Attitude, Job Satisfaction and Behavior PDF

Attitude, Job Satisfaction and Behavior Understanding Individuals in Organizations The Psychological Contract – A person’s set of expectations regarding what he or she will contribute to the organization and what the organization will provide in return. Unlike a busine...

Attitude, Job Satisfaction and Behavior Understanding Individuals in Organizations The Psychological Contract – A person’s set of expectations regarding what he or she will contribute to the organization and what the organization will provide in return. Unlike a business contract, a psychological contract is not written on paper, nor are all of its terms explicitly negotiated. Nature of the Psychological Contract – Contributions and Inducements Individual’s contributions to the organization- effort, skills, ability, time, loyalty, Organization’s inducements to the individual, such as pay and career opportunities. 3-2 Figure 3.1: The Psychological Contract  The Person-Job Fit Person-Job Fit – The extent to which the individual’s contributions match the organization’s inducements. – In theory, each employee has a specific set of needs that he or she wants fulfilled and a set of job-related behaviors and abilities to contribute. – If the organization can take perfect advantage of those behaviors and abilities and exactly fulfill the employee’s needs, it will have achieved a perfect person-job fit.  Why is it that Person-Job Fit is seldom achieved? Hiring procedures are imperfect Managers can estimate employee skill levels when making hiring decisions and can improve them through training People and organization change Each person is unique  The Nature of Individual Differences Individual Differences (ID) are personal attributes that vary from one person to another: Physical Psychological Emotional Categories of ID: personality, attitudes, perception and creativity Individual differences are neither good nor bad. Whenever an organization attempts to assess or account for individual differences among its employees, it must also be sure to consider the situation in which behavior occurs.  Attitudes A person’s complexes of beliefs and feelings about specific ideas, situations, or other people. Important because they are the mechanism through which most people express their feelings. Attitudes are formed: personal values, our experiences and our personalities 3 components: 1. affective component – reflects feelings and emotions an individual has toward a situation. 2. cognitive component – derives from knowledge an individual has toward a situation. 3. intentional component – reflects how an individual expects to behave toward or in the situation.  Cognitive Dissonance The anxiety a person experiences when she or her simultaneously possesses two sets of knowledge or perceptions that are contradictory or incongruent. – For example, a person who has vowed to never work for a large company but instead open a small firm, may find herself seeking a job with a large company as the result of financial setbacks. – To reduce this dissonance, the individual might tell herself that the situation is only temporary and she can go back out on her own in the near future.  Do Attitude Change? Attitudes are not as stable as personality attributes If the object of an attitude changes, a person attitude toward that object may also change Attitudes can also change when the object of the attitude becomes less important or less relevant Individuals may change attitude to reduce cognitive dissonance Deep rooted attitudes that have a long history are, of course resistant to change 3-9  Work-Related Attitudes Job Satisfaction or Dissatisfaction – The extent to which a person is gratified or fulfilled by his or her work. While high levels of satisfaction may not lead to high levels of performance, satisfied employees tend to be absent less often, make positive contributions, and stay with the organization.  A positive feeling about the job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics.(Robins)  Work-Related Attitudes Organizational Commitment – A person’s identification with and attachment to the organization. A person with high levels of commitment is likely to see herself as a true member of the organization and overlook minor sources of dissatisfaction.  Work-Related Attitudes  Organizational Commitment  Identifying 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  Has some relation to performance, especially for new employees.  Less important now than in past – now perhaps more of occupational commitment, loyalty to profession rather than to a given employer. © 2009 Prentice-Hall Inc. All rights reserved.  Work-Related Attitudes  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. © 2009 Prentice-Hall Inc. All rights reserved.  Work-Related Attitudes  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 and performance.  Employee Engagement  The degree of involvement, satisfaction with, and enthusiasm for the job.  Engaged employees are passionate about their work and company. © 2009 Prentice-Hall Inc. All rights reserved. Are These Job Attitudes Really Distinct? No: these attitudes are highly related. Variables may be redundant (measuring the same thing under a different name). While there is some distinction, there is also a lot of overlap. © 2009 Prentice-Hall Inc. All rights reserved.  How to promote Satisfaction and Commitment Satisfaction Organization treats its employees fairly Provide reasonable rewards and job security Allow employees to have a say in how things are done Commitment Extrinsic Rewards Role Clarity Participative Management © 2009 Prentice-Hall Inc. All rights reserved. Employee 3-17 Responses to Dissatisfaction 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 Outcomes of Job Satisfaction 3-18 Job Performance – Satisfied workers are more productive AND more productive workers are more satisfied! – The causality may run both ways. Organizational Citizenship Behaviors – Satisfaction influences OCB through perceptions of fairness. Customer Satisfaction – Satisfied frontline employees increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. Absenteeism – Satisfied employees are moderately less likely to miss work. © 2009 Prentice-Hall Inc. All rights reserved. Outcomes 3-19 of Job Satisfaction  Turnover  Satisfied employees are less likely to quit.  Many moderating variables in this relationship.  Economic environment and tenure.  Organizational actions taken to retain high performers and to weed out lower performers.  Workplace Deviance  Dissatisfied workers are more likely to unionize, abuse substances, steal, be tardy, and withdraw. Despite the overwhelming evidence of the impact of job satisfaction on the bottom line, most managers are either unconcerned about or overestimate worker satisfaction.  Types of Workplace Behavior Workplace Behavior – A pattern of action by the members of an organization that directly or indirectly influences organizational effectiveness Performance Behaviors – All of the total set of work-related behaviors that the organization expects the individual to display  Types of Workplace Behavior (cont’d) Dysfunctional Behaviors – Behaviors that detract from organizational performance Absenteeism: when an individual does not show up for work Turnover: when people quit their jobs Organizational Citizenship – The extent to which a person’s behavior makes a positive overall contribution to the organization