HB homework

Individual Attitudes and Behaviours

From 4.2 Work Attitudes

Attitudes

Positive or negative feelings concerning objects, people, or events.

Less stable than values

Types of Attitudes in the Workplace

Job Involvement

. . . measures the degree to which a person identifies psychologically with his or her job and considers his or her perceived performance level important to self-worth.

Organizational Commitment

. . . an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals, and wishes to maintain membership in the organization.

Job Satisfaction

. . . refers to an individual’s general attitude toward his or her job. Positive or Negative

Factors that impact job satisfaction and organizational commitment:

· Personality

· Person-environment fit

· Job characteristics

· Psychological contract

· Organizational justice

· Work relationships

· Stress

· Work-life balance

From 4.3 Work Behaviours

One of the important objectives of the field of organizational behavior is to understand why people behave the way they do.

Employees demonstrate a wide variety of positive and negative behaviors at work. Among these behaviors, four are critically important and have been extensively studied in the OB literature, these are highlighted below:

Job performance is a person’s accomplishments of tasks listed in one’s job description. A person’s abilities, particularly mental abilities, are the main predictor of job performance in many occupations. How we are treated at work, the level of stress experienced at work, work attitudes, and, to a lesser extent, our personality are also factors relating to one’s job performance.

Citizenship behaviors are tasks helpful to the organization but are not in one’s job description. Performance of citizenship behaviors is less a function of our abilities and more of motivation. How we are treated at work, personality, work attitudes, and our age are the main predictors of citizenship.

Among negative behaviors, absenteeism and turnover are critically important. Health problems and work–life balance issues contribute to more absenteeism. Poor work attitudes are also related to absenteeism, and younger employees are more likely to be absent from work.

Turnover is higher among low performers, people who have negative work attitudes, and those who experience a great deal of stress. Personality and youth are personal predictors of turnover.