Organizational Behaviour Lecture Notes PDF

Organizational Behaviour: Understanding and Managing Life at Work Eleventh Edition Chapter 2 Personality and Learning Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2-1 1. Personality 2. Lear...

Organizational Behaviour: Understanding and Managing Life at Work Eleventh Edition Chapter 2 Personality and Learning Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2-1 1. Personality 2. Learning Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2-2 How would you define Personality? Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2-3 What Is Personality? Relatively stable set of psychological characteristics that influences the way an individual interacts with his or her environment and how he or she feels, thinks, and behaves. Dimensions and traits that are determined by genetic predisposition and one’s long-term learning history. People have a variety of personality characteristics. Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2-4 Why Personality matters in an organization? Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2-5 Personality and Organizational Behaviour Three approaches: – The dispositional approach (individual personality) – The situational approach (context) – The interactionist approach (both) Which organizations adopt intense socialization tactics? Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2-6 Personality and the Situation (1 of 2) Situations can be described as being either “weak” or “strong”. Personality has the strongest effect in weak situations, where roles are loosely defined, there are few rules, weak reinforcement and punishment. Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2-7 Personality and the Situation (2 of 2) In strong situations, the roles, rules, and contingencies are more defined. Personality has less of an impact in strong situations. The extent to which personality influences people’s attitudes and behaviour depends on the situation. Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2-8  Some personality characteristics are useful in certain jobs or organizational situations. Any examples ? Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2-9 Implications of the Interactionist Approach There is no one best personality. Managers need to appreciate the advantages of employee diversity. The importance of fit - putting the right person in the right job, group, or organization. Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 10 The Five-Factor Model of Personality Five basic but general dimensions that describe personality: – Extraversion – Emotional stability/neuroticism – Agreeableness – Conscientiousness – Openness to experience Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 11 The Five-Factor Model of Personality: Research Conscientiousness is the strongest predictor of overall job performance across all occupations. Organizations with more conscientious employees have higher organizational financial performance. Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 12 The Internal/External Locus of Control Continuum Is it better to have an internal or external locus of control? Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 13 Locus of Control: Research Internals are more satisfied with their jobs, more committed to their organization, and achieve higher organizational positions. Internals perceive less stress, cope with stress better and experience less burnout, and engage in more careful career planning. Internals are less likely to be absent from work and are more satisfied with their lives. Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 14 Self-Esteem: Research The degree to which a person has a positive self-evaluation. Employees with low self-esteem react badly to negative feedback – it lowers subsequent performance. People with high self-esteem make more fulfilling career decisions, have higher job satisfaction and job performance and are more resilient to the strains of everyday work-life. What can organizations do to bolster self-esteem? Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 15 Bolstering Self-Esteem Provide opportunity for participation in decision making Give more autonomy Provide more interesting work (variety of tasks, rotation…) Avoid excessive and petty work rules Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 16 Proactive Personality Proactive behaviour involves taking initiative to improve current circumstances or creating new ones. Proactive personality is related to a number of work outcomes (such as job satisfaction, employee engagement, job performance, organizational citizenship behaviours). Persons with a proactive personality are more successful in searching for employment and career success. How can organizations foster the proactivity of their employees? Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 17 Proactive personality Providing them psychological support Providing them opportunities to learn Encouraging initiatives and new ideas Accepting errors and mistakes Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 18 1. Personality 2. Learning Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 19 What Is Learning? Learning occurs when practice or experience leads to a relatively permanent change in behaviour potential. Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 20 What do employees need to learn in their organizations in order to be efficient? Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 21 What Do Employees Need to Learn in Organizations To Be Efficient? Practical skills (Job-specific skills, knowledge, technical competence) Intrapersonal skills (Problem solving, critical thinking, alternative work processes, risk taking) Interpersonal skills (communicating, teamwork, conflict resolution) Cultural awareness (The social norms of organizations, company goals, business operations, expectations, and priorities) Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 22 How do you encourage people to adopt a certain behaviour? Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 23 Reducing the Probability of Behaviour Sometimes learned behaviours are detrimental to the operation of an organization and they need to be reduced or eliminated. Two strategies that can reduce the probability of learned behaviour: – Extinction (gradual dissipation of behaviour) – Punishment Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 24 Reducing the Probability of Behaviour Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 25 Neglecting Important Sources of Reinforcement Managers often neglect important sources of reinforcement such as those administered by co-workers or intrinsic to the job. Two important sources of reinforcement that managers often ignore: – Performance feedback – Social recognition Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 26 Performance Feedback (1 of 2) Performance feedback involves providing quantitative or qualitative information on past performance for the purpose of changing or maintaining performance in specific ways. Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 27 Performance Feedback (2 of 2) Performance feedback is most effective when it is: – Conveyed in a positive manner – Delivered immediately after observing performance – Represented visually (graph or chart form) – Specific to the behaviour that is being targeted for feedback Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 28 Observational Learning The process of observing and imitating the behaviour of others: 1. Examining the behaviour of others 2. Seeing the consequences they experience 3. Thinking about what might happen if we act the same way 4. Imitating the behaviour if we expect favourable consequences What are the pros and cons of this way of learning? Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 29 How can an organization favor positive reinforcement? Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 30 Training and Development Programs Training refers to planned organizational activities that are designed to facilitate knowledge and skill acquisition to change behaviour and improve performance on one’s current job. Development focuses on future job responsibilities. Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 31 Employee Recognition Programs Formal organizational programs that publicly recognize and reward employees for specific behaviours. What recognition program have you heard about? Do you think that they are effective? Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 32 Types of Recognition Programs Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 33 Employee Recognition Programs (2 of 3) To be effective, formal employee recognition programs must specify: – How a person will be recognized – The type of behaviour being encouraged – The manner of the public acknowledgement – A token or icon of the event for the recipient A key component of formal recognition programs is public acknowledgement. Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 34 Should we use punishment in an organization? Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 35 Problems Using Punishment It does not demonstrate which behaviours should replace the punished response. Punishment indicates only what is not appropriate. Punishment only temporarily suppresses the unwanted behaviour. Punishment can provoke a strong emotional reaction from the punished individual. Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 36 Using Punishment Effectively Limit punishment to what violates important norms or values. Provide an acceptable alternative response for the punished response. Limit the emotions involved in punishment. Make sure the chosen punishment is appropriate. Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 37 Using Punishment Effectively (2 of 2) Punish immediately or reinstate the circumstances surrounding the problem behaviour at a more appropriate time. Do not reward unwanted behaviours before or after punishment. Do not inadvertently punish desirable behaviour. Copyright © 2020 Pearson Canada Inc. 2 - 38