Introduction to Management

BUS102 Introduction to Management

Emotions and attitudes at work Lecture 2

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Activity • Write down the emotion you’re feeling right now.

Be honest. That emotion can be anything: tired, angry, sad, happy, excited, energetic – whatever is true for you.

• Once you’ve written down your emotion, write down three effects that it might have on your experience during this lecture.

• For example, if you wrote “tired”, one effect might be: “I will find it difficult to pay attention.”

• Share your thoughts with your group.

Emotions at work • That activity demonstrated that emotions

have consequences – sometimes positive and sometimes negative.

• This lecture is all about how those emotions and consequences materialise in the workplace, particularly the following concepts:

– Emotional intelligence – Job satisfaction – Organisational commitment – Psychological contracts

What are emotions? • Emotions are short-term experiences.

• They are usually directed towards an individual or in response to an event.

• Emotions have a physical impact on you. For example, they may alter your facial expression or change your heart rate.

Types of emotions

Source: Larson et al, 2002 and Russell 2003

Activity • Let’s revisit the specific emotion you selected

earlier that you were feeling in this class.

• Identify where it fits on the ‘Circumplex Model of Emotions’ from the previous slide.

• List three consequences or benefits that might arise if you were to experience that emotion in the workplace.

Attitudes • In contrast to emotions, which are about

short-term experiences, attitudes are about longer-term judgements. They consist of three elements:

– Beliefs: What you perceive to be true.

– Feelings: Your evaluation of something, either positive or negative.

– Behavioural intentions: How you plan on reacting to those beliefs and feelings.

Activity • Use your smartphone to access the following article:

http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/why-women- need-to-stop-putting-up-with-sexism-in-the-workplace/news- story/d2f81f5b0cfe88a8852b48182cb1bfa6

• Each group will be allocated one of the following employees from that article: Alice, Marta, Anna, Yasmin, Beth and Qian.

• Your task is to read the paragraph that pertains to your allocated employee and then identify: – The emotion you think she’s feeling – The category in which that emotion belongs on the

circumplex – Her beliefs, feelings, and behavioural intentions

Emotional intelligence • Emotional intelligence, often referred to as EI or

EQ, is your ability to understand and control your own emotions and motivators as well as other people’s emotions and motivators.

• In terms of workplace success, there is much research now to indicate it is as important, and perhaps even more important, than traditional cognitive intelligence.

• EQ is comprised of four components: – Self-awareness – Social awareness – Self-management – Relationship management

Activity In groups, see if you can determine where each of the following EQ elements belong in this matrix by Goleman et al (2002):

• Conflict management • Organisational awareness • Accurate self-assessment • Influence • Developing others • Self-control • Adaptability • Initiative • Teamwork • Building bonds

Self- awareness

Social awareness

Self management

Relationship management

Self Others

R ecognition

R egulation

Job satisfaction • Job satisfaction represents an employee’s

evaluation of their work, especially:

– The characteristics of their job – Their work environment – The emotions they experience day-to-day

• When employees are dissatisfied with their work, they are more likely to resign, to speak poorly of the organisation, and to neglect their responsibilities.

Activity • Imagine you’re a management team wanting

to find out whether your employees are satisfied with their work.

• To help you, you develop a short 10-question survey that your employees will be expected to complete.

• In groups, create your Job Satisfaction survey, making sure not to exceed (or go below) ten questions.

Job satisfaction model • Now compare your survey to the following

components, which have been found to be most essential for job satisfaction (Judge et al, 2002):

– Skill variety – Task identity – Task significance – Autonomy – Feedback

• How many of those elements did your survey include?

Organisational commitment • The emotions that employees feel, and their

job satisfaction overall, can influence their commitment towards the organisation.

• If an employee has a high level of organisational commitment, he or she is loyal to their employer and is unlikely to resign.

• But if organisational commitment is low, there is a big chance the employee will quit soon.

The cost of turnover • If organisations have many employees resigning, they

are said to have high rates of staff turnover.

• The costs of turnover are significant. It is estimated, for example, that it costs between 50% and 150% of an employee’s annual salary to replace them.

ACTIVITY:

• In groups, list the specific expenses you think contribute to that high cost of turnover.

• Also create a list of non-financial consequences that might arise.

Psychological contracts • Whenever employees get a new job, they

sign two contracts:

– One is their written contract that states the terms and conditions of their employment. This is a legally binding document.

– The other is their psychological contract. This is unwritten. It usually comprises the intangible factors that employees expect to receive from their manager and their employer.

Activity • Each group will be allocated one of the following

demographics:

– An 18-year-old employee’s first job out of high school – A 65-year-old employee’s final job before retirement – An ambitious graduate who wants to be a manager – A single parent working part time – A migrant with very limited English language skills – An employee with mental health problems

• What do you think might be in your allocated demographic’s psychological contract? Come up with at least five factors.

Summary • In this lecture we have discussed:

– The different types of emotions – The three elements of attitude – The way that emotions differ from attitude – The four components of EQ – Job satisfaction – Organisational commitment – Psychological contracts

• Can you remember what all of those terms mean?

TUTORIAL

Assessment 1 • Just answer the questions

– Not an essay – Does not need a contents page

• Each question should be about 300 words • Each question is a mark out of 10 • Hint: Complete each question during the

week the topic is covered in class • Read the marking rubrics

Doing Research • Referencing in-text and reference list is expected and

we understand you are developing these skills. Seek help from your ASC if not sure on what to do.

• A good place to start your research: Based on what you have learnt in class for that week, what information is most relevant to the assessment?

• How does the information help to answer the question?

• Are you being asked to form an opinion?

• Support your answer with evidence start with the weekly reading.

Selecting your material

• Relevance:

– Does it contribute to topic and theory? – Does it reinforce and support your

argument or position? – Is the information relevant to your topic

and context? – Does it help you interpret your topic and

theories?

How to succeed • After the lecture do your research.

• Answer the question for that week while everything is fresh.

• If you are confused, speak with your lecturer.

• If you need help with sentence structure, paragraph structure, grammar and referencing see your ASC.

• SUBMIT it by the due date Good luck

Tutorial - Academic Development

• Tutorial handout – Doing Research – Research notes

• Visit Google Scholar and research “emotions at work”. Find a journal article that you feel answers the four questions on the slide about Relevance.