Attitudes & Motivation

What is an attitude?

What is an Attitude?

A positive, negative, or mixed reaction to a person, object, or idea, expressed at some level of intensity (e.g., love, like, dislike, etc)

Four Possible Reactions to Attitude Objects

Cacciopo, et al. 1997

Attitudes

Evaluative statements either favorable or unfavorable concerning objects, people or events

Attitudes reflect how one feels about something

Components of Attitudes

Cognitive component includes the beliefs, opinions, and information the person has about the object of the attitude

Affective component is the persons emotions or feelings about the object of the attitude

Behavioral component of an attitude is the persons intention to behave toward the object of the attitude in a certain way

Particularly important when attempting to change attitudes

Three Main Components of Attitudes

Cognition an opinion or belief I just found out I am paid 20% less than my coworkers.

Affect the emotional or feeling segment associated with that belief I feel angry that I am not being treated fairly.

Behavior the intention to behave in a certain way

I am going to quit this job soon as I can, and I am taking the red stapler with me!

Components of an Attitude

The ABC Model of Attitudes

Affect Way a Consumer

Feels

Behavior Persons Intentions

to Do

Cognition Consumers

Beliefs

Components of an

Attitude

Attitude Object: DENTIST

COGNITIONS Dentists are friendly.

Dentists are expensive.

AFFECTS

Dentists make me feel Concerned.

I like dentists.

BEHAVIORS I visit the dentist twice a year.

I am a very cooperative patient.

Major Job Attitudes Job Satisfaction

Job Involvement

Psychological Empowerment

Organizational Commitment

Perceived Organizational Support (POS)

Employee Engagement

Measuring Job Satisfaction

Single Global Rating Method

Only a few general questions

Remarkably accurate

Summation Score Method

Identifies key elements in the job and asks for specific feeling about them

What Causes Job Satisfaction?

The Work Itself the strongest correlation with overall satisfaction

Pay not correlated after individual reaches a level of comfortable living

Advancement

Supervision

Coworkers

The Consequences of Dissatisfaction

Exit Voice

Neglect Loyalty

Pas

siv

e t

o A

cti

ve

Destructive to Constructive

The Benefits of Satisfaction

Better job and organizational performance

Greater levels of customer satisfaction

Generally lower absenteeism

Decreased instances of workplace deviance

Implications for Managers

Employee attitudes give warnings of potential problems and influence behavior

Satisfied and committed employees exhibit behaviors that increase organizational outcomes

Managers must measure job attitudes in order to improve them

Most important elements a manager can focus on are the intrinsic parts of the job: making the work challenging and interesting

High pay is not enough to create satisfaction

Keep in Mind

Individuals have many kinds of attitudes about their job.

Job satisfaction is related to organizational effectiveness.

Most employees are satisfied with their jobs, but when they are not, a host of actions in response to the satisfaction might be expected.

Why People Have Attitudes

Value-Expressive function: Express who we are

Ego-defensive function: Protect Self-Esteem

Instrumental function: Obtain awards, avoid punishments

Knowledge function: understand people and events

Motivation: From Concepts to Applications

Motivation No one can teach you how

to think, you must motivate

yourself to learn how to

learn!

You are your own motivator.

Your motivation must come from within yourself. Others

may try to encourage you,

but you are the only one

who can attain what you

desire. You must convince

yourself - you can!

Motivating by Changing the Work Environment: JCM

The Job Characteristics Model - jobs are described in terms of five core dimensions:

Skill variety

Task identity

Task significance

Autonomy

Feedback

Characteristics Examples Skill Variety High variety The owner-operator of a garage who does electrical repair, rebuilds engines,

does body work, and interacts with customers

Low variety A bodyshop worker who sprays paint eight hours a day

Task Identity

High identity A cabinetmaker who designs a piece of furniture, selects the wood, builds the

object, and finishes it to perfection

Low identity A worker in a furniture factory who operates a lathe to make table legs

Task Significance

High significance Nursing the sick in a hospital intensive care unit

Low significance Sweeping hospital floors

Autonomy

High autonomy A telephone installer who schedules his or her own work for the day, and

decides on the best techniques for a particular installation

Low autonomy A telephone operator who must handle calls as they come according to a

routine, highly specified procedure

Feedback

High feedback An electronics factory worker who assembles a radio and then tests it to

determine if it operates properly

Low feedback An electronics factory worker who assembles a radio and then routes it to a

quality control inspector who tests and adjusts it

Examples of High and Low Job Characteristics

How Can Jobs be Redesigned?

Job Rotation The periodic shifting of an employee from one task to another

Job Enlargement Increasing the number and variety of tasks

Job Enrichment Increasing the degree to which the worker controls the planning, execution and evaluation of the work

Alternate Work Arrangements

Flextime Some discretion over when worker

starts and leaves

Job Sharing Two or more individuals split a

traditional job

Telecommuting Work remotely at least two days per

week

Example of a Flextime Schedule

Performance = f(A x M x O)

Employee Involvement

A participative process that uses the input of employees to increase their commitment to the organizations success

Two types:

Participative Management

Representative Participation

Examples of Employee Involvement Programs

Participative Management

A process in which subordinates share a significant degree of

decision-making power with their immediate superiors

Examples of Employee Involvement Programs (contd)

Representative Participation

Workers participate in

organizational decision

making through a small group

of representative employees.

Rewarding Employees

Major strategic rewards decisions:

1. What to pay employees

2. How to pay individual employees

3. What benefits to offer

4. How to construct employee recognition programs

1. What to Pay

Need to establish a pay structure

Balance between: Internal equity the worth of the job to the organization

External equity the external competitiveness of an organizations pay relative to pay elsewhere in its industry

2. How to Pay: Variable-Pay Programs

Bases a portion of the pay on a given measure of performance

Piece-Rate Pay workers are paid a fixed sum for each unit of production completed

Merit-Based Pay pay is based on individual performance appraisal ratings

Bonuses rewards employees for recent performance

Skill-Based Pay pay is based on skills acquired instead of job title or rank doesnt address the level of performance

More Variable Pay Programs

Gainsharing compensation based on sharing of gains from improved productivity

While it appears that pay does increase productivity, it

seems that not everyone responds positively to

variable-pay plans.

3. How to Recognize Them: Employee Recognition Programs

In addition to pay there are intrinsic rewards Can be as simple as a spontaneous comment

Can be formalized in a program

Recognition is the most powerful workplace motivator and the least expensive!

Implications for Managers

Use specific goals and feedback

Allow employees to participate in decisions that affect them

Link rewards to performance

Check the reward system for equity

Computing a Motivating Potential Score

People who work on jobs with high core dimensions are

generally more motivated, satisfied, and productive.

Job dimensions operate through the psychological states in

influencing personal and work outcome variables rather

than influencing them directly.

Thank you

Be a good motivator