A person can have thousands of attitudes, but organizational behavior focuses our attention on a very limited number of work-related attitudes.
Most of the research in organizational behavior has been concerned with three attitudes.
3 types of attitudes are;
- Job Satisfaction,
- Job Involvement,
- Organizational Commitment.
Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction is the level of contentment a person feels regarding his or her job. This feeling is mainly based on an individual’s perception of satisfaction.
A person with a high level of job satisfaction holds positive attitudes about the job, while a person who is dissatisfied with his or her job holds a negative attitude about the job.
A person having a negative attitude shows a personality disposition that is inclined to experience nervousness, tension, upset, distress, etc. whereas those with a positive attitude will feel happy themselves, others and their work.
Generally, it is deemed a high level of job satisfaction means positive attitudes towards the job and vice versa.
When people speak of employee attitudes, more often than not they mean job satisfaction. In fact, the two are frequently used interchangeably.
Job Involvement
Job involvement refers to the degree with which an individual identifies psychologically with his or her job and perceives his or her
perceived performance level important to self-worth.
High levels of job involvement are related to fewer absences and lower resignation rates.
However, it seems to more consistently predict turnover than absenteeism, according to as much as 16 percent of the variance in the former.
Organizational Commitment
The last job-attitude refers to organizational commitment. It is understood as one’s identification with his or her organization and feels proud of being its employee.
It is defined as a state in which an employee identifies with a particular organization and, its goals, and wishes to maintain membership in the organization.
Different studies demonstrate that an individual’s level of organizational commitment is a better indicator of turnover than the far more frequently used job satisfaction predictor, explaining as much as 34 percent of the variance.
Basically, turnover and absenteeism are low when employees have an organizational commitment.
Chapter 3 � Attitudes and Job Satisfaction
What are attitudes?
- Attitudes are evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects, people, or events.
� Cognitive component of an attitude is the opinion or belief segment of an attitude.
� Affective component is the emotion or feeling segment of an attitude.
� Behavioral component of an attitude is an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory -
- any incompatibility between two or more attitudes or between behavior and attitudes
Our desire to reduce dissonance depends upon:
� Importance of elements creating dissonance
� Degree of individual influence over elements
� Rewards involved in dissonance
Note: People seek consistency among their attitudes and seek to reconcile divergent attitudes and behavior so they appear to be rational and consistent.
Measuring the A-B relationship
Recent research indicates that attitudes (A) significantly predict behaviors (B) when moderating variables are taken into account.
Moderating Variables include:
� Importance of the attitude
� Specificity of the attitude
� Accessibility of the attitude
� Social pressures on the individual
� Direct experience with the attitude
�Self-perception theory� = when you use attitudes after the fact to make sense out of an action that has ALREADY occurred.
Types of Attitudes
1) Job Satisfaction
� A collection of positive and/or negative feelings that an individual holds towards his or her job.
2) Job Involvement
� Identifying with the job, actively participating in it, and considering performance important to self-worth.
3) Organizational Commitment
� Identifying with a particular organization and its goals, and wishing to maintain membership in the organization
� Affective, normative, and continuance commitment � Note: what are these? Why are they different? Please be sure you know J
4) Perceived Organizational Support
� Degree to which employees feel the organization cares about their well-being.
5) Employee Engagement
� An individual�s involvement with, satisfaction with, and enthusiasm for the organization.
An Application: Attitude surveys
- A way to capture attitude data via questionnaires about various workplace factors (job, work groups, supervisors and the organization)
Attitudes and Diversity
- A growing field of study and important in all organizations today.� Understanding and changing attitudes about others is important for managers and organizations. Most companies are now training employees re: attitudes about diversity.
- Training activities: Participating in diversity training that provides for self-evaluation and group discussions
- Volunteer work in community and social service centers with individuals of diverse backgrounds
Job Satisfaction
How can we measure it?
� Single global rating
� Summation score
� So�..how satisfied are people in their jobs?
� Which facets seem to be causing dissatisfaction?
How Can Employee Express Dissatisfaction?
Exit � Behavior directed towards leaving the organization
Neglect � Allowing conditions to worsen
Voice � Active and constructive attempts to improve conditions
Loyalty � Passively waiting for conditions to improve
(Also note that job satisfaction relates to OCB (going above and beyond what is required formally) through fairness. Trust is also important)
Job Satisfaction and Employee Performance
Satisfaction and Productivity
o Satisfied workers are more productive AND more productive workers are more satisfied!
o Worker productivity is higher in organizations with more satisfied workers.
Satisfaction and Absenteeism
Satisfied employees have fewer avoidable absences.
Satisfaction and Turnover
Satisfied employees are less likely to quit.
Organizations take actions to retain high performers and to weed out lower performers.
Satisfaction and OCB
Satisfied employees who feel fairly treated by and are trusting of the organization are more willing to engage in behaviors that go beyond the normal expectations of their job.
Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction
Satisfied workers provide better customer service.
Satisfied employees increase customer satisfaction because:
They are more friendly, upbeat, and responsive.
They are less likely to turnover, which helps build long-term customer relationships.
They are experienced.
Note: Dissatisfied customers increase employee job dissatisfaction.