ## The Benefits of Satisfaction - **Better job and organizational performance** - **Better organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB)** > - Discretionary behaviors that contribute to organizational effectiveness but are not part of employees' formal job description - **Greater levels of customer satisfaction** - **Generally lower absenteeism and turnover** - **Decreased instances of workplace deviance** - **1. Job Satisfaction and Job Performance.** > - More satisfied employees tend to be more effective. - **2. Job Satisfaction and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCB).** > - Satisfied employees would seem more likely to talk positively about the organization, help others, and go beyond the normal expectations in their job. > - They might go beyond the call of duty because they want to reciprocate their positive experiences. > - People who are more satisfied with their jobs are more likely to engage in OCBs. - **3. Fairness perceptions help explain the relationship.** > - Those who believe their coworkers support them are more likely to engage in helpful behaviors, whereas those who have antagonistic relationships with coworkers are less likely to do so. - **4. Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCB).** > - Discretionary behaviors that contribute to organizational effectiveness but are not part of an employee's formal job description. - **Job Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction** > - Satisfied employees increase customer retention and loyalty because satisfied employees tend to be upbeat and helpful. > - Additionally, a lower turnover rate (due to job satisfaction) also increases customer satisfaction because the personnel tend to be more experienced and familiar to the customer. - **Job Satisfaction and Absenteeism.** > - There is a weak-to-moderate negative relationship between job satisfaction and absenteeism, meaning that as employees increase in job satisfaction they are marginally less likely to skip work. > - This relationship is moderated by other variables, such as the number of sick days employees can take. - **Job Satisfaction and Turnover.** > - The relationship between job satisfaction and turnover is stronger than between satisfaction and absenteeism. > - The satisfaction-turnover relationship also is affected by alternative job prospects. - **Job Satisfaction and Workplace Deviance.** > - Workplace deviance, or employee withdrawal, can take many forms, including, unionization attempts, substance abuse, theft, and tardiness. > - The incidence of workplace deviance tends to increase as job satisfaction decreases. > - Such deviance can be considered a cry for help, where workers wish for increased job satisfaction but do not get it and "act out" in response. ## Managers Often "Don't Get It." - Managers should attack the source of the problem - dissatisfaction - rather than to try to control the different responses to that dissatisfaction. - While there is much evidence that job satisfaction can affect organizational outcomes, many managers still are unconcerned about the job satisfaction of their employees or they falsely believe employee satisfaction is high. - Job satisfaction must be a managerial priority and managers must measure it to manage it. ## Satisfied vs. Dissatisfied Employees - **Satisfied:** > - Better job and organizational performance > - Better OCB > - Increase customer satisfaction > - Decrease absenteeism and turnover > - Decreased instances of workplace deviance - **Dissatisfied:** > - Limited productivities > - Lower OCB > - Decrease customer satisfaction > - Increase absenteeism and turnover > - Increase instances of workplace deviance. ## Implications for Managers - Employee attitudes give warnings of potential problems and influence behavior - Satisfied and committed employees exhibit behaviors that increase organizational outcomes - Managers must measure job attitudes in order to improve them - Most important elements a manager can focus on are the intrinsic parts of the job: making the work challenging and interesting - High pay is not enough to create satisfaction ## Keep in Mind... - Individuals have many kinds of attitudes about their job - Most employees are satisfied with their jobs, but when they are not, a host of actions in response to the satisfaction might be expected - Job satisfaction is related to organizational effectiveness ## Summary - Contrasted the three components of an attitude. - Summarized the relationship between attitudes and behavior. - Compared and contrasted the major job attitudes. - Defined job satisfaction and showed how we can measure it. - Summarized the main causes of job satisfaction. - Identified four employee responses to dissatisfaction.